4 Challenges with using BANT as a qualification criteria in modern sales

We run B2B lead generation campaigns for organizations exclusively using social media platforms like Linkedin. We often have people reaching out to ask if we can provide ‘BANT’ qualified leads for their sales team. We’ve spoken about BANT and challenges with narrow qualification criterias before. In this article, we dive further into implications of incorrect application of BANT.

BANT is a good criteria for forecasting & navigating through your sales funnel 

BANT is a wonderful tool to evaluate the possibility of a deal going through. It was meant to provide a framework for a sales person to assess the chances of a particular deal coming through. It was also meant to guide the sales person on the next steps in the deal and unlock deals that are stuck. For example, if you feel the person you are speaking to doesn’t have the authority to make the purchase, you work towards cultivating alternate contacts in the organizations.

BANT was never meant to qualify a lead. It was meant to qualify & assess an opportunity

Presales conversations typically revolve around understanding problems the prospect is facing and giving them a peek into your solution. At best, presales teams can assess the severity of the problem. In some cases, clients might volunteer to mention timelines in case they have a set deadline. However, it is hard to get realistic budgets & timelines at the start of the conversation in every case.

Imposing BANT on pre-sales results in losing out on good leads

We’ve often seen presales teams not passing on leads because they couldn’t validate the budget and timelines. In a bid to get more clarity on budgets & timelines, these prospects were not engaged sufficiently. We’ve seen the same deals show up in the sales funnel in a few months down the line with a not-so good probability. Guess what the reason could be? – We were too late to reach out to them, they’re already leaning towards another vendor. 

BANT is making presales conversations transactional

There is another unintended outcome of overemphasizing on BANT. Presales teams are jumping the gun in discovery in an effort to assess budgets & timelines. A conversation that would have been educating and empathetic otherwise, is being perceived as transactional by clients. This is not to say that checking for approximate budgets or timelines is an issue. There are ways you can do it well and prospects too understand the need for you to have that information. However, your presales rep is working under a target too. And their relatively cold response to an early stage lead is often picked up by prospects.