In this era of a fast-paced world, BANT is a basic qualification approach practiced by B2B and SaaS companies. It has been the skeletal arrangement of qualification systems, basically to decide whether a business prospect is worth investing time and money wise to pursue based on the collected facts. Initially conceived by IBM, BANT has been the most used routine for deciding the viability of a business lead dating back to the ’60s. The acronym BANT stands for:
- BUDGET – how much the prospect has in his mind to spend and how much he can??
- AUTHORITY – who will be intervening to make the decisions??
- NEED – is the prospect needed??
- TIMELINE – how much time will the prospect realize a solution??
BANT has been widely used for its simplicity and flexible nature depending on the business prospect one is proposing.
The acronyms can be changed NBAT – when there is an urgent need or TBAN – when the timeline has a deadline.
Many think that BANT is a checklist for a qualification that led to its decline in 2018. This method is a basic measure one has to keep in mind and mold it as per the requirements and needs of an idea or prospect.
Take it as when you’re buying a phone, you filter the features according to your needs else the whole search could take an eternity. The approach really depends on “how” you use it rather than confining it to be a deal-breaker.
In general, a business prospect is considered viable if three out of four standards are met. Now let’s dive into the acronyms and acquire more:
BUDGET
Every business idea cannot be executed without budget mapping for money is important for everyone. Budgets are not that bad.
Every idea needs funding to take shape and structure for which questions such as these must be asked-
- What is the feasibility of the project?
- How much returns are to be expected?
- Who is financing it?
- Does the prospect cover for rainy days in the future for the people or employees involved?
- Are you calculating long term benefits?
- Your teams are at a loss/could gain by making this investment, how do that look concerning the budgets you’ve planned for?
- What costs to be expected while using technology or systems?
- Will the budget be shared among other departments?
Money mapping is a vital tool for planning the quality prospect of your business. One might say the budget is the necessary foundation on which your dream stands on.
AUTHORITY
Authority governs the ownership of the business prospect. This gives the idea of the decision-making process, while the idea is proposed.
The authority primarily works to take into account all of the best/worst-case scenarios. Things like these are to be well-thought-out:
- What type of audience will the prospect be targeted to?
- Is the idea open to modification?
- What factors and approaches will be considered while making the decision?
- Which other department or group be involved?
- How have prospects related to the current one received?
- Any similarities or severances to be expected? If so, what strategy will be applied?
Authority is more of a two-way discussion with the representatives. In an ideal scenario, the representative will try to realize the salesperson’s visions by digging deeper.
You’d know you’re on fire when the number of questions surges as you explain more about the idea.
There might be circumstances where the reps might dwell on a particular issue and would want to know more in order to eliminate the same. One might not get away with indifferent answers but should be able to reply with a well-worded answer.
In the present date, it is always a team of stakeholders listening to the idea.
It is essential to understand each individual’s job title and role in decision making. When it comes to decision making, how important is each stakeholder's opinion is also essential.
If one wants to thrive, you’d definitely want to establish contact with each and every one of the team you are pitching for.
NEED
Aren’t we all in need of something or the other?
Anyone with a prospective idea has to fulfill the requirement of product unveiling to the world.
It is more of a few things like:
- Is the product needed in the market?
- What goals will be attained on subjective, departmental perceptive?
- What are the current priorities observed while rolling out the prospects?
- What interruptions one can look forward to, and why?
A basic concept, say a company is rolling out a new perfume with its new fragrance right around this pandemic, the production costs, and the sales might not meet the gains one might expect. Not many people would need perfumes much now, would they? Whereas if the same company invests itself into producing hand sanitizers and hand soaps, the gains would be much more because of one thing.
IT IS A NEED.
The need in the market is everything. More the need, the more the priority you will get for the idea.
TIMELINE
Timing is everything. Be it deadlines or time frames, every rep needs a frame to get a clear notion of what they are getting themselves into.
To be able to plot long terms goals is one the foremost reason why the timeline is important.
It is more of a rough idea like:
- Any forthcoming events or deadlines?
- Any new projects in the future like hiring new people, program refurbishments?
- How much an organization takes time to decide?
- Do they have other priorities to be sorted out first?
Time is money, any stakeholder would want a detailed structure of the prospect within and timeline and to know what schemes will be applied if anything happened otherwise.
If you want your stakeholders to listen, having a detailed explanation along with a time frame will surely score you points and maybe even additional brownie points for that matter.
Conclusion
In conclusion, BANT is surely one of the most sought out methods when it comes to pitching your business ideas like a salesperson.
Among the various qualification methods adapted so far, BANT has been the traditional but trustworthy method nominated in almost all the areas of businesses in B2B and SaaS companies.
