BANT

What is BANT?

BANT is a qualification method that checks four things about a prospect: Budget, Authority, Need and Timing. It is commonly attributed to IBM, which has used BANT criteria, with Timeframe as the T, to qualify opportunities that partners register. BANT is quick to apply and easy to teach, which is why it remains common for early lead screening and for handoffs between marketing and sales.

Why it matters to a revenue leader

BANT works as a first filter. It falls short in complex deals, where budget is often created during the sale and authority is spread across a buying group. A team that uses BANT as its only qualification standard tends to carry deals that looked qualified on paper and stall later. Many revenue leaders keep BANT for early screening and switch to a deeper method, such as MEDDIC, once an opportunity is real.

An environmental services company receives an inbound request for soil testing at a development site. The project manager has an approved budget line, can sign off on testing vendors up to a set amount, needs results before a permit deadline and wants work to start within 30 days. All four BANT criteria are met, so the request goes straight to an estimator.