Does anyone have any tips or recommendations for passing the final exam of the MEDDICC training?

David Chimenti

Hey there, thank you for reading this question.

I took the MEDDICC training over the last week, and felt as though I learned so much. I took Command of the Message a few years back, and felt that this MEDDICC training really shined a light on some of the holes in my game, particularly in the discovery process.

I've been trying to pass the exam to complete the training for a couple of days. Though I took very thorough notes throughout the training and felt like I did well, it's clear that there are big parts of the course that are not resonating with me. Perhaps areas that are not very well defined in the course that I have been unable to ask anyone questions about to gain a better understanding of.

I'm going through and watching the videos again, but my scores are not improving. I am wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks to help me pass the exam, finish the course, and complete my certification.

David Chimenti

I was asked to get a little bit more detailed regarding the issues that I am having.

It seems pretty clear that Economic Buyer would be Karen, the person that has overall final approval and is able to articulate the business pains they are experiencing and business outcomes that are needed.

I am having some confusion over the Champion too. Though it seems like Alex fits the mold, I am unsure that he has power and influence in the organization like Manny does. It does state that he is under a lot of pressure to the solve the problem, so he should be invested in my success, I am just unsure that I am properly identifying the champion here. He can also get me the meetings I need, which is usually indicative of influence, but not necessarily power, so this has been a gray area.

I believe that I am having trouble discerning the business initiatives are, what the economic metrics are, what the technical requirements are, and how different metrics are specifically defined by the parameters of the test. There are many metrics that seem technical in nature, that I'm pretty certain are not relevant as I do not believe I have gotten that question correct yet. There are many metrics that appear to also directly correlate to how the business will be impacted and success will be measured, but I don't think I've gotten that question correct either.

I also believe I'm going through some confusion in identifying the decision criteria vs solution requirements. It pretty clearly says what they are looking for in a solution and in some places how to prioritize that, but there are so many stakeholders with various needs, I'm running into trouble here.

I feel as though I've hit a wall with the decision process question as well, based on how it worded. There are a few things that are listed multiple times, but the only one that doesn't seem to fit is "board to make final approval" because it is clearly stated elsewhere that final approval falls under Karen. All the other options appear to be steps in the decision or validation process from what I can tell.

For technical pains, it would appear that the 3 "lack" options are applicable, but I don't think I've gotten this question correct either (lack of machine learning, lack of optimization, and lack of analytics.

For next steps, Karen said we will demo to the broader IT team, so that appears to be a clear next step. Also, we are having dinner with Manny to discuss more this week, so I think that's in for sure. Other ones look like they should be next steps but we aren't there in the process yet. We should hope to meet with Monique if we can, but that likely won't happen until after a successful demo. Same with following up with Alex to learn how the demo was received internally. I don't think I've gotten this question right once either.

On the business initiatives question, Modernizing the airport experience is clearly shown to be a business initiative in the customer story. Upgrade/Modernize IT operations also appears to be a strong one based on everything that is said during the story. Quickly identify source of network outages appears to more a solution requirement than a business initiative (more a technical requirement of a solution and a positive outcome from meeting that technical requirement than business initiative. Digital transformation really appears to be more of a positive business outcome than an initiative. It is a process they are going undergoing to achieve the necessary goals but not their actual good. It seems like it's more of a result of the process than an actual initiative. Reduce strain on customers and employees also seem to be a positive business outcome than an overall initiative. I was very conflicted on this one, but I've arrived at the conclusion that I don't have a clear enough understanding of what separates those two concepts to answer the question correctly.

Any direction on these would be most helpful. I am really hoping to have my certification badge for job interviews next week. I'll likely have a few more questions because I'd like a full understanding, but I've already written so much I want people to at least be able to consume with I've written thus far. Thank you for any help.

Megs Salazar-Merriman

Hi David - this assessment is intentionally rigorous – but we’re here to assist. Here are some helpful hints and reminders based on your summary.

• Economic Buyer: As you pointed out, Karen is able to articulate the business pains they are experiencing, but is she the owner of those business problems and does she truly have final decision authority or is there someone else who has veto power over any decisions that get made?
• Champion: The scenario explains that Alex will be gathering his trial results and using them to make a recommendation to Karen Roe, who will be the person to approve any solution and sign the contract. So while it's unclear if he has the same level of power and influence within the organization as Manny, for Champions we're looking for someone who has power and influence related to the specific opportunity at hand and the problems you're trying to solve. Also, which of the two is more actively selling on your behalf when you're not present and helping you get access to influencers and key stakeholders?
• Economic Metrics and Technical Metrics: These two questions have the same list of metrics to choose from - 3 of those are technical Metrics and the other 4 are economic Metrics. The technical Metrics are gained from Samir and the economic Metrics come from the Economic Buyer and are shared with you via Alex.
• Decision Criteria: The formal solution requirements for which they are evaluating can best be summarized as: time to resolution, time to value, machine learning, and ease of integration. A lot of these came from Samir and Alex in defining the solution needed.
• Decision Process: You're on the right track with this one, but there's one other item that isn't part of the Decision Process. Quick hint on this one, what wasn’t specifically stated in the case study?
• Technical Pains: In addition to the ones you've identified, there are 2 more technical pains. Make sure you’re focused on the technical measurements and impacts – things like experience, brand, and revenue-related impacts aren’t part of the technical pains.
• Next Steps: You've identified 2 of the 3 next steps. For the remaining one, there's a pending action item that was identified but you're still waiting on from earlier in the scenario.
• Business Initiatives: We actually removed this question today since we agree that it was unclear and it wasn't specifically covered by the MEDDICC courses.

We appreciate you sharing your experience and the specific challenges with the assessment. We are in the process of reviewing and updating this scenario and the assessment to incorporate in-stream feedback on learning points and general guidance throughout the quiz. A new version with some of these updates incorporated was uploaded this morning. Your input will help us continue to make these enhancements – thanks again.

David Chimenti

Thank you so much for your response Megs!

I am having some tech issues getting the new exam to load, but as soon as it does I will let you know if I was able to pass the exam with this new information.

Thank you so much for taking the time to clarify these details!