FundingStrat

 

 

What is BANT?

 

BANT is an acronym and a qualification framework that has been used for ages to determine whether a prospect is truly likely to become a successful customer.  It can be used as a rubric or checklist for how to guide a call and make sure you’re investing your time wisely with prospects.

 

BANT was originally conceived by IBM as a way to identify a sales opportunity, and has been a qualification workhorse across most business sectors ever since: according to IBM, “sales opportunities are identified by speaking to prospects or clients to determine their business and solution needs through a standardized approach called BANT.”

 

BANT stands for:

 

Budget – What is the prospect’s budget?

 

Authority – Does the prospect have the decision-making authority/or are they an influencer?

 

Need – What is the prospect’s business need?

 

Timeframe – In what timeframe will the prospect be implementing a solution?

 

Here are examples of BANT questions that have routinely been used:

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When to use it?

 

After deploying the Utility Close and hitting resistance about “cost.”

 

What does it sound like?

 

“If you don’t make this investment and (insert funding project) now, what will it ultimately cost you?”

 

Ex.

 

“If you don’t make this investment and start hiring help now, what will it ultimately cost you?”

 

 

How it works?

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R. Holiday tells a story of Ulysses S. Grant once sitting for a memorable photo shoot with the famous Civil War photographer, Matthew Brady. The studio was too dark so Brady’s assistant was sent up the roof to uncover a skylight.  He suddenly slipped and shattered the window, sending dagger-like shards of glass crashing down on those below.

 

As lethal as the mishap could have been, everyone but Grant had hid for cover.  After the last of the shards hit the floor, Brady looked over and saw that Grant had not moved – Grant looked up at the hole in the ceiling, then back at the camera as if nothing had happened.  He was unhurt and ready to get on taking his picture.

 

Another story tells of Grant during the Overland Campaign.   As he was surveying the scene through field binoculars, an enemy shell suddenly exploded killing the horse immediately next to him.  Those close to him at the time say his eyes stayed fixed on the front, never leaving the glasses.

 

Yet there’s another story about Grant at City Point, the Union’s headquarters in Richmond.  As troops were unloading a steamboat, it suddenly exploded. Everyone hit the dirt except for Grant, who was seen running toward the explosion scene, even as debris, shells and even bodies rained down.

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What does it sound like?

 

“Can I call you back?”

 

Where does it typically tend to show up?

 

Prospecting Call: making contact with a lead for the first time.

 

What do we do with it?

 

Turn around.  Key Objective: to turn around the objection, engage the lead further, and continue to guide the lead through the sales process to ultimately close and fund!

 

How do we turn it around?

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Broker Fair 2019 featured Kindra Hall as the keynote speaker, who’s message centered on the power of storytelling in sales to capture the attention, resonate with customers and humanize the transactions between us.

 

But how does storytelling work?

 

Effective storytelling induces an emotional response in those listening/watching to capture their attention (wrestle it away from everything else that could be distracting them) and engage them at a deeper level.

 

The key objective in storytelling is to induce three biochemicals (the emotional response): cortisol, oxytocin, and dopamine.

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