BANT full form in Digital Marketing: What, Why and How

During the sales process, the chances are high that the person meets people within the organization who have decision-making authority. These people are also more likely to know the team's budget for purchasing what the person sells. Despite the availability of technology to assist, there are still many qualification questions that a salesman must ask during a call with a prospect.
But the information-gathering process can be structured so that it corresponded to the sales cycle by employing the tried-and-true BANT approach.

Table of Content:
What exactly is BANT?
What exactly does BANT stand for?
Using the BANT Sales Structure and Process

What exactly is BANT?
BANT is a sales-qualifying process that assists salespeople in determining whether a prospect is a suitable fit based on budget, internal influence/ability to buy, product need, and purchase timing. IBM created this framework in the 1950s and it is now part of the company's Business Agility Solution Identification Guide. It was beneficial to the organization and for those who used it as it improved the efficiency of the sales process.

From the company's standpoint, sales reps could obtain all of the necessary information ahead of time to decide if the prospect was a suitable fit for its products. If a prospect was not a good fit then they would be removed from the sales process. Businesses such as IBM employed BANT to swiftly qualify leads, freeing up more time for sales to qualified prospects.
 

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What exactly does BANT stand for?
The abbreviation BANT stands for budget including the amount of money the prospect is able and willing to spend; an authority that involves the ultimate decision-maker; and time involving the quantity of time the prospect has available. Need including whether the prospect has an issue that the company can answer; and timeliness — whether there is a sense of urgency to buy your product or service.

Budget
What are the prospect's pricing expectations? Where do they get their money? Is there any wiggle room in their budget? Budget is an important conversation that must be initiated with any prospect as there is no point in pushing forward with the sales process if they cannot afford to work with the firm. If a prospect's budget does not match their own, reps should learn this before investing too much effort in nurturing that prospect.

Authority
Who decides whether or not to proceed with a purchase? How much power does your primary point of contact have? What other stakeholders are there? Knowing degrees of authority will assist sales representatives in determining who needs to be involved in the purchasing process and if the leaders with whom they are speaking lack authority, they should de-prioritize that transaction until other contacts can be brought in.

Need
What obstacles does the prospect face? How much do these difficulties affect their daily lives? How do they hope you can assist them in overcoming their obstacles? Sales representatives must decide whether or not a prospect's problem is one that they can address and how urgent the demand is. If the product or service does not answer the challenges that a prospect is experiencing, it indicates that they are not a good fit, and if a prospect's demand is more of a bother, they may be less inclined to remedy it fast, necessitating more time and effort to take that sale forward.

Timeline
What timetable does the prospect have? Is their timetable reasonable? "In a sales process, timeline indicates when they are eventually trying to make a decision. Representatives can work backward from the end goal to determine when important steps in the sales process must occur. Knowing the tightness of the schedule assists representatives in deciding which leads to tackle first. If a prospect needs to purchase within the next three months, that transaction should be prioritized right away. Meanwhile, if a prospect is researching possibilities for a purchase they intend to make next year, it's best to provide them with some helpful materials and then follow up closer to the time they'll be making a decision.

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Using the BANT Sales Structure and Process

Analyze the prospect's budget in terms other than money
When sales representatives used to sell licenses, qualifying based on financial need made logical. While adopting a subscription model, the budget should not be an issue for most businesses. Yet, most SaaS providers now charge anything from $10 to tens of thousands of dollars per month for commercial plans. By selling a SaaSaS product, users can get around the price barrier by asking the prospect about their estimated Return. If that corresponds to the price, then the user has a compelling reason to qualify the prospect on budget.

Determine who will be involved in the decision-making process
Most choices are now decided by groups rather than individuals where every transaction involves an average of three stakeholder groups. Even if only one person is in charge of signing the deal, then it becomes crucial to persuade the majority of the team. Make a list of everyone participating in the process containing their job titles, decision-making roles, priorities, and how to contact them are all listed.  The more contacts a person have, the more power they will have - and the less likely it is that this opportunity will pass out.

Determine the significance of the issue
It's crucial to determine how essential this issue is to the prospect. While asking questions to the prospect it is suggested before, consider the following: Are they tremendously motivated to solve it? What will happen if they do not? Is there another initiative they care about that could compete for their energy, attention, and decision-making capital? A prospect may state and mean that they have a specific requirement, but the team's or senior leadership's priorities may be different. This will certainly lead to hiccups in the sales process in the future. It is very crucial to determine the needs of the prospects, team, and leaders as early as feasible.

Make a schedule for the sales process
After being aware of the budget, the decision-makers, and the necessity for the product, the next crucial step is to determine how quickly the organization must make a decision. Knowing whether you're in for months of red tape and approvals or a straightforward one-pitch-and-close deal will help in organizing the pipeline and preparing for the close.

Keep up to date via multiple channels
While this is not a BANT step, it is a vital one that helps in staying ahead of any objections, delays, or worries with the prospect. Follow them on social media, sign up for their newsletter, and, for business prospects, attend any public events they may have. Keeping an eye on the sales that are in their pipeline (outside of meetings)  can help in discovering new demands they have that the solution can satisfy. 

Keep track of the development with digital tools
Utilizing digital solutions to manage the company pipeline and contacts will be beneficial while adopting BANT into the sales process. It allows telling where you left off with each prospect and how far they have to go until the deal is closed as you balance many prospects at the same time. Using the BANT paradigm, HubSpot's Sales Hub software can help in initiating conversations, strengthening relationships, and managing your pipeline. BANT stands for budget, authority, requirements, and timetable, and it is a form of sales lead qualification method used to identify leads that are worth pursuing.

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