When it comes time for marketing and sales to determine the most qualified leads, many turn to BANT. The BANT framework has its origins within IBM and it is meant to be an easy and fast way to determine which buyers are a good fit and which are not, breaking down into Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline qualification attributes.
Yet, however valuable a framework is to work from in terms of consistency and unbiased thinking, today’s modern buying journeys mean the BANT framework no longer prioritize its steps in a meaningful way. Its first focus is on budget. If the buyer does not have a budget, the seller will never move on to the other three steps to qualify the lead.
And yet, what buyer has a budget for a need they have not recognized yet? How often does a buyer earmark a budget for a solution they do not understand or