MEDDPICC
MEDDPICC is a checklist for qualifying complex B2B deals. Its letters stand for Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Paper process, Identify pain, Champion and Competition. It is MEDDIC plus Paper process and Competition. For each letter, record what the buyer confirmed and what you are still assuming.
The PortifyLead AI Sales Brief follows the same rule: a field is filled only when the conversation supports it, and marked “Not detected” when it does not. The scorecard below asks you to do the same by hand.
| Letter | What counts as confirmed | Evidence | Source | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metrics | The buyer names the number they want to move and gives today’s figure | |||
| Economic buyer | A named person who signs off the spend, confirmed by them or by someone who has seen them do it | |||
| Decision criteria | The buyer states what options will be judged on, and which of those is a must | |||
| Decision process | The buyer lists the steps, the people and the date for a decision | |||
| Paper process | The buyer names each step from yes to signature: procurement, legal, security review, signers | |||
| Identify pain | The buyer describes the problem in their own words and what it costs them | |||
| Champion | A person with influence has acted for you, for example by sharing inside information or opening a door | |||
| Competition | The buyer names the alternatives, including doing nothing |
What does each MEDDPICC letter mean?
Each letter is one thing you need to know about the deal. The two sites that publish the method word the letters a little differently. They agree on the substance, and they differ on the I, which is “Identify pain” on meddpicc.net and “Implicate the pain” on meddicc.com. The sections below use “Identify pain”. Paper process, the letter MEDDIC lacks, has its own section further down.
For every letter, the test is the same: is it confirmed by the buyer, or is it something you assume? The questions are suggestions to adapt, not a script.
Metrics
Metrics are the measurable value the buyer expects. meddicc.com defines them as the quantifiable measures of value your solution can provide; meddpicc.net as the potential gain and its economic benefit.
Confirmed: the buyer gives you the number and where it stands today. Assumed: you worked out their savings from your own calculator.
- What number would tell you this worked?
- Where is that number today?
- What does it cost you each month while it stays there?
Economic buyer
The economic buyer is the person with the final say over the spend. meddicc.com describes the person with overall authority in the buying decision; meddpicc.net the person with decision control over the funds.
Confirmed: a named person who signs, confirmed by them or by someone who has watched them sign. Assumed: “the champion said the CFO decides”.
- Who signs off spending like this?
- When did they last approve something similar?
- Can we speak with them before the proposal goes in?
Decision criteria
Decision criteria are what the buyer will judge the options on. meddpicc.net words it as the criteria the company uses to choose among options.
Confirmed: the buyer states them, ideally in order, and says which are must-haves. Assumed: you inferred them from the features they asked about.
- What will you compare the options on?
- Which of those can you not give up?
- Who wrote the list?
Decision process
The decision process is how the buyer reaches a decision. meddicc.com calls it the steps the buyer will take to decide whether to buy.
Confirmed: the buyer lists the steps, who is involved in each, and the date they need to decide by. Assumed: you expect it to take about as long as your last deal.
- How will you get from here to a decision?
- Who is involved at each step?
- What date do you need to decide by, and what sets it?
Identify pain
This is the problem that makes the buyer act. meddpicc.net describes actual pains that would require your product to be relieved; meddicc.com says implicating the pain means you have identified, indicated and implicated it.
Confirmed: the buyer describes the problem in their own words and says what it costs. Assumed: you think they have the problem because companies like theirs usually do.
- What is not working today?
- Who feels it most, and how?
- What happens if nothing changes this year?
Champion
A champion is someone with power, influence and credibility inside the buyer in meddicc.com’s words. meddpicc.net describes powerful, influential people who favour your solution.
Confirmed: the person has done something for you, such as sharing how the buyer decides or introducing you to the economic buyer. Assumed: they are friendly and answer your emails.
- What would make this an easy yes for you internally?
- Who might object, and why?
- Could you introduce me to the person who signs?
Competition
Competition is every alternative the buyer is weighing, including a rival vendor, an internal project or no decision at all. meddicc.com says any alternative person, vendor or initiative, and meddpicc.net names the status quo explicitly.
Confirmed: the buyer tells you what else they are considering. Assumed: you guessed which vendor they will compare you with.
- What else are you looking at?
- What happens if you do nothing?
- Has anyone here used a tool like this before?
What is the paper process in MEDDPICC?
The paper process is the series of steps from a verbal yes to a signed contract. meddicc.com describes the steps that follow the decision process on the way to signature; meddpicc.net lists procurement, security review and legal. A deal can be agreed in conversation and still wait on these steps.
Confirmed: the buyer names each step and its owner, such as procurement, legal, a security questionnaire and the signers, and tells you how long the last supplier took. Assumed: you expect them to sign on the strength of a good call.
- After you decide, what has to happen before a contract is signed?
- Does a security review or vendor questionnaire apply?
- Who signs, and does the amount trigger another approval?
- How long did the last supplier take to get through it?
Ask early. The answers decide whether a quarter-end date is possible at all.
What does a MEDDPICC example look like?
Here is one for an invented deal, so no figure in it is real. A small software company is selling a route-planning tool to a regional food distributor. Two letters are unknown and one is only assumed, which is a normal place to be mid-deal and tells the seller what to ask next.
| Letter | Status | Entry |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics | Confirmed | The operations manager wants late deliveries halved and gave this week’s count (source: her, on the discovery call). |
| Economic buyer | Unknown | The operations manager said “finance decides”. No name yet. |
| Decision criteria | Confirmed | Must work with their dispatch system; price comes second (source: operations manager, email). |
| Decision process | Partly confirmed | A two-week pilot, then a review with the finance director. Review date not set. |
| Paper process | Unknown | Not asked yet. |
| Identify pain | Confirmed | Late deliveries cost them customer credits (source: operations manager, in her words). |
| Champion | Assumed | Friendly and quick to reply, but has not shared anything internal or offered an introduction. |
| Competition | Confirmed | A spreadsheet and one named rival vendor (source: operations manager). |
The next call writes itself: get a name and a meeting for the person who decides, and ask what happens after the pilot.
When does MEDDPICC fit?
MEDDPICC fits long B2B deals with procurement, legal review and rival vendors. For choosing among qualification frameworks, see lead qualification.
Where did MEDDPICC come from, and is there a MEDDPICC book?
MEDDPICC grew out of MEDDIC, a checklist from the software company PTC. meddicc.com says Dick Dunkel created MEDDIC at PTC in 1996 and credits Jack Napoli and Dick Dunkel as its creators; meddpicc.net says its roots are at PTC.
On 21 April 2026 a US federal court in Pennsylvania ruled MEDDPICC a generic term and ordered a trademark registration cancelled, according to MEDDICC Ltd, which brought the case, and its counsel Fox Rothschild; MEDDIC Academy, the registration’s holder, calls the ruling interlocutory and says the case continues, in a May 2026 post.
There are at least two books. Andy Whyte’s “MEDDICC The Book” is sold on meddicc.com. meddpicc.net lists “Always Be Qualifying, MEDDIC, MEDDPICC” by Darius Lahoutifard, published in June 2020.
What can a LinkedIn conversation show?
Some letters, not all, and PortifyLead does not fill in MEDDPICC. When you have had a conversation, the AI Sales Brief has fields that line up with a few letters:
- Competition: competitors or alternatives.
- Decision process: stakeholders, authority, budget and decision process.
- Identify pain: needs, desired outcomes and pain points.
- Economic buyer: stakeholders and authority.
- Paper process: partly, through blockers and decision process (our reading, not a dedicated field).
Metrics, decision criteria and champion have no matching field and usually need a call. A field appears when the conversation supports it and your plan includes it, and one the conversation did not show stays “Not detected”. A Brief needs a conversation; saving the contact does not.
Questions
What does MEDDPICC stand for?
Metrics, Economic buyer, Decision criteria, Decision process, Paper process, Identify pain, Champion and Competition. meddicc.com writes the I as “Implicate the pain”.
What is a MEDDPICC template?
A table with the eight letters and a place to record what you know about each. The one on this page adds columns for evidence, source and date, so a confirmed answer can be told from an assumed one.
Do you need all eight letters answered before you can move a deal on?
No, and this is our judgement rather than a rule from either site. Unknown is an honest answer. It shows the next question to ask, and a letter filled with a guess hides it.
What is the difference between confirmed and assumed?
A confirmed answer came from the buyer, or from something you saw, and you can say who and when. An assumed one is what you expect to be true. Writing which is which keeps an assumption from becoming a forecast.
