What is BANT, and is it still useful?

BANT stands for budget, authority, need, and timing. The framework is old and still widely used.

The four

Does the customer have a budget? Are we talking to someone who can make the decision? Is there a genuine need? And is it urgent?

Where It Falls Short

BANT assumes that the customer knows how much something costs and who makes the decisions early in the process. In complex purchases involving multiple stakeholders, that is rarely the case. If you require all four criteria to be met before moving forward, you will reject deals you could have won.

Use it as a conversation guide

BANT is useful as a set of questions to cover. As a gate with four requirements, it is too rigid for most B2B sales processes.

The alternatives

MEDDIC and CHAMP are newer and place greater emphasis on the decision-making process and pain points. Choose one, use it consistently, and keep it simple enough that sales reps actually follow it.