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Who created MEDDIC?

MEDDIC was created inside of PTC in 1996 by Dick Dunkel who was working under the leadership of PTC SVP John McMahon and in collaboration with teammate Jack Napoli. The acronym is formed of six elements which came from an exercise Dick Dunkel was undertaking to ascertain:

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Why did PTC win deals?
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Why did PTC lose deals?
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Why did deals slip at PTC?

What Dick found was that there were six commonalities in the answers to these questions and these commonalities were the basis and origin of MEDDIC. Consequently, Dick is referred to as the “biological” father of MEDDIC. As Dick and Jack Napoli were preparing for a sales education event Dick wrote the acronym on the whiteboard to review. 

Jack witnessed the “birth of MEDDIC” and this is why Jack will tell you that he is affectionately/humorously known as the “Godfather” of MEDDIC. Dick on the other hand thinks Jack is known as the Godfather due to his active and influential role in its “upbringing” as he helped to refine the message and applications and shared it with so many emerging enterprise sales teams. 

THE OG’s of MEDDIC

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Dick Dunkel

Role in MEDDIC: Creator when at PTC
Dick created MEDDIC at PTC when working through why deals are Won/Lost and Slip.

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John McMahon

Role in MEDDIC: SVP of Sales at PTC
John was PTC’s sales leader who guided Dick towards the creation of MEDDIC.

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Jack Napoli

Role in MEDDIC: VP of Sales Development at PTC
Jack is known as the Godfather as MEDDIC, so great was his impact on the proliferation of MEDDIC.

So what is MEDDPICC and why is it our preferred variation?

MEDDPICC is a variation of MEDDIC that has evolved to include a P that stands for Paper Process and an additional C that stands for Competition.

AN INCREASE IN COMPLEXITY IN THE PAPER PROCESS

Buying technology was much simpler in the 90s. Perpetual licenses meant subscription agreements were not yet needed, and data security and privacy was far less stringent. The evolution of the relationship and contractual obligations between vendor and customer means the Paper Process has become a greater risk to sellers’ forecasts and worthy of its own initial – evolving MEDDIC or MEDDICC to MEDDPICC.

INCREASED COMPETITION

Competition comes in many guises. These include the proliferation of new Martech companies – which pop up at a rate of five a day, reflecting the relative ease with which new platforms can be built using today’s technology which didn’t exist back in the nineties. Competition could also be any vendor, initiative or person competing for the same budget and resource as you. It could also be an in-house solution, or simply a decision to do nothing. Any of these are dangerous to a seller’s forecast.

Teach me MEDDIC in 10 minutes!

No time to spare? Then this video is for you - we’ll take a whistle stop tour on all things MEDDIC in just 10 minutes.

How to decide on MEDDIC vs MEDDPICC

If you answer mostly yes to the questions below, you may have a more complicated Paper Process and you may have had deals slip by unforeseen events that have occured. We’d recommend MEDDPICC as your preferred variation.

IS YOUR PAPERWORK COMPLICATED?

How complicated is your paperwork? Does your paperwork regularly get stuck in approval chains or multiple cycles of red-lines with legal teams?

IS YOUR SOLUTION NEW?

Is your solution often the first of its kind that your customer is buying and therefore has new areas of approval such as legal, privacy, and security that slow the deal down?

IS YOUR CHAMPION DISCONNECTED?

Do you frequently find that your Champion is having to learn about the steps and stages of the Paper Process at the same time you are?

DO YOU SELL TO LARGE ORGS?

Is the typical organization you sell to of a size where stakeholders within the Paper Process don't know each other/work together regularly?

DO UNPLANNED EVENTS OCCUR?

When you analyze events that occur in the Paper Process, are they mostly expected? Or do you find yourself frequently surprised and on the back foot?

DO FORECASTED DEALS SLIP?

Have you had a deal slip recently due to an event occurring that you didn't foresee, but could have predicted if you had been more thorough in qualifying the Paper Process and stakeholders?

The elements of MEDDPICC

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Metrics

M is for Metrics. The Metrics are the quantifiable measures of value that your solution can provide. Here at MEDDICC™, we break these down into M1s, M2s and M3s.

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Economic Buyer

E is for Economic Buyer: The Economic Buyer is the person with the overall authority in the buying decision.

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Decision Criteria

D is for Decision Criteria: The Decision Criteria are the various criteria with which a decision to process your solution will be judged.

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Decision Process

D is for Decision Process: The Decision Process is the series of steps that form a process that the buyer will follow to make a decision.

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Paper Process

P is for Paper Process: The Paper Process is the series of steps that follow the Decision Process in how you will go from Decision to signature.

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Implicate the Pain

I is for Implicate the Pain: Implicating the Pain means you have both Identified, Indicated, and Implicated the Pain your solution solves upon your customer.

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Champion

C is for Champion: The Champion is a person who has power, influence, and credibility within the customer’s organization.

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Competition

C is for Competition: The Competition is any person, vendor, or initiative competing for the same funds or resources you are.

MEDDICC Registry

Hundreds of top performing sales organizations rely on variations of MEDDIC to help them run efficient and effective revenue organizations. To find out which ones or to add an organization you know to the registry, visit The MEDDIC Registry.
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