Meet the Icon: BANT Qualification Framework
Use the BANT framework to improve how your sales team qualifies leads and opportunities. BANT helps sales evaluate prospects based on their budget, decision-making authority, needs, and timeline to purchase.
Qualification is a crucial stage of the sales process. When qualifying a lead, the sales representative must identify if the prospect has the financial means, authority, and intention to purchase within a reasonable timeframe.
Using BANT, a seller can efficiently qualify prospects and their organisations. It is straightforward and quick to use, so qualifying leads with it is pretty simple. Since it covers all the standard qualification criteria, it is a good framework to default to unless there is an evident need for a more product-specific framework. Since its inception in the 1950s, BANT has been utilised by sales organisations throughout many industries and is probably the best-known of all qualification frameworks.
BANT is not without criticism. Some common ones include, first of all, focusing too much on budget. Secondly, unless BANT is used carefully, it might turn the conversation into an interrogation-like exchange, hindering prospects' experience. For these reasons more modern frameworks like CHAMP and GPCT are gaining traction for these reasons. But still, BANT is a solid framework with which to get started!
The Components of the BANT Framework
Budget: Does the prospect have the financial resources to make the purchase?
Example questions to ask:
- What budget have you allocated for this type of solution?
- How much does your current solution cost to you?
- What is your typical investment range for similar solutions?
- What ROI would you need to see to justify this investment?
- Would this be from your team's budget or some other team's?
Authority: Does the contact have decision-making power?
Example questions to ask:
- Who makes the final purchasing decision for this type of solution?
- What is your role in the decision-making process?
- Who else needs to be involved in the evaluation process?
- How does your organisation typically make decisions about new investments?
- Can you walk me through your typical decision-making process for a purchase like this?
Need: Does the prospect have a clear need for your solution?
Example questions to ask:
- What specific challenges are you trying to address?
- How are you currently handling these challenges?
- What would be the impact of not addressing these challenges?
- What solutions have you tried in the past?
- What are your must-have requirements in a solution?
Timeline: When does the prospect plan to implement a solution?
Example questions to ask:
- What is your timeline for implementing a solution?
- When do you need to have a solution in place?
- What is driving your timeline?
- Are there any specific deadlines or milestones we should be aware of?
- What other projects might impact this timeline?
The strength of BANT lies in its simplicity and efficiency. By focusing on these four critical elements, sales teams can quickly determine which opportunities deserve attention and which should be deprioritised or disqualified entirely.
