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MEDDPICC + R = MEDDPICCR - RISKS
Andy Whyte 4 min
Andy Whyte 06 September 2022

MEDDPICC + R = MEDDPICCR - RISKS

CONTENTS

 

RISKS

The Risks are the specific Risks that you have identified within your deal that will either remain and need to be monitored or overcome.

The Risks speak for themselves. They are considerations that you have highlighted that threaten the progression of your deal.

Why WE Added the R to MEDDPICC

We added the R for Risks to MEDDPICC from when Andy led the sales team at Poq.

Poq is a SaaS company that makes apps for retailers. The biggest challenge they faced is that they are trying to create their own category. The category is called App Commerce, and it represented native apps for retailers.

The best way to articulate the challenge that Poq had and why the risk was such a factor when selling their solution is to look at the Three Whys:

1. Why should a retailer invest in having an app?
2. Why should they use Poq to build their app?
3. Why should they do this now?

In 'MEDDICC - The Book', we go deeper into Risks and use Poq as a case study as to why calling out Risks as part of MEDDPICC is a useful tool.

What are some examples of Risk?

Risks pop up throughout your deal and the list of possible risks is pretty long. Here are some examples of risks that occur frequently:

  • Unable to uncover meaningful Metrics

  • No access to the Economic Buyer

  • Decision Criteria is unknown, or we’ve failed to influence it

  • We don’t know the Decision or Paper Process

  • The pain isn’t significant, or we’ve been unable to implicate it.

  • Unqualified Champion

  • Champion or other major stakeholder leaves or joins a different department

  • Our Competition has a more influential Champion than us

  • Our Competition has the march on us

  • While many sales organizations will call out these risks within their appropriate sections of MEDDPICC, given their importance, I like to call them out separately to focus on them.

The Levels of Risk

There are three levels of risk in which we measure the severity in the form of a RAG Status (Red, Amber, or Green). Their definitions are loosely defined as:

  • Green Flag – The Risk has either been overcome, no longer exists, or if it remains, it is confidently not seen as a risk to the progression of the deal.

  • Amber Flag– The Risk is not seen as a significant risk, and it is not currently impacting the progress of the deal, although this may change. Efforts are ongoing to try and reduce the risk.

  • Red Flag – The Risk poses a significant threat to the success of the deal, and attempts to solve it should be undertaken urgently.

Examples of Risks

A Risk is anything that stands to threaten your deal’s progression and just as Competition; they can fall into three categories:

  • Political Risk

  • Technical Risk

  • Commercial Risk

 

A Competitor’s particular strength could be a risk, as could a shortfall of the functionality of your solution.

Risks could be related to more political or personnel matters such as a deadline you have before your Champion goes on maternity leave, or leaves the business entirely.

On the Commercial side, you could have a risk where your Competition has undercut your price so drastically that it may undermine your cost even if you have uncovered more value. Or you could have a scenario where the customer’s legal team has raised a requirement that you know your company will have trouble accepting.

Risk and your Champion

Your best tool for eradicating Risks is your Champion. Not only can they give you more insights upon the challenge that is causing the risk but once you find a solution you can send them in to bat for you to

Risk and The Go-Live Plan

There is a specific section within the Go Live Plan which is devoted to highlighting any risks.

The purpose of having this section within the Go Live Plan is that it surfaces the Risks to the awareness of the customer.

Of course, you will only want to surface Risks that you want your customer to be aware of. For instance, you would be unlikely to highlight a Risk you have because of a weakness in your solution, but you are likely to highlight a risk that the customer’s legal team has created by demanding a term that you cannot accept.

You can also use this section to reinforce Risks that the customer faces themselves, such as a Risk around missing a deadline meaning they will miss they targeted Go-Live date or if they don’t sign the contract by a specific time a discount may be lifted.

Risks and your Sales Process

As your sales process evolves, so are the types of Risk that you are likely to face.

Early-Stages:

In the Early-Stages of your deal, the Risks you face are likely to be related to the deal’s qualification. A Risk is expected to be that you misqualify the deal and invest too much time into a deal that isn’t winnable.

Fortunately, as an owner of this book, you now have a sales qualification framework in your hands, which will help you to reduce this Risk.

Mid-Stages:

By the Mid-Stages, your deal should be fully qualified, meaning you have established that you have a fair shot of winning the deal.

You should have identified the majority of Technical Risks that you will be actively working to solve while trying to uncover any further Political and Commercial Risks that exist.

Late-Stages:

By the Late-Stages of your deal, you should have all of the Risks surfaced and be actively trying to solve the ones you can.

Your Champion should be working closely with you to help you work through the Risks.

Summary of the Risks

Risks can pop up at any time during the deal. Unusually, a deal will exist without Risks. It is important to uncover all Risks as swiftly as possible and put in place a plan to mitigate them.

This page is a super-condensed definition of the Risks. For full insight, strategies, tips and hacks on how to use the Risk in your MEDDPICC / MEDDICC / MEDDIC Framework be sure to buy MEDDICC – The Book.

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