MEDDPICC stands for metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, paper process, identify (or implicate) pain, champion and competition. It grew out of MEDDIC, a qualification checklist from PTC in the 1990s, and suits complex B2B deals with several decision-makers, a formal buying process and legal or procurement review.
MEDDPICC is a qualification framework for deals that several people decide. Each letter names something a seller should know, with evidence, before counting on the deal. This page covers what each letter means, questions that uncover it, a simple scorecard with a worked example, and when MEDDPICC is more than a deal needs.
We make Buena, which works on the step before qualification: finding people with a real reason to hear from you. For a shorter framework suited to smaller deals, see our guide to BANT.
What MEDDPICC stands for
| Letter | What you need to know |
|---|---|
| M: Metrics | The measurable value your solution can provide the buyer |
| E: Economic buyer | The person with final authority over the money for this purchase |
| D: Decision criteria | The principles, guidelines and requirements the buyer will use to choose between options |
| D: Decision process | The steps the buyer will take to decide whether to buy |
| P: Paper process | What happens after the decision to reach a signature: security review, legal and procurement |
| I: Identify pain | The pains at the buyer's company that your solution would relieve |
| C: Champion | Someone inside with power, influence and credibility who favors your solution |
| C: Competition | Everything the buyer could choose instead, including another vendor, building it themselves or doing nothing |
Two of the organizations that teach the framework, MEDDIC Academy and MEDDICC, describe the I differently. MEDDIC Academy calls it identify pain. MEDDICC calls it implicate the pain, meaning you have identified the pain, indicated it and implicated it with the customer. Either way, in our view a pain you have heard about but cannot tie to a cost or a date is not yet qualified.
MEDDIC, MEDDICC and MEDDPICC
- MEDDIC is the original six letters: metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, identify pain and champion.
- MEDDICC adds competition.
- MEDDPICC adds the paper process as well, for deals where legal and procurement stand between a decision and a signature.
Both organizations trace MEDDIC to PTC, a software company, in the 1990s. They tell the origin differently: MEDDICC dates it to 1996 and credits Dick Dunkel, naming Jack Napoli as a co-creator elsewhere on its page, while MEDDIC Academy describes it as teamwork by PTC's sales leaders and its internal training team, which included both.
MEDDPICC questions to ask
These are open questions, meant to be asked in your own words across several conversations rather than read out in one call.
Metrics
- How will you measure whether this worked?
- What does the problem cost today, in time, money or risk?
- What result would your leadership need to see to call it a success?
Economic buyer
- Who signs off on spending at this level?
- Has that person approved something like this before, and how did it go?
- What would they need to hear from us, and can we meet them?
Decision criteria
- What will you compare the options on?
- Which of those are must-haves, and which are nice to have?
- Who wrote the requirements, and can we see them?
Decision process
- What happens between now and a decision, step by step?
- Who is involved at each step?
- What date are you working back from, and what sets it?
Paper process
- Once you decide, what does it take to sign: security review, legal, procurement?
- How long did your last purchase of this size take after the decision?
- Is there a vendor form or a standard contract we should see now?
Identify pain
- What happens if nothing changes this year?
- Who feels this problem most?
- What have you tried already, and why didn't it stick?
Champion
- Who inside wants this to happen, and why does it matter to them?
- Can they get us in front of the economic buyer?
- Will they tell us when something changes, before we hear it from someone else?
Competition
- What else are you considering, including building it yourselves or waiting?
- What would make doing nothing the right choice?
- How did you choose the last time you bought something for this problem?
A MEDDPICC scorecard, with a worked example
A scorecard turns the eight letters into a quick read of where a deal stands. The scoring below is a simple method for this guide, not an official one: score each letter 0 if you don't know, 1 if you have heard it but not confirmed it, and 2 if you have confirmed it with evidence, such as a document, a date or a direct conversation.
Deal: Date:
M Metrics Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
E Economic buyer Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
D Decision criteria Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
D Decision process Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
P Paper process Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
I Identify pain Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
C Champion Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
C Competition Evidence: Score 0/1/2:
Total (out of 16): Biggest gap: Next step:Here is the scorecard filled in for a fictional deal. The company, people and figures are invented.
Northstar, a three-city rollout of event follow-up. Scored after the second meeting.
Metrics: 2. Maya shared a target in writing: regional teams follow up within two days of each breakfast, down from a week.
Economic buyer: 1. Maya says the VP of Marketing signs at this level. We have not met her.
Decision criteria: 2. Riley sent the requirements list; CRM sync is a must-have.
Decision process: 1. A decision is expected before the November breakfast, but nobody has named the steps.
Paper process: 0. Unknown. Nobody has mentioned security review or procurement.
Identify pain: 2. Two regional leads described losing event contacts to slow follow-up, and Maya tied it to the November expansion.
Champion: 1. Maya is keen, but has not yet arranged a meeting with the VP.
Competition: 1. They are looking at one other vendor and at extending their current spreadsheet.
Total: 10 of 16. Biggest gap: the paper process, at 0. Among the letters at 1, the economic buyer matters most, because asking Maya to arrange that meeting also tests whether she is a champion. Next step: ask Maya to set up a short call with the VP and to share what security review involves.
The total matters less than the gaps. A deal can score well and still stall on the one letter nobody checked. MEDDICC calls the paper process “the step most deals get lost in”.
When to use MEDDPICC, and when not to
- Use it when several people decide, the deal is large or long, legal or procurement review is likely, or the forecast depends on knowing which deals will actually close.
- Use something lighter for a small sale with one decision-maker. Eight letters of evidence for a one-call purchase costs more time than it saves; our BANT guide covers the shorter check.
- Don't use it before a conversation. In outbound, you cannot confirm the economic buyer or the paper process before anyone has replied. You need a different way to decide whom to contact.
- Don't let it become a form. A scorecard filled in to satisfy a manager tells you less than one honest gap.
Common MEDDPICC mistakes
- Calling a friendly contact a champion. A champion has influence and uses it for you. Test it: ask them to arrange a meeting with the economic buyer.
- Guessing the economic buyer from a job title. Ask who signed the last purchase of this size.
- Finding the paper process after the verbal yes. Ask about security review, legal and procurement while the decision is still being made.
- Treating competition as other vendors only. Doing nothing and building it in-house are often the real alternatives.
- Scoring from optimism. If you cannot point to the evidence, score it lower.
Before MEDDPICC: find the conversation
MEDDPICC starts once a buyer is talking to you. The step before it is choosing whom to contact and giving them a reason to reply. Our guide to B2B buying signals covers which changes at a company are worth acting on, and our cold email subject lines guide covers the first message.
That first step is what Buena does. It researches each prospect for a real reason to reach out, reveals a verified work email and drafts a message for you to review. It is one membership at $97/month plus applicable tax for one member: 500 researched prospects and 500 verified work-email reveals a month. Your AI service is billed separately by your provider.
Sources
Letter definitions and history come from MEDDICC's MEDDPICC methodology page and MEDDIC Academy's MEDDPICC definition page, checked on October 1, 2026. The definitions summarize those pages in our words; the questions, the scoring method, the worked example and the practical advice are ours.