Today is a day full of predictions- if the groundhog saw his shadow, then we get another 6 weeks of winter. And the results are in….. he did see his shadow.
On the sales front, my prediction is that BANT is dead. This is a term is frequently used to in the Lead Generation circles to qualify a lead. The standard qualifying criteria includes asking questions from the following categories: Budget, Authority, Need and Timeframe. Usually once these questions have been asked, the lead is ”qualified” and enters the pipeline.
Here’s the deal- I’m all for sales and marketing getting along better and collaborating more and when it comes to lead qualification each brings their unique wish list to the table. BANT sets the standards for lead qualification but as Marketing keeps adding more to the list, and Sales adds more to the list- too many questions that confuse and mostly turn off the prospect.
We cannot lose sight of our prospects and what they want or think they want. Do you really think that holding customers in a headlock and shooting a barrage of questions is heavy artillery they should respond to? 
I don’t think so, prospects are tired of being held in a headlock and just don’t want to cooperate with questions anymore. Especially when they can smell the BANT questions coming.
This Thursday, I will be speaking at the NorCal BMA Sales Roundtable breakfast series on Sales Realities in Lead Generation and we dive into this very interesting topic. We will discuss what questions to ask and what sales realities we need to be aware of in 2010. Please join me.
