Fires on call processing, deal strategy, meeting prep, pipeline review, and deal creation. Provides: 8-element scoring rubric (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Paper Process, Identify Pain, Champion, Competition) with Red/Yellow/Green definitions, evidence requirements per level, and discovery questions to advance each element. Output contract: every MEDDPICC score has a specific evidence quote or gap identification.
Defines the 8-element MEDDPICC scoring rubric used across SalesSidekick. Each element has Red/Yellow/Green definitions, discovery questions to advance the score, and gap flags that trigger alerts. This is the qualification backbone of the entire system.
Each element is scored Red (unknown/unvalidated), Yellow (partially confirmed), or Green (fully validated with evidence).
What quantifiable business outcomes will the customer achieve?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | No quantified business case. Customer hasn't articulated measurable impact. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | Customer has acknowledged general impact but hasn't quantified it. OR AE has estimated metrics but customer hasn't validated. | Customer statement about general impact, or AE's calculated estimate |
| 🟢 Green | Customer has confirmed specific, quantified metrics they expect. Numbers are theirs, not ours. | Direct customer quote with specific numbers |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Metrics is Red at Proposal stage or later → HIGH RISK. No business case = no urgency.
Who has the authority and budget to make the purchasing decision?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | Economic buyer not identified. OR identified but never engaged. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | Economic buyer identified and name known. May have met briefly or been mentioned by champion. | Name, title, and at least one data point about their priorities |
| 🟢 Green | Economic buyer directly engaged. Has expressed support or stated decision criteria. We understand their priorities. | Direct interaction evidence — meeting notes, email exchange, or champion-confirmed alignment |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Economic Buyer is Red at Negotiation stage → CRITICAL RISK. Deal cannot close without EB engagement.
What criteria will the customer use to evaluate and select a solution?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | Unknown evaluation criteria. We're guessing what matters to them. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | Some criteria known from conversations, but not formally confirmed or complete. | Partial list from discovery calls |
| 🟢 Green | Full decision criteria documented and confirmed by the customer. We know how they'll evaluate us AND competitors. | Customer-confirmed criteria list, ideally written |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Decision Criteria is Red at Qualification stage or later → MEDIUM RISK. We may be solving the wrong problem.
What steps, approvals, and timeline does the customer follow to make a decision?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | Unknown decision process. No visibility into internal steps or timeline. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | General process known (e.g., "it goes through procurement") but specific steps, timeline, or approvals not confirmed. | High-level process description from a contact |
| 🟢 Green | Step-by-step process documented with timeline, approvers, and potential blockers identified. | Detailed process map confirmed by champion or economic buyer |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Decision Process is Red at Proposal stage or later → HIGH RISK. We don't know what we don't know about their internal process.
What is the procurement, legal, and security review process?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | No visibility into procurement, legal, or security requirements. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | General awareness (e.g., "legal will review") but no specific timeline, requirements, or contacts in procurement. | General statement from a contact |
| 🟢 Green | Specific procurement contacts identified. Legal/security requirements known. Timeline for paper process documented. | Detailed requirements from procurement contact or champion |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Paper Process is Red at Negotiation stage → HIGH RISK. Paper process surprises kill deals.
What is the customer's core pain, and have they articulated it in their own words?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | Pain not validated. We assume they have a problem but haven't heard it from them. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | Customer has acknowledged a problem area but hasn't articulated specific pain or quantified impact. | General acknowledgment from a contact |
| 🟢 Green | Customer has described specific pain in their own words, with concrete examples and impact. Pain is urgent — they need to solve it. | Direct quote describing pain, specific examples, and urgency indicators |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Pain is Red at any stage → FUNDAMENTAL RISK. No pain = no deal. Consider disqualification.
Who is our internal advocate with power, influence, and vested interest in our success?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | No champion identified. OR someone we think is a champion but who hasn't demonstrated advocacy. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | Potential champion identified. They're positive about us but haven't taken visible action to advance the deal internally. | Positive interactions but no evidence of internal advocacy |
| 🟢 Green | Champion confirmed through action — they've advocated internally, shared information, facilitated access to decision makers, or invested their political capital. | Specific actions the champion has taken on our behalf |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Champion is Red at Proposal stage or later → CRITICAL RISK. No champion = no internal momentum.
What is the competitive landscape, and where do we stand?
| Score | Definition | Evidence Required |
|---|---|---|
| 🔴 Red | Competitive landscape unknown. We don't know who else they're evaluating or if there's an incumbent. | None available |
| 🟡 Yellow | We know who the competitors are, but don't have clear intelligence on their positioning, relationships, or strengths in this deal. | Competitor names from customer or research |
| 🟢 Green | Full competitive picture — we know who they're evaluating, each competitor's positioning, who has relationships with whom, and our specific advantages. | Detailed competitive intel from customer conversations and research |
Discovery questions to advance:
Gap flag: If Competition is Red at Discovery stage or later → MEDIUM RISK. You may be walking into an ambush.
Aggregate MEDDPICC scores into a deal-level confidence:
| Confidence | Criteria |
|---|---|
| High | 6+ elements Green, 0 Red, no critical gaps |
| Medium | 3-5 elements Green, ≤2 Red, no critical gaps at current stage |
| Low | <3 elements Green, OR any critical gap at current stage |
Critical gaps by stage:
When call processing scores MEDDPICC elements:
Format for MEDDPICC Changes field:
[Element]: [Old] → [New] — Evidence: "[quote from call]"