In the world of marketing, there’s an old adage “not all leads are created equally”. This phrase is as catchy as it is true.
The way you process your leads plays an important role in the results you can generate. Making the most of your leads depends on how you process them, and BANT has a lot to do with this.
The abbreviation BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline. With a BANT model in place, your company can maximize conversions by working on only qualified leads at the right stage of your marketing efforts. BANT is sort of a checklist that tells you how potent a lead is for your business, and whether the lead is worth your resources.
Let’s identify and take a macroscopic look at the process that defines BANT and ideate on how it can assist your business in processing & prioritizing leads.
Budget
In the BANT model the budget being described is not your own, but the budget of your prospect. Do your research on whether your product or service is feasible for your prospect’s budget.
If your prospect’s budget does not align with your own, there’s little use in going ahead with this prospect. It would be time to move down to the next lead in your list.
Authority
Is the person on the other side of the conversation at the level of authority to make decisions? Is there someone higher up on the ladder who your prospect has to discuss with, in order to make a decision? Who are the stakeholders and how much a role do they play in decision making?
Speaking to someone in a position of authority gives you the most value for your time. If you don’t have someone who is in such a position, you can ask for the contact of a decision-maker. Or you could de-prioritize the lead and move on to the next one.
Need
Most businesses only spend for what they need and avoid spending on things that they have no use for. Ask yourself, does your prospect have a need for your product or service? Is there a challenge they can overcome with your product or service? Businesses need solutions. If you have the solution for the challenge a business is facing, you have a qualified lead at hand.
Timeline
Even if you have the above list completely checked out, there’s still a matter of urgency that a lead needs your product. Leads who are ready to buy your product or service urgently should be given more importance by your sales rep. For a lead that is not thinking about urgency, give them some sales information and move on to the next lead.
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