How the Qualification Gap is Costing You Deals

Sales leaders invest heavily in frameworks like MEDDPICC to bring discipline and predictability to the pipeline. In theory, these models promise clarity, consistency, and better forecasting. But in practice, the execution often doesn’t match the intention.

Our data tells a troubling story:
Only 36% of open opportunities that pass Discovery include both a qualification score and supporting notes.

That means nearly two-thirds of deals are advancing through the pipeline with incomplete or undocumented qualification, introducing risk, inefficiency, and forecasting noise.

Qualification Scores Without Depth Are a False Signal

Even when scores are present, they often rely on surface-level inputs like “Champion” and “Pain.” But critical drivers like the Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, and a Compelling Event are often missing or poorly understood.

Without those deeper insights, reps are essentially guessing their way through the sales process. And the consequences are real:

• Deals stall late due to hidden objections or unaligned stakeholders
• Forecasts miss because qualification was shallow
• Coaching falls flat because there’s no data to work from

Sales teams are left chasing deals that never had a real chance, and missing the ones that did.

It’s Not the Framework, It’s the Follow-Through

The gap isn’t in the methodology itself. It’s in how consistently and deeply it’s applied.

As Mark Ackers, Co-Founder & Head of Sales at MySalesCoach, explains:

“Most sales teams we work with are trying to roll out frameworks like MEDDPICC, but reps often get stuck translating theory into practice. When over 50% of reps receive little to no tactical coaching, it’s no surprise they struggle to apply it where it counts – in live deals.”

This lack of follow-through turns what should be a high-leverage tool into just another form field. And sales performance suffers for it.

Leaders Know This Is the Bottleneck

In our recent CRO survey, the second most common growth priority wasn’t more pipeline or better tools, it was this:

“Qualifying better and closing lost opportunities earlier.” (15.9% of responses)

That’s a strong signal: companies don’t just need more leads. They need to get sharper about which deals deserve their time in the first place, and how deeply they qualify them.

What to Do Next

• Embed tactical coaching into your sales process so reps can apply frameworks like MEDDPICC in real deal conversations, not just theory.
• Audit the completeness of qualification, not just whether a score exists, ensure key elements like Economic Buyer and Decision Criteria are well-documented.
• Make qualification a core part of pipeline reviews, focusing on deal depth, not just deal volume.
• Improve sales documentation habits by requiring detailed notes alongside qualification scores to reduce forecasting risk and coaching blind spots.
• Align leadership around qualification rigor as a top growth lever, treat it as a foundational discipline, not a one-time training.

Summary of Qualification Gap

Many sales teams adopt frameworks like MEDDPICC to bring structure and clarity to the sales process. But there’s often a gap between the framework and its real-world application. Data shows only 36% of deals that pass Discovery include both a qualification score and supporting notes, meaning most opportunities move forward without the rigor needed for sound decision-making.

This shallow qualification leads to late-stage stalls, inaccurate forecasts, and weak coaching due to missing insights. Even when scores exist, they often rely on surface-level signals, overlooking critical elements like the Economic Buyer or Decision Criteria. As a result, sellers chase low-probability deals while missing high-potential ones.

The problem isn’t the frameworks, it’s the lack of follow-through. Without ongoing coaching, inspection, and team alignment, even strong methodologies fall flat. Closing the qualification gap means moving from checkbox compliance to disciplined execution, dramatically improving deal quality, forecast accuracy, and win rates.

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