MEDDPICC: 8 Steps, Questions + Free Template

Short answer: MEDDPICC is an 8-step B2B sales qualification framework: Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, Champion and Competition. It tells you whether a deal is real, and what is still missing, before you spend more time on it. A MEDDPICC template is an 8-row deal scorecard (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition). Each row gets a 0 to 3 score and a buyer quote as evidence, so a deal totals 0 to 24. No quote means the score is 0.

Jump to the 8 letters explained, what you can qualify before the first call, the paste-ready template, the Salesforce field map or the HubSpot field map, or score a deal with our free MEDDPICC qualifier →

MEDDPICC is a B2B sales qualification framework. It grew out of MEDDIC, which was developed at PTC in the 1990s by Dick Dunkel and Jack Napoli (see our MEDDIC guide for the history). MEDDPICC adds two letters that enterprise deals kept stalling on: Paper Process and Competition.

Each letter is a question the seller has to answer with evidence from the buyer, not with optimism.

A deal is qualified when every letter has buyer evidence behind it. A blank letter is not a failure; it is the next question to ask. The free MEDDPICC qualifier scores a deal across all 8 in about five minutes.

All three are lead qualification frameworks. They differ in how much of the deal they cover.

A common setup: BANT to decide whether a lead deserves a discovery call at all, MEDDPICC once it does.

The most common complaint about MEDDPICC is that it becomes a CRM exercise: reps fill the fields after the call to keep their manager happy. The second most common is that meetings get booked with people who were never qualified, and the AE finds out 10 minutes into the call.

You can avoid both by starting MEDDPICC before the first call. Not every letter can be known in advance, but most can be turned into a working hypothesis you confirm on the call.

A pre-call brief that answers these turns the first call from "so, what does your company do?" into confirming or killing a hypothesis. It also tells you early when a lead is not worth an AE's time.

Nimitai's Researcher Agent builds that brief automatically: who the person is, their company context, likely priorities and how they prefer to communicate. Its Preparation Agent then writes MEDDIC-aware questions into the call plan with a 1–100 readiness score, so the gaps above become the questions you ask. See how AI sales meeting prep works.

Most MEDDPICC template downloads on the internet are useless. They are decorative: eight boxes with the letters labelled, a colour gradient at the top, and no place for the rep to record the one thing that actually matters, the direct buyer quote that justifies the score. A good MEDDPICC template is not a poster. It is an evidence container.

The template you actually use, whether in Salesforce, HubSpot, Excel, or a Notion page, should capture five things per deal:

• Score: a 0 to 3 rating for each of the 8 dimensions.
• Evidence: a direct buyer quote (or paraphrase with source attribution) that justifies the score.
• Gap: what is missing to move the score up one level.
• Next-step action: what the rep is doing this week to close the gap.
• Owner: the named person responsible for closing each gap.

Without the Evidence column, every score is rep hope. The score becomes a number the rep invents at quarter-end to unblock a stage gate. With Evidence, the score is auditable: a manager can read the buyer quote and verify the score honestly. This is the difference between MEDDPICC adoption and MEDDPICC theatre. For the underlying framework, see our full guide to what MEDDPICC is, and for the shorter parent framework see our MEDDIC sales methodology guide.

The other requirement is that the template lives where the deal lives. A standalone Excel file the rep updates monthly is not adoption. The template has to be inside the CRM next to the opportunity record, or it has to be auto-populated from another system the rep already uses (a call transcript, a meeting note). Anything else dies in 90 days.

The numbers to remember: 8 dimensions in a full template, a 0 to 24 total scoring range per deal, 5 columns every row needs (score, evidence, gap, action, owner), and roughly 90 days before a manual template stops being updated.

Every MEDDPICC template, whether in Salesforce, HubSpot, a spreadsheet, or auto-populated by AI, captures the same eight fields. The dimension definitions below follow the two canonical MEDDPICC sources, Andy Whyte's MEDDICC and Darius Lahoutifard's MEDDIC Academy, with the 0 to 3 scoring rubric layered on top from our own dataset of 750+ real B2B sales calls analysed for winning and losing patterns. Here is what each field stores and the rubric we recommend.

1. Metrics (M)

Stores: the quantified outcome the buyer expects, in their own words. Example value: "cut rep ramp time from 9 to 5 months by Q3."

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = no number; 1 = generic industry metric mentioned by rep; 2 = specific metric stated by buyer, no EB validation; 3 = specific, time-bound, validated by the Economic Buyer.

2. Economic Buyer (E)

Stores: the named person with budget authority: title, contact details, number of times met.

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = unnamed; 1 = named, not met; 2 = met once, neutral; 3 = met multiple times, verbally aligned, willing to advocate internally.

3. Decision Criteria (D)

Stores: the explicit list of requirements the buyer will use to compare vendors (technical, commercial, risk).

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = no criteria stated; 1 = generic ("integrations, price, support"); 2 = specific but inherited from another vendor; 3 = specific, shaped by you, aligned with your differentiation.

4. Decision Process (D)

Stores: the sequence of steps from "we like it" to "money moves": named approvers, approval dates, mutual action plan link.

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = "this quarter" only; 1 = named stakeholders, no dates; 2 = milestones plus owners plus approximate dates; 3 = mutual action plan with CFO calendar slot booked.

5. Paper Process (P)

Stores: legal, security, procurement steps: MSA status, DPA status, SOC 2 review status, vendor onboarding, vendor code.

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = not discussed; 1 = acknowledged, no detail; 2 = security questionnaire received and answered, MSA template identified; 3 = legal review scheduled, security cleared, vendor code assigned.

6. Identify Pain (I)

Stores: the quantified cost of inaction, what the buyer loses by not buying, in the buyer's own words.

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = pain unnamed; 1 = rep-stated, buyer acknowledged; 2 = buyer-stated qualitatively; 3 = buyer-quantified ("we are losing $X per quarter").

7. Champion (C)

Stores: the named internal advocate with tested influence: name, role, last completed ask.

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = no advocate; 1 = friendly contact, untested; 2 = one small ask delivered; 3 = delivering meetings, sharing internal documents, defending you in deal reviews.

8. Competition (C)

Stores: named alternative vendors plus the do-nothing alternative, with differentiation notes per competitor.

0 to 3 rubric: 0 = competition unknown; 1 = named alternatives known, do-nothing live; 2 = alternatives differentiated, do-nothing addressed but not closed; 3 = do-nothing eliminated with a quantified urgency case.

Copy the table below directly into a Notion page, a Google Doc, a deal-review meeting agenda, or your CRM's notes field. It pastes cleanly as a table in every modern note-taking tool. For the spreadsheet version, see the Excel and Google Sheets section further down.

MEDDPICC Scorecard. Deal: [Account / Opportunity]. ACV: $[xxx,xxx]. Stage: [stage]. Scored by: [AE]. Date: [YYYY-MM-DD]. Total: [ ] / 24.

Add three columns when you paste this into a spreadsheet: Gap to next level, Next-step action, and Owner, plus a footer row for the total score out of 24 and the forecast category (pipeline / upside / commit).

The template above is intentionally minimal. It does one thing well: it forces the rep to paste a buyer quote into the Evidence column for every score above 0. If the rep cannot find a quote, the score is 0, full stop. That single rule kills 90% of MEDDPICC theatre.

For a guided browser version that walks through each dimension and outputs a structured score with action recommendations, use the free MEDDPICC qualifier tool. It runs in the browser, stores nothing server-side, and is useful for ad-hoc deal reviews or for training new reps on the rubric.

Print this checklist or paste it into your deal-review doc. A deal is forecast-ready when every box is ticked with buyer evidence attached. An unticked box is an open gap with an owner and a next-step action.

• M, Metrics: buyer stated a quantified, time-bound outcome in their own words
• E, Economic Buyer: budget holder named, met, and verbally aligned
• D, Decision Criteria: explicit criteria list captured and shaped toward your differentiation
• D, Decision Process: approvers, milestones, and dates mapped in a mutual action plan
• P, Paper Process: MSA, security review, and procurement steps identified with owners
• I, Identify Pain: buyer quantified the cost of inaction ("we lose $X per quarter")
• C, Champion: internal advocate has delivered at least one tested ask
• C, Competition: named vendors and the do-nothing option explicitly addressed

The single biggest mistake reps make filling out a MEDDPICC template is treating it as a self-report. They assign a 3 because the deal "feels strong," not because the buyer has said anything that justifies a 3. Here is the discipline that separates auditable MEDDPICC from MEDDPICC theatre.

The Evidence Rule

For every score above 0, the rep must paste a direct buyer quote (or a paraphrase with call timestamp and speaker attribution) into the Evidence column. No quote = score of 0. This is non-negotiable.

The "Whose words?" test

For Metrics, Identify Pain, and Decision Criteria specifically, the rule is harsher: the evidence must be in the buyer's words, not the rep's. "We're losing $200K to slow ramp" from the VP Sales scores 3. "I told them they could save $200K and they said yeah that makes sense" scores 1. That is rep-stated pain with polite acknowledgement, not buyer-owned pain.

The Two-Call Rule for Metrics

A Metric scores 3 only if the buyer restates the number on a second call. First-mention metrics are often offhand and not internally validated. Buyers who restate the same number across two conversations have aligned it with their internal narrative, and that is what makes the metric defensible against their CFO.

The Tested-Ask Rule for Champion

A Champion scores 2 or higher only if the rep has given them a small ask and watched them deliver. "Can you set up 30 minutes with your VP next week?" is a tested ask. If they delivered, score 2. If they keep delivering (meetings, internal documents, defending you in deal reviews), score 3. A likeable contact who has never been asked to do anything scores 1.

The Do-Nothing Test for Competition

For Competition, the rep must explicitly answer "why now versus 6 months from now?" If there is no concrete answer, Competition is at most 1, regardless of how few named vendors are in the deal. The do-nothing alternative is the number one competitor in B2B SaaS, as documented in our analysis of why prospects ghost after a demo.

The score-then-evidence trap. Reps will fill in the score first and then "find" evidence afterwards. This inverts the discipline. The correct order is: paste the buyer quote first, then assign the score based on what the quote actually proves. Managers should reject any MEDDPICC entry where the evidence is added retroactively. This single rule prevents most score inflation.

A MEDDPICC template inside Salesforce is a set of custom fields on the Opportunity object plus validation rules that gate stage transitions. Here is the canonical field map we recommend.

Custom fields to create on the Opportunity object

• MEDDPICC_Metrics__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Metrics_Evidence__c: long text area (255+)
• MEDDPICC_Economic_Buyer__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Economic_Buyer_Evidence__c: long text area
• MEDDPICC_Decision_Criteria__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Decision_Criteria_Evidence__c: long text area
• MEDDPICC_Decision_Process__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Decision_Process_Evidence__c: long text area
• MEDDPICC_Paper_Process__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Paper_Process_Evidence__c: long text area
• MEDDPICC_Identify_Pain__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Identify_Pain_Evidence__c: long text area
• MEDDPICC_Champion__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Champion_Evidence__c: long text area
• MEDDPICC_Competition__c: picklist (0, 1, 2, 3)
• MEDDPICC_Competition_Evidence__c: long text area
• MEDDPICC_Total_Score__c: formula (number), sums the 8 picklists

Validation rules

1. 01.Block stage = "Proposal" unless all 8 MEDDPICC picklists are non-null.
2. 02.Block stage = "Negotiation" unless MEDDPICC_Total_Score__c >= 12.
3. 03.Block ForecastCategory = "Commit" unless MEDDPICC_Total_Score__c >= 18.
4. 04.For each dimension above 0, require the corresponding Evidence field to be non-empty (length above 10 characters).

Dashboard structure

Build a manager-level dashboard with three core components: (a) average MEDDPICC score by rep over time, (b) commit-category deals with score under 18 (sandbag risk), (c) a dimension-level heatmap showing which letter is consistently lowest across the team. Component (c) is the most valuable. It tells the manager which coaching investment moves the most pipeline.

For deeper integration between MEDDPICC scoring and real-time call coaching, see our guide to AI sales coaching.

HubSpot uses Deal properties rather than Salesforce-style custom fields, but the structure is identical. Below is the canonical mapping for HubSpot Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise.

Deal properties to create

• meddpicc_metrics: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_metrics_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_economic_buyer: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_economic_buyer_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_decision_criteria: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_decision_criteria_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_decision_process: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_decision_process_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_paper_process: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_paper_process_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_identify_pain: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_identify_pain_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_champion: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_champion_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_competition: dropdown (0, 1, 2, 3)
• meddpicc_competition_evidence: multi-line text
• meddpicc_total_score: calculation property, sums the 8 dropdowns

Workflow automation

1. 01.If meddpicc_total_score < 12 and deal stage is past Qualifying, send a Slack alert to the AE and revert deal stage.
2. 02.If meddpicc_total_score >= 18, unlock the "Decision Maker Bought-In" stage.
3. 03.Weekly digest: send the manager a list of deals where any single dimension is 0 but the total score implies the deal is "advancing."

One HubSpot-specific advantage: the calculation property updates in real time, so the Total Score is always current. The downside is that HubSpot has no native concept of "validation rules block stage transition". You have to enforce that through workflows, which gives reps a brief window to advance bad deals before the workflow fires. Account for that in the manager review cadence.

For teams without a mature CRM, or for ad-hoc deal reviews, an Excel or Google Sheets template works fine as a starting point. The structure mirrors the paste-ready template above, with one row per opportunity and the eight dimensions as columns.

Recommended sheet structure

Use one tab per opportunity (not one row per opportunity) for active commit deals. The single-tab-per-deal layout gives each dimension enough room for the evidence quote, gap description, and action, which is what makes the template auditable in a forecast call.

For an inventory view across the full pipeline, use a second tab with one row per opportunity and just the scores (no evidence columns). The inventory tab is the "manager view"; the per-deal tabs are the "AE view."

Column structure for the per-deal tab

• Column A: Dimension label (M, E, D, D, P, I, C, C)
• Column B: Score (0 to 3), with data validation to restrict input
• Column C: Evidence (buyer quote with timestamp)
• Column D: Gap to next level
• Column E: Next-step action
• Column F: Owner
• Column G: Date scored
• Row 11: =SUM(B2:B9) for Total Score

Conditional formatting

Apply red-amber-green to Column B based on score: 0 = red, 1 = amber, 2 to 3 = green. Apply the same conditional formatting to the Total Score cell using the bands from our MEDDPICC guide: 0 to 8 red (kill or rework), 9 to 15 amber (developing), 16 to 20 light green (strong upside), 21 to 24 dark green (commit).

The spreadsheet version is a fine bridge for small teams, but it has a hard ceiling. Pipelines above roughly 40 active opportunities cannot be maintained in a spreadsheet without becoming the rep's full-time job. At that point the field-mapping approach (Salesforce or HubSpot) is the correct evolution, and beyond that, AI auto-population is the only sustainable answer.

Every team that rolls out MEDDPICC discovers the same problem 90 days in: reps will not maintain 16 custom fields after every call. They skip the evidence quote, backfill the score at quarter-end, or fabricate to unblock a stage gate. The framework looks adopted in dashboards and is not adopted in reality.

Conversation intelligence platforms solve this by listening to every sales call and writing the MEDDPICC score and supporting evidence quote directly into the corresponding CRM fields after each call. The rep does not maintain anything; the template fills itself. (In Nimitai, live MEDDIC tracking and CRM write-back are in early access.)

Here is the dimension-by-dimension mapping of what the AI listens for and how it scores:

The result is a MEDDPICC template that updates after every call without anyone touching Salesforce or HubSpot. Managers see real scores in real time, not the fictional ones reps backfill at quarter-end. This is the only sustainable answer to the 90-day adoption problem, and it is the reason most teams that have tried MEDDPICC twice in their career describe the second attempt as "MEDDPICC plus conversation intelligence."

For broader context on how AI fits into discovery and qualification, see our guide to AI sales meeting prep and our sales qualification framework overview.

Across the teams we have watched implement MEDDPICC templates, in Salesforce, HubSpot, spreadsheets, and Notion, the same mistakes show up repeatedly. Avoid these eight.

1. 01.No Evidence column. The template stores scores only, with no place for the supporting buyer quote. Scores become rep self-report. Managers cannot audit. The template is theatre.
2. 02.Updating at quarter-end only. MEDDPICC dies the moment the template becomes a once-a-quarter exercise. The score has to update after every meaningful conversation, which is why AI auto-population matters so much.
3. 03.No validation rule blocking stage advancement. Without a hard gate, reps move deals to Negotiation with a Total Score of 7. The forecast inflates. The miss happens. Add the validation rule on Day 1.
4. 04.Treating the score as a single number. A deal at 18/24 with Paper Process at 0 is far more at risk than a deal at 15/24 with every dimension at 1 to 3. Review the dimension distribution, not just the total.
5. 05.Filling the score first, then "finding" evidence. This inverts the discipline. The correct order is: paste the buyer quote first, then assign the score based on what the quote actually proves. Reject retroactive evidence.
6. 06.Skipping Paper Process because "legal is fast here". It is never fast. Even teams with mature procurement add 3 to 6 weeks. Paper Process is the most-skipped, most-impactful field in the template.
7. 07.Confusing meeting attendees with Economic Buyer. A VP who attended one call is not an Economic Buyer at 3. EB is met multiple times, verbally aligned, willing to advocate. Apply the rubric honestly.
8. 08.Not closing the gap between template and forecast. The score has to gate forecast categories: Commit unlocked at 18+, Upside at 12+, Pipeline below 12. If the template and the forecast call are independent rituals, the template is decoration.

Most of these eight mistakes are coaching problems, not template problems, which is why teams that pair the template with sales coaching software keep it alive past the 90-day mark. For the broader set of MEDDPICC adoption traps, including the methodology-level mistakes that go beyond template design, see the pitfalls section of our MEDDPICC framework guide. For the discovery questions that produce the evidence the template captures, see our MEDDPICC discovery questions playbook.

If you want MEDDPICC built into call prep, Nimitai's Preparation Agent writes MEDDIC-aware questions into every call plan with a 1–100 readiness score; live MEDDIC tracking with write-back to Salesforce or HubSpot is in early access. Nimitai is $149 per seat per month, month-to-month, no seat minimum.