BANT Lead Qualification Framework

BANT is a traditional sales qualification framework developed by IBM in the 1960s. It remains one of the most widely used methodologies for evaluating whether a prospect is likely to become a customer.

The framework examines four key criteria to determine lead quality and readiness to buy. Each criterion helps sales teams understand different aspects of the buying decision.

Budget — Does the prospect have money allocated for this purchase? Understanding budget helps determine if they can afford your solution and what tier of offering makes sense.

Authority — Is this person the decision maker? Or do they need to involve others? Knowing who has buying authority prevents wasted effort on contacts who can't close deals.

Need — Is there a genuine business problem your solution addresses? A clear need indicates the prospect has motivation to act rather than just browsing.

Timeline — When do they need a solution in place? Urgency affects prioritization. A prospect who needs something this quarter is more valuable than one with a vague "someday" timeline.

BANT works best for: - B2B sales with longer sales cycles - High-ticket items requiring budget approval - Enterprise deals with multiple stakeholders - Industries with formal procurement processes

BANT may be less ideal for: - Low-friction consumer sales - Self-service products - Impulse purchases - Markets where budget is rarely a blocker

When you select BANT as your qualification framework, SalesPartner naturally uncovers each criterion through conversation. Rather than asking robotic questions, it weaves qualification into genuine dialogue.

Each criterion receives a score from 0-10 based on the prospect's responses. The total score determines which tier the lead falls into: - Hot Lead (28-40): All four criteria strongly met - Warm Lead (18-27): Most criteria met, some gaps - Cool Lead (8-17): Limited qualification signals - Not Qualified (0-7): Missing critical criteria

Here's how SalesPartner might qualify a BANT lead:

SalesPartner: "To make sure I point you toward the right solution, what kind of budget range are you working with for this project?"

Prospect: "We've set aside around $50K for this initiative."

SalesPartner: "That's helpful. And are you the one who'll be making the final call on this, or should we loop in anyone else?"

Prospect: "I'll need my VP to sign off, but I'm leading the evaluation."

This natural flow covers Budget and Authority without feeling like an interrogation.