What Is MEDDPICC?

A checklist, not a study

MEDDPICC is a qualification framework. It helps a seller see what they know about a deal and what they do not. It is not a study result, and this page does not attach a win rate or reply rate to it. Where public research points the same way, we link it. Everything else here is labeled as practice. This site is not affiliated with any company that trains on it.

Writing practice, not a study result.

What the letters mean

• Metrics: how the buyer will measure success, in their own terms.
• Economic buyer: the person who can approve the spending.
• Decision criteria: what they will use to compare options.
• Decision process: the steps, people, and timing to reach a decision.
• Paper process: legal, security, and purchasing steps before anything is signed.
• Identify pain: the specific problem that makes this worth doing.
• Champion: a person inside who wants this to happen and will help.
• Competition: the other options, including doing nothing at all.

Writing practice, not a study result.

Why it is rarely a cold email method

Asking a stranger about their approval steps or legal review in a first email feels like an interrogation. On a cold note, the better move is a short message about their priority with a small ask. Gong found that on a cold email, asking whether a topic is worth a conversation works better than asking for a meeting. MEDDPICC fits once you are already talking.

Based on: Gong Labs, 2020

How it shapes a later email

After a call, a MEDDPICC-minded recap confirms what you learned and names what is still unknown. It might restate the metric they care about, check who else needs to approve, or ask about the security review. Once a deal is active, Gong found that a specific next step is the better ask.

Writing for a champion helps too. A recap they can forward to their boss, in plain words about the company's priority, does part of their job for them. Gong's research found that senior buyers need to see a company priority, not only personal details.

Based on: Gong Labs, 2020Gong Labs, 2023

Competition includes doing nothing

The last C is easy to forget. Often the real alternative is not another vendor but staying with things as they are. Research from Dixon and McKenna, written up by Challenger, found that buyer indecision is common in live deals, and that recommending a path and making the decision feel safer works better than stacking more pressure.

Based on: Challenger, 2024

An invented example

Invented example

Subject: Recap and next step for the Denver rollout

Hi Sam,

Thanks for the time today. You said success means new agents handle tickets in their first week, and that Dana signs off on the budget.

Two open questions: does your security team need to review us, and is staying with the current setup still on the table?

Could we hold Tuesday at 2pm with Dana to walk through both?

Writing practice, not a study result.

Sources

• Gong Labs. This surprising cold email CTA will help you book a lot more meetings (2020). Read the source
• Gong Labs. 4 effective ways to boost your email reply rate and book more meetings (2023). Read the source
• Challenger. Why are you losing to customer indecision? (2024). Read the source

Advice marked as writing practice is common sense for clear email, not a study result. See where all of our guidance comes from. No statistic on this page is invented.