Sales qualification guide
MEDDPICC is a checklist for qualifying complex deals. Here’s what each letter means, the questions to ask, and a free template to score your next deal.
Written by the team behind Ricavi · Last reviewed 30 October 2026 · 12 minute read
The short answer
MEDDPICC is a sales qualification framework for complex B2B deals. Its eight letters are things a seller confirms with the buyer: metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, paper process, identify pain, champion, and competition. When all eight are confirmed, the deal is real. Each gap tells you what to ask next.
The MEDDPICC sales methodology grew out of MEDDIC, an older framework. It’s built for deals with many buyers, long cycles, and a formal buying process.
Each letter is one thing you need to know before the deal can close.
It suits many buyers, long cycles, and formal buying steps.
It adds two checks: paper process and competition.
A letter counts only when the buyer has said it.
Last reviewed 30 October 2026
Written by the team behind Ricavi
The eight letters
The acronym lists the qualification criteria for one deal. Two of them are people: the economic buyer and the champion.
M
The gain the buyer expects, in their own numbers.
What is this worth to them?
E
The person who can approve the spend, or stop it.
Who signs?
D
What they’ll use to compare the options.
How will they choose?
D
The steps, people, and dates between now and a decision.
How and when will they decide?
P
What happens after they say yes: legal, security, procurement, and signature.
How does a yes become a contract?
I
The problem that costs them enough to act now.
Why change, and why now?
C
Someone inside with influence who sells for you when you’re not in the room.
Who’s pushing for this?
C
Every other option, including doing nothing or building it themselves.
What else could win?
You’ll also see it spelt MEDDPIC or MEDPICC, and the I written as “implicate the pain”. It’s the same framework.
Questions for each letter
Pick a letter to see the questions to ask. Then see how it looks on a worked MEDDPICC example: Brightwell’s $42,000 rollout, now at proposal.
Brightwell - PRO rollout
2 confirmed3 partial3 openScore: 7 of 16
Brightwell is a made-up company. We use it in every example on this site.
Want this as a blank sheet? Get the template
MEDDIC vs MEDDPICC
MEDDPICC is MEDDIC with two more checks.
MEDDIC came out of the software company PTC in the 1990s. Competition was added later to make MEDDICC. Paper process was added to make MEDDPICC. All three share the same core.
Included
✕
Not included
Element
Metrics
Economic buyer
Decision criteria
Decision process
Paper process
✕
✕
Identify pain
Champion
Competition
✕
Use MEDDIC when deals are simpler: one or two buyers, a short cycle, and light procurement.
Use MEDDPICC when deals stall in legal or procurement, or you often lose to another option or to doing nothing.
How to run it
Don’t ask all eight on the first call. Fill the letters in as the deal moves through your sales process.
01
Discovery
Find out what hurts and what it costs, in the buyer’s own numbers. Good discovery questions come before any demo.
02
Discovery to demo
Ask them to bring the economic buyer into the next meeting. A real champion will try.
03
Demo
Use the buyer’s words. List every option they’re weighing, including doing nothing.
04
Before the proposal
Ask who signs, who reviews, and how long each step takes. Do it before you send the proposal, not after.
05
Every week
Go through them in every deal review. Mark each one confirmed, partial, or open. Each open letter is your next question.
Why deals stall even when they look qualified: complex B2B deals often die after the proposal.
Template
Use it as a checklist on every deal. Score each letter 0, 1, or 2. A fully qualified deal scores 16.
2 = confirmed: the buyer said it, and you know when. 1 = partial: you heard it once, or from one person. 0 = open: you don’t know yet.
Free to use and share. No sign-up.
Where Ricavi fits
Your team learned the methodology in a workshop. Ricavi checks it live on each call and prompts the step a rep missed while the buyer can still answer.
The Ricavi panel starts the call with the methodology and objective already set, here MEDDPICC and Discovery.
Twenty-two minutes into a discovery call, the decision process is still open on the MEDDPICC checklist. The sidebar flags it and writes out the question to ask, while there’s still time.
Each call is scored on five skills and against your methodology. Every score comes with timestamped moments from the call, so a rep can check it.
Any sales methodology, or build your own.
See how live coaching works →
Common mistakes
01
Instead of: Filling in the letters from memory before the forecast call.
Try: Note what the buyer said, and when, straight after each call.
02
Instead of: Calling any friendly contact a champion.
Try: Ask them for a meeting with the economic buyer. A champion makes it happen.
03
Instead of: Asking all eight letters on the first call.
Try: Let discovery lead. Fill the letters in over several calls.
04
Instead of: Leaving the paper process until after the verbal yes.
Try: Ask about legal, security, and procurement before the proposal.
05
Instead of: Counting a deal with open letters as commit.
Try: Keep it out of the forecast until the economic buyer and decision process are confirmed.
A tip from our podcast: if you can’t write the buyer’s problem statement, you’re still qualifying.
“
I was at dinner and overheard my team telling our GM how valuable they found Ricavi.
Jane Susak
Sales Manager, Essential Assessment
Hosted by Luigi, Regan, and Dave
By Luigi and Dave
Free, in Growth Forum
Under the bonnet
Behind Ricavi are 20 years of the founders’ sales coaching and 5,000+ built-in skills.
The people behind it
Dave builds companies. Regan builds sales teams. Luigi builds performance.
Built-in skills
5,000+
Each one is a play for one moment in a deal, like handling a price objection or mapping the buying committee.
“I have been working with the team at Ricavi for the last two months and already achieved higher conversion rates and a faster sales cycle.”
Stuart Cook
MD, TWIYO
FAQ
Ricavi checks your methodology live on each call and scores every call against it, so the gaps show while the deal can still be saved.
