The BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline) is used by various companies and in multiple markets.
Initially developed by IBM, BANT covers all the broad strokes of opportunity- and stakeholder-level qualification. BANT seeks to uncover the following four pieces of information:
- Budget: Is the prospect capable of buying?
- Authority: Does your contact have adequate authority to sign off on a purchase?
- Need: Does the prospect have a business pain you can solve?
- Timeline: When is the prospect planning to buy?
Here are a few examples of BANT questions in the context of a prospect conversation:
| Information to uncover | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Budget |
|
| Authority |
|
| Need |
|
| Timeline |
|
While BANT addresses many opportunity-level requirements, it misses the mark on others.
The “ultimate” buying authority could be more than one person. Ensure you engage all relevant stakeholders early in the process and secure each individual’s buy-in.
“Timeline” is another area where BANT falls short today. A strict BANT Qualification might tell you the cycle of a lead who won’t be ready to buy until next year into a closed-lost queue.
But you might be acting prematurely- sending over educational resources and offering to help until they’re ready to buy, if you can.
