7 Reasons Why Your Business Should Use the BANT Technique to Qualify Leads
Qualifying prospects with BANT will help you streamline your sales process and close more deals. This is a valuable skill for any salesperson to have.
When I worked at IBM we followed BANT and within 3 months of my tenure, bang my first sales a $500,000 deal. It works. We used to shift through tons of data running off of mainframes.
Today, we have marketing automation paired with CRM systems to nurture 1,000s and 10,000 and 100,000 prospects based on their behavior. It’s great. Systems like SharpSpring are helping this happen.
If you’re looking to improve your skills in this area or want to start using BANT to qualify prospects, these seven reasons why your business should use the BANT technique should be enough motivation for you.
I’m sure you’ve heard the statistic that 80% of people who apply for a job never even hear back, which is why it’s so important to have a good “qualification” process.
If you’re looking for your next opportunity or just want to learn more about how to qualify prospects, then this blog post is perfect for you!
Let’s get started! I’ll share with you my four-step qualification process and how to use BANT–which stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing–to find out if this prospect would be a great fit.
What is BANT?
BANT is a qualification technique that stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing. It’s a simple four-step process that helps you win deals by learning more about your prospects before even reaching out to them.
How does BANT work?
The first step is to determine whether or not your prospect has the budget to buy what you’re selling. You can do this by asking questions about their company size, annual revenue, and the number of employees.
The next step is to find out if your prospect has the authority to make decisions about purchases. This can be done by asking about their job title and organizational chart.
Next, determine if your prospect needs what you’re selling. This can be done by asking about their business problems and how your product or service can help solve them.
Finally, find out if now is the right time for your prospect to buy. This can be done by asking about their current projects and timelines.
By using BANT, you can quickly determine whether or not a prospect is a good fit for your product or service and how much time you should spend trying to close a sale.
Are there any other qualification techniques?
- ADIA (Attention/Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action): an acronym that stands for Attention or Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action. The AIDA model is widely used in marketing and advertising to describe the steps or stages that occur from when a consumer first becomes aware of a product or brand to when the consumer trials a product or makes a purchase decision.
- SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-Bound): a mnemonic/acronym, giving criteria to guide in the setting of objectives, for example, in project management, employee performance management, and personal development. The letters S and M generally mean specific and measurable. Possibly the most common version has the remaining letters referring to achievable (or attainable), relevant, and time-bound.
Are there any problems with BANT?
While qualifying prospects using BANT is a great way to ensure you’re not wasting time on deals that won’t close, it shouldn’t be the only qualification technique you use. That’s because BANT doesn’t consider the prospect’s needs or wants, which can be just as important when making a sale.
Qualifying prospects using BANT is a great way to ensure you’re not wasting time on deals that won’t close, but it shouldn’t be the only qualification technique you use.
That’s because BANT doesn’t consider the prospect’s needs or wants, which can be just as important when making a sale.
You should also use techniques like questioning and probing to get more information about your prospect’s needs and how your product or service can solve them.
So, if you’re looking for a way to qualify prospects, remember BANT–it’s a simple way to make sure you’re spending your time on deals that will close instead of wasting it.
Is there anything else I should know about BANT?
Once you’ve identified the budget, authority, need, and timing for each prospect using BANT, you can use this information to develop a value proposition and a strategy for closing the deal.
By using BANT, you can quickly determine whether or not a prospect is a good fit for your product or service and how much time you should spend trying to close a sale. In addition, qualifying prospects using BANT gives you insight into their needs and wants that can help you develop a value proposition and a strategy for closing the deal.
Qualifying prospects is an important part of any salesperson’s job, and BANT is one of the simplest and most effective ways to do it.
So, if you’re looking for a way to qualify prospects, remember BANT! By asking questions about a prospect’s budget, authority, need, and timing, you can quickly determine if they’re a good fit for your product or service and how much effort you should put into trying to close the sale.
Qualifying prospects is an important part of any salesperson’s job. One of the simplest and most effective ways is by using BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing.
By asking questions about a prospect’s budget, authority, need, and timing, you can quickly determine if they’re a good fit for your product or service and how much effort you should put into trying to close the sale.
How to use BANT to qualify prospects
When you’re trying to sell a product or service, the most important thing is to make sure you’re selling to the right people. And the best way to do that is by using BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing.
Budget: Find out how much money your prospect has to spend on your product or service.
Authority: Find out who in the organization can make decisions about purchases.
Need: Find out what business problems your prospect is trying to solve and how your product or service can help.
Timing: Find out if now is the right time for your prospect to buy.
By using BANT, you can quickly determine whether or not a prospect is a good fit for your product or service and how much time you should spend trying to close a sale.
In addition, qualifying prospects using BANT gives you insight into their needs and wants that can help you develop a value proposition and a strategy for closing the deal.
Qualifying prospects is an important part of any salesperson’s job, and BANT is one of the simplest and most effective ways to do it. So, if you’re looking for a way to qualify prospects, remember BANT!
Benefits of using the BANT technique
Qualifying prospects is an important part of any salesperson’s job, but it can be hard to determine which technique will work best for you.
There are many different ways to qualify prospects–from probing and questioning to BANT–but how do you know which one is the right fit?
The answer is simple. You should use various techniques because there isn’t just one that works best for everyone. So, if you’re looking for a way to qualify prospects, remember BANT!
Examples of BANT in action
One of the best ways to learn to use BANT is by example. So let’s take a look at a few real-world scenarios in which this qualification technique can help you close more deals.
BUDGET: Let’s say you’re selling a $5,000 product, and the prospect tells you that they only have a budget of $2,000. In this case, you would know that the deal will not happen, and you can move on.
AUTHORITY: Let’s say you’re selling a complex product that requires approval from a manager or executive. If the prospect tells you that they don’t have the authority to make a purchase, then you would know to stop wasting your time and move on.
NEED: Let’s say you’re selling a product that the prospect doesn’t need. In this case, you would know that the deal will not happen, and you can move on.
TIMING: Let’s say the prospect tells you that they need the product right away, but you don’t have any available stock. In this case, you would know that the deal will not happen, and you can move on.
In all three of these examples, BANT is helping you determine whether or not a deal is likely to happen before wasting your valuable time with prospects who aren’t a good fit for your products or services.
Of course, there will be cases when your prospects fit BANT to a T, but they won’t meet your sales goals. In this case, you need to ask yourself if the deal is worth pursuing at all.
If you’re selling a product and you don’t meet your sales goals (even with perfect BANT prospects), then it’s time for you to rethink your pricing strategy.
Conclusion
In this article, we learned how to qualify prospects using BANT. The best qualification technique is a four-step process that helps you win deals by learning more about your prospects before reaching out to them.
Whether or not the deal will happen comes down to whether or not you meet sales goals–even if all of the other qualifications are met perfectly!
We are all customers, so knowing how to sell is an important career skill. It helps us take control of our life and have more money in the future.
A sales process can help you avoid these problems because it will guide you through the process–from identifying potential prospects to qualifying them, making contact with them, and closing deals.
We explored three real-world scenarios in which these techniques can help: Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing.
If all of this sounds intimidating and you want help enacting these principles, let us know. Our team of experts is ready and waiting to partner with you to create a stellar SEO or marketing plan that drives sales by considering how your customers think.”
BANT is a great way to qualify prospects and determine whether or not a deal is worth pursuing. And by using this qualification technique, you’ll be able to focus your time and energy on the prospects who are most likely to buy from you. Thanks for reading!
General FAQs
What is the BANT technique?
The BANT technique is a qualification process that salespeople use to determine whether or not a prospect is worth pursuing. It stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timing, and it’s a simple four-step process that helps you learn more about your prospects before reaching out to them.
When should I use BANT?
The BANT technique can be applied to any type of sales situation but is most commonly used by organizations that sell products or services directly. It’s best applied when speaking to prospects who may have the authority to make a purchase decision, but not the budget. These are the people you’ll want to qualify for this technique.
How can I apply BANT to my business or strategy?
A prospect can have the authority to buy but minimal funding, or they may have the budget to invest but not the authority. Have them create an estimate of how much money they are able to spend on your product. Ask them what they think is a reasonable investment for their return on investment, which will also give you an idea of their timeframe for making this decision.
Who benefits from the BANT technique the most?
The BANT technique is most beneficial to salespeople who sell products or services directly to customers. It helps them determine whether or not a prospect is worth pursuing, and it’s a simple four-step process that helps them learn more about their prospects before reaching out to them.
