BANT Sales Qualification Call Process

Using Zapier you can integrate this template with your CRM (e.g, integrate with Close.io) to automatically push in any information you gather during the sales qualification call.

For example, after capturing how many users they have, what programs they use, what they want to use Process Street for, etc, you can check off the final task in this checklist and trigger all of that information to be pushed straight back into your CRM.

See the video below for more information on how to set this up.

This "Call Flow" our internal Sales Team at Process Street for qualifying marketing leads (MQLs) into sales qualified leads (SQLs). 

It uses the IBM method BANT which stands for:

• Budget
• Authority
• Need
• Timeframe

Each time a rep dials a lead, the answer and agree to chat for a few min, they trigger this checklist from the CRM. 

As they proceed to fill out the checklist, the information is mapped back to the CRM, Opportunities and follow up tasks are automatically created for the rep.

Use the form fields throughout to record your data.

What do you want Process Street for the most?

Change isn't easy, and businesses don't undertake system overhauls and new implementations just for the fun of it. If there's no real problem the prospect is trying to solve, there's no real reason for them to buy. Establish pain (either from a known issue, or from a problem the prospect wasn't even aware of) before diving into other questions.

How have you tried to solve the problem so far?

This is an awesome sales question because their answer will virtually always offer insight into where in the buying cycle they are, as well as how their organization is structured. For instance, are they investigating other solutions? Are they trying to cobble together budget? Are they trying to get buy-in from key decision makers?

What led you to start looking for a change now?

If a prospect is looking to make a change, it’s important to understand why they are looking to make that change. Identifying catalysts that are driving a desire to implement change is incredibly important to your strategy. For example, did they just get budget for a solution? Is your prospect a new hire with a mandate for change? Do they have a lease or policy set to expire? Their answer can help you to identify how big of a priority buying your solution is.

Do other priorities keep taking precedent? Is there a bend in the path to a solution? Learning what has historically blocked the way to fixing this problem can help the salesperson understand where it falls on the list of priorities, as well as alert them to potential pitfalls.

Whether a prospect becomes a happy customer or a detractor largely depends on their expectations. If their definition of success does not line up with what your offering can provide, it might be time to disqualify.

ONLY TYPE A NUMBERs HERE... DO NOT TYPE "10 but may grow to 20"

What happens if you do nothing about the problem?

One of the most time-worn sales qualification questions is “Who is your current provider for [fill in the blank]”. However, this question alone is probably going to yield a short answer that tells you little-to-nothing about whether they’re a suitable prospect. By asking what the financial impact of their current solution has been you can discover how happy they are with their current offering as well as how open to change they are.

Money isn't everything, but it certainly has bearing on whether or not a prospect is worth pursuing. The specific number doesn't matter as much as the fact that your offering's price and the prospect's ability to pay are within the same ballpark. For instance, if your product costs $1 million and the prospect can only afford $100, the sale isn't going to go through.

What are you currently spending on this issue?

If the prospect already has a competitive solution in place, the salesperson can get a benchmark of how much they're used to spending. And with a firm number, the salesperson can then ask if the prospect would be comfortable going higher.

Here's how HubSpot Sales VP Pete Caputa phrases this question in his sales qualification calls:

"We've established that your goal is X and that you're spending Y now to try and achieve X. But it's not working. In order to hire us, you will need to invest Z. Since Z is pretty similar to Y and you're more confident that our solution will get you to your goal, do you believe it makes sense to invest Z to hire us?"

This should map to the opportunity status

Figure out if they want to do a team or a whole company rollout

How does the budget signoff process work?

How would the decision process work with an offering like this? What would be your role in the process, and the roles of others on the decision team?

Is the person you're talking to the decision maker? Or is the decision maker someone else? Make sure you understand the dynamics of the buying committee and who has authority over what. For example, while one stakeholder could be the "ultimate" signer, another might be the financial approver. 

Has your company ever considered/used a product like this before? If so, what happened?

The best way to make sure you don't repeat history is to study it. Compare your buyer's expectations and perceptions of "good" and "bad" to your offering. If there's a significant mismatch, it's best to disqualify the prospect now before you spend any more time on the deal.

This will create a follow up task in the CRM when completed

• Sales training process checklist
• Weekly sales prospecting checklist
• Cold calling checklist
• Sales presentation template
• Sales pitch planning checklist
• Closing the sale checklist
• Order processing checklist
• Monthly sales report