MEDDPICC · D · position 3 of eight
Decision Criteria
Decision criteria are the standards the customer will actually score you against, which are rarely the ones in the RFP. A criterion you have merely heard named is not one you have positioned against, and neither is one you can prove. Most lost deals were lost on a criterion the rep knew about and never tested.
How it actually gets missed
The criteria get listed on the first call and then treated as settled. Nobody asks how each one is weighted, who owns it, or what happened the last time a vendor failed it — so the rep optimises for the criterion that is easiest to talk about rather than the one that decides.
If you don't know the criteria, you're being measured on a scorecard you can't see.
How deep, not how many
Decision Criteria has three rungs, and where a deal sits on them is the difference between a dimension you have answered and one you have qualified. These are the rungs SalesWolf actually scores — the same ladder the product reads, not a scale invented for this page.
- named
- You know the criterion is on the list. This is where most criteria die: you know it exists, you do not know how you score.
- positioned
- You know how the customer rates you on it, and against whom. That usually requires asking a question that risks an unflattering answer.
- proven
- They have seen evidence — a reference, a security review passed, a test they ran themselves. Proof is something they did, not something you sent.
Done when · You can name the criteria the customer will decide on and where you stand on each one.
What to ask
“Of everything on that list, which one has actually killed a vendor here before?”
Separates the criteria that are scored from the ones that are recited.
“How would you rank us against the alternatives on that one today — honestly?”
Turns a named criterion into a positioned one, and an unflattering answer is the useful one.
“What would you need to see to be confident on it, and who has to see it with you?”
Names the proof and the audience for it, which are usually two different problems.