A sales qualified lead (SQL) is a prospect that meets the sales team’s minimum requirements for engagement. While BANT is the best known SQL definition, the majority of companies have moved to AN and ANUM. According to sales research and advisory firm, TOPO, 38% of companies now use AN as their SQL definition; 35% use ANUM; and 27% use BANT. Ultimately, the SQL definition used should closely align with your prospective buyers and sales process. Below are five SQL frameworks to help you determine when a lead is qualified and ready to pass to sales.
AN. AN standards for authority and need. Authority means the budget criteria has been validated with the individual in charge of approving and releasing the funds. Need means the issue to be addressed or problem to be solved by the prospect is defined and understood. AN eliminates the urgency and money criteria in ANUM (discussed below) and instead only focuses on finding the right company and the right person. Whereas BANT works well for prospect’s with active projects, AN is favored in outbound sales organizations looking to uncover latent pain.
ANUM. ANUM stands for authority, need, urgency and money. Authority means the budget criteria has been validated with the individual in charge of approving and releasing the funds. Need means the issue to be addressed or problem to be solved by the prospect is defined and understood. Urgency means the severity of the prospect’s issue or problem is well understand, including how fast they want to address/solve it. Money means the value generated by the product or service is greater than its cost and the budget to cover the cost is accessible.
BANT. BANT stands for budget, authority, need and timeline. Budget means the value generated by the product or service is greater than its cost and the budget to cover the cost is accessible. Authority means the budget criteria has been validated with the individual in charge of approving and releasing the funds. Need means the issue to be addressed or problem to be solved by the prospect is defined and understood. Timeline means a specific calendar date or timeframe has been established by the prospect to address the need or solve the problem.
GPCT. GPCT stands for goal, plan, challenges and timeline. GPCT was developed by HubSpot to better align its prospective buyers with the qualification process. Goal means, what is the business goal around which the prospect’s company is rallying? Plan means, what is the business plan in place to achieve the goal? Challenges means, what are the challenges associated with implementing the prospect’s business plan? Timeline means, what is the date by which the prospect needs to achieve the business goal?
ISCAP. ISCAP stands for issue, severity, capabilities, authority and plan. ISCAP was developed by LiquidPlanner to better align prospects and qualification. Issue means, what is the critical business issue (CBI) the prospect is working to address? Severity means, based on the quantification of the CBI, how severe is the prospect’s pain? Capabilities means, what capabilities does the prospect need to solve the CBI? Authority means, is the prospect the economic buyer? Plan means, what is the prospect’s plan to evaluate the product or service?
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