At SalesHood’s most recent Multipliers Conference, VP of Revenue Enablement at Planview, Penny Springer shared the secrets to increasing sales efficiency with MEDDICC sales training, coaching, and up-skilling revenue teams. Here’s a look at some of the best practices, tactics, and tips she included in her presentation. Sales is ever-evolving, and so are the frameworks we use. Still, there are many things that remain constant. One is that the quality of your leads has a direct impact on the quality of your sales pipeline, and for many sellers, qualifying those leads is an ongoing challenge. The MEDDICC sales qualification framework offers a clear solution to this problem, as it empowers sellers to engage with more of the right people and opportunities. It also helps move deals through the sales pipeline faster and improves sales forecasting accuracy. Wondering how MEDDICC can help your organization increase sales efficiency? In this post, we’ll cover what you need to know. You’ll get the full picture, from the basics to the benefits, and find tips to roll out this framework.
What is MEDDICC?
MEDDICC is a sales qualification framework that helps sales reps assess the potential of a lead or opportunity in terms of its ability to generate revenue. It also happens to be one of the most popular and effective sales methodologies in B2B sales. The framework encourages sales reps to go through each step of the sales process to determine whether a lead is worth pursuing and to tailor their approach accordingly. By considering each factor, sales reps can improve their chances of success and close deals more efficiently. Understanding the foundations of the MEDDICC framework and how it works is critical to effective implementation. Not familiar with MEDDICC? Here’s what each letter in the acronym stands for.
Why B2B Sales Organizations Choose MEDDICC
In sales, it’s important for everyone to speak the same language. This helps improve collaboration and promote a unified approach to sales that contributes to growth and revenue goals. However, figuring out what the best framework will be isn’t always easy. At Planview, the pressure was on to find the right framework. After several acquisitions, the organization was bringing several different sales teams together. How would they look at opportunities? How were they going to get everyone to use a common language when discussing the deals together? Planview identified MEDDICC as the right sales methodology to answer those questions. The MEDDICC sales framework is popular for organizations because it provides a comprehensive and customer-focused approach to sales. When everyone has an understanding of the customer’s decision-making process and how to meet their needs, more deals close. Once you determine this is the right framework for your organization, the next piece of the puzzle is finding a way to implement MEDDICC effectively. You need to get everyone on board and up to speed.
How to Enable and Guide MEDDICC Adoption
Having a consistent sales process across the organization can only happen when there’s clarity and knowledge. Here are some ideas to help you adopt MEDDPICC in your sales organization.
Encourage Leadership Engagement and Support
Success with a sales methodology starts from the top, so get your leaders involved in presenting the approach and goals. Go beyond what you want people to know, and set the expectation that your sales professionals won’t just learn concepts in MEDDICC. They’ll discover how to apply MEDDICC as they drive actions throughout the sales process
Be a Champion
Having knowledge is one thing, but the impact of a sales methodology will only become clear when salespeople know how to apply it in real-time. Join deal calls and forecast calls to guide sellers in the organization on MEDDICC. Tell them when they were doing well, and also be there to point out when the methodology wasn’t followed. You can be a consistent sales coach along the way to reinforce the right action at the right time in the sales process.
Have Fun With the Rollout
Adding a new sales methodology and sales training should be exciting for you and everyone on your sales team. Get creative to contribute to a positive atmosphere, and foster a sense of community and collaboration among team members. For example, every Monday for eight weeks, Planview teams got a short video featuring a “MEDDICC Monday” song. In that video, there was a sales leader, an account executive, or an SDR. They talked about their MEDDICC best practices and how they implemented them. Sharing win stories and best practices was a great way to reinforce concepts. Layering in a catchy song was a way to make the rollout fun, motivational, and memorable – but also to ensure that the concepts stick.
Provide Tools and Processes to Make MEDDICC Sales Training Easier
Putting together a sales training program that fits your organization’s approach is just the first step. Only 10% of traditional sales training has a lasting impact on sales reps, but there are actions you can take to support retention and application. To help the framework stick, consider putting together a cheat sheet. That will empower your reps with access to the key concepts, and processes that they need to use during their interactions with customers and prospects. Organizations like Planview embed their sales training, resources, and reinforcement process in SalesHood’s sales enablement platform. This helps ensure that sellers are well-equipped with the knowledge they need. You can also use SalesHood’s turnkey MEDDICC sales training to support a quick rollout, reduce blind spots in the sales process, and easily track sales rep progress.
Keep Everyone Accountable and Motivated
You should always know where teams are and how they’re doing with learning. That way, you can give them a push if they need it. Empower your sales leaders to do the same by having clear and viable reporting. Also, remember that change isn’t always easy, so when things are on the right track for a team, celebrate their wins to boost morale. You can also motivate individual team members by badging or praising them when you check in. Taking the time to do this can have a significant impact on your bottom line, as Gallup research shows that engaged employees that are more present and productive can result in a 23% difference in profitability.
3 Powerful Lessons About Sales Efficiency
Implementing MEDDICC can also lead to new ideas about sales efficiency within the organization. These insights can help any company improve productivity and performance, even as the sales landscape continues to transform.
Lesson #1: Peer-to-peer Learning Creates a Common Perspective
When salespeople learn together, they have the opportunity to discuss and exchange ideas, leading to a shared understanding of concepts and processes. This is great for communication and engagement, but it also has another benefit. When your entire revenue team is working from the same foundation of knowledge, they can establish a consistent approach. That creates a better experience for sales teams and buyers alike. If you’re not sure how to encourage your sellers to learn together, try a book club. Have your leadership team choose a good book that aligns with your goals and have everyone read it. Then the reps who participate can communicate about the book and discuss how to apply the skills they pick up.
Lesson #2: Documentation Makes a Difference
While implementing new frameworks and processes in your organization, documentation and visuals can have a significant impact. This helps to ensure that everyone knows what to do and is on the same page. For example, Planview put together an account template for deal reviews. The template is dated, and it explores the current status of MEDDICC. Every month they can look for progress and see where things may still be lacking.
Lesson #3: Focus On Up-skilling Sellers
Once you make progress implementing MEDDPICC, there is still a pending question: What can you do to reinforce and upskill, especially for those that are struggling? What could the company put together for them to help them reach their full potential? With the help of SalesHood sales training, you can put some individualized quick learning paths together. It’s also possible to create career progression paths for those who want to transition to another role.
Bottom Line: The Value of MEDDICC for Sales Organizations
MEDDPICC is a powerful tool for getting your entire revenue team speaking the same language, improving deal qualification, and increasing sales efficiency. By leveraging MEDDICC, Planview achieved an over 90% path completion rate, higher conversion rates, and improved quota attainment. That’s just the numbers the company can quantify. As conversations and coaching have been more productive there has also been greater alignment between team members and more professional growth.
Looking for an Easier Way to Increase Sales Efficiency and Boost Win Rates?
You can train your sellers to qualify deals more effectively, drive urgency with buyers, improve forecasting accuracy, and boost win rates by leveraging the MEDDICC sales methodology framework. Learn more about SalesHood’s MEDDICC sales training curriculum and discover how we can help you increase sales efficiency in your organization. If you want to take the next step and learn how to enable your teams with additional training, coaching, and content, talk to one of our sales enablement experts. SalesHood powers fast-growing companies with our purpose-built, all-in-one sales enablement platform by activating revenue teams to improve sales effectiveness and efficiency.
Get more sales efficiency insights by making one of these posts your next read:
How MEDDICC Helps Sellers Drive Urgency in B2B SaaS Sales
Sales Methodology Guide: Choosing the Right One for Your Business
