BANT stands for *Budget*, *Authority*, *Need*, and *Timing*. It is a sales qualification methodology used to help determine if a prospect is a good fit. Check out [[BANT qualifying questions]] for example questions to ask. ### Budget How much is the prospect willing to spend? Budget typically isn’t as much of a blocker for subscription products—so long as the ROI is higher than the subscription fees! Even more important than budget is identifying how important it is to them to solve the problem (i.e., *Need*). A willingness to move forwards can be a better indicator of fit than budget. ### Authority Who is the ultimate decision maker? Because decisions are more often made by groups rather than individuals, map out who is involved. Include job titles, decision making role, priorities, and how to get access to them. (Frost, 2021) ### Need Does the prospect have a problem your product can solve? How important is it to them? Are they motivated to find a solution? What happens if they don’t? ### Timing How quickly is their org ready to move and make a decision? Is there urgency? Are there a lot of obstacles or bureaucracy that need to be addressed before being able to move forward? --- BANT shouldn’t be used as a checklist, though. Many sales reps just run through the questions as if it were an interrogation rather than *listening* to the prospect's responses, missing opportunities to dig deeper and understand the actual needs of the prospect. Note: HubSpot's GPCTBA/C&I three-part framework is another way to qualify sales leads: [BANT Isn't Enough Anymore: A New Framework for Qualifying Prospects](https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/gpct-sales-qualification) --- ## Reference [[Aja Frost]]. “How to Use BANT to Qualify Prospects in 2021.” *HubSpot Blog*, 4 Feb. 2021, [blog.hubspot.com/sales/bant](http://blog.hubspot.com/sales/bant). Accessed 18 Mar. 2021. ## Read later [BANT Isn't Enough Anymore: A New Framework for Qualifying Prospects](https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/gpct-sales-qualification)