If you are looking to work remotely in Sales, or if you are already doing it, you will need to know some of the most common processes that will teach you how to qualify sales leads.
It’s an important topic, especially if you are or want to become a Sales Development Representative working online for startups or other companies.
This easy guide will give you the basic steps to follow on how to qualify leads by using the BANT process.
Keep reading!
What Is the Difference Between Prospect and Lead?
Before jumping into the BANT process, is important that you know first what “lead generation” means.
A lead is a person who might be interested in the product or service you’re offering online or on-site.
By nature, a lead is unqualified, therefore, there is a lot of missing information regarding that contact, which can be not even worth contacting in relation to your services.
However, in order to understand if that lead can become a prospect, we need to qualify it.
How? Keep reading!
How Can a Lead Be Generated?
The leads can be generated by:
- Marketing: potential customers that have received and clicked on email campaigns, social media content or ads, etc.
- Product: potential customers that have agreed to get more information about the product or service by starting a free trial or freemium subscription.
- Conversion: potential customers that interacted with your website, for example submitting a form or clicking on a CTA button.
- Sales: potential customers generated by the sales team by performing outbound tasks, such as cold-calling, writing on social media channels, emailing, or face-to-face meetings.
Then, these leads feed the qualification system of a company where the real qualification process starts.
Now is the time to figure out if those potential customers are really interested and fit with what you offer, so you can start evaluating if they are really worth our time and effort.
How to do so? Keep reading!
Lead Qualification Meaning
Sales Qualification is a key part of the Sales process.
This consists of evaluating if the prospect or lead fits with the product or service you’re offering.
Sales qualification is a great way to ensure that you get the best results from your sales efforts.
It seeks out potential customers who are more likely to purchase, so you don’t have to waste time and resources chasing leads that won’t result in any benefits for your business.
Through qualifying leads through a discovery call, you can customize your solution to meet the customer’s needs and this will lead to higher satisfaction post-purchase.
There are many ways and systems to qualify leads, but the most important concept to keep in mind is that we need to somehow ask some questions that will allow us to understand if we are on the right path with that potential customer or not.
If you want to discover how to qualify sales leads by making qualifying questions, keep reading.
BANT Process: How Can I Qualify a Lead?
Qualifying questions are those in which the sales representative is able to identify the potential of the sale.
The main suggestion is to ask open-ended questions because this will lead the potential customer to talk freely and provide useful information that we can capitalize on in order to understand their needs and offer solutions to their problems.
There is a bunch of examples of qualifying questions you can ask in order to qualify a lead, however, you’ll be focusing right now on the ones related to the BANT process, which can be set as a standard, because they are all pretty similar to each other.
The BANT Sales Qualification Process: B as for Budget
When engaging with prospective customers, you should attempt to identify their budget as soon and as accurately as possible.
You could start by asking a straightforward question such as “What is your estimated expenditure on [CRM, sales, website, etc.] software this year?“.
This will help you move the conversation forward.
It may seem impolite to bring up the topic of money right away, but it’s a wise decision as it saves you time and allows you to focus on prospective customers who can actually afford your product or service.
When you’re discussing pricing with your prospects, make sure to present them with a range of costs instead of a fixed rate.
This allows for some space when it comes to upselling in case the customer has an urgent need that’s worth the higher cost.
Knowing whether they are currently using a similarly-priced product or if they have any expensive issues can help you decide the best range for your customer.
The BANT Sales Qualification Process: A as for Authority
Reaching out to potential buyers who are well-suited to your product or service can be beneficial as they can influence the stakeholders involved in the purchasing decision.
They may even be capable of making a final purchase decision on their own.
Understanding to whom are you talking is key in order to be successful at the end of the process.
Most likely, the person you are talking to is an influencer, but it has to be the right type of influencer in order to get you closer to the decision-maker or to become the best advocate of your product or service in their company.
If it helps, try to do some external research using social media platforms like Linkedin or Xing (“German Linkedin”) to have a clearer idea.
There are different types of prospects, on this topic:
1. The Gatekeeper
Gatekeepers are important people in the sales process, as they are the first people a salesperson has to get through in order to talk to decision-makers.
They primarily help the head honchos with administrative tasks and responsibilities (e.g. executive assistants, administrative assistants, secretaries or receptionists), who work closely with higher-ups to ensure that tasks are completed efficiently.
Since they’re pretty close to decision-makers, is key to leave them with a good impression of us, so some recommendations to get past the gatekeepers are:
- Treat them right, with respect and kindness – they’re a resource, not an obstacle
- Don’t lie to them, since this can bounce back to you pretty quickly
- Be polite, concise, and welcome feedback or help from their side
- Preferably, avoid the use of the decision-maker’s last name, because this will lead the blocker to understand that you know each other well
2. The Decision-Maker
A decision-maker is our aim, the one who decides what to buy, how, and when, however, the decision-maker in the sales process can be delegated to an “influencer”.
In such situations, the influencer should be the one engaging, but the decision-maker should not be forgotten.
Ensure that one maintains a good relationship with their team, but also frequently updates the decision-maker about progress and other developments.
3. The Influencer
Even though influencers are not the ones making the ultimate decision, they can still wield a lot of power by influencing the decisions of those in control.
They might not have the budget or authority to make a final call, but their influence can cause a shift in their viewpoint.
To gauge the influence of your influencer, you should ask them questions like:
- “Do you think the decision-maker will take your advice into consideration?”
- “Are there any other people in your network who might interfere with our communication?“.
Answering these questions can provide insight into how well-versed your influencer is in providing solutions to the decision-maker, indicating how much support you may need to offer during the process.
4. The Blocker
Blockers are best suited to play the role of influencers due to their knowledge and experience in the organization.
They usually hold junior or mid-level positions, are responsible for finding solutions for their department or company, and will be your main contact at the company for any queries.
When someone stops responding to your calls, emails, and other forms of communication, it can be extremely discouraging.
This is known as “ghosting“, an occurrence where the other party will suddenly become unresponsive and uncooperative in the process.
It’s something a lot of people have experienced, and it’s a specialty of blockers.
It can be hard to gauge if it’s time to pursue a different company or find another person within the current one who is more open to your message.
If you feel like you’re blocked, try doing some research about new leads and go on from there.
The BANT Sales Qualification Process: N as for Need
To ensure you are targeting a qualified prospect, check if they have an urgent requirement for a change.
You can determine that by asking them to explain the issues they are facing with their existing product or service.
When crafting your pitch and demo, it’s important to speak directly to the customer’s needs.
Having a qualified prospect who has a clear understanding of their own pain points makes this process much easier.
These needs must be a direct match to what your product or service offers in order for you to be successful.
Trying to make potential customers feel they need to buy your product won’t be an efficient use of your time.
You should instead focus on highlighting their problems and showing how the solution you offer can benefit them.
If they are already aware of their own pain points, this indicates that they are better informed and will be able to determine how you can assist them better.
The BANT Sales Qualification Process: T as for Timeframe
When it comes to a qualified prospect, they will be in an urgent race against time to locate and purchase the right solution before certain deadlines.
These deadlines could be at the start of the next quarter, month, or year.
It is essential for businesses to have the incentive to make their purchase quickly, whether it be for accounting numbers or a leadership solution.
Time management is key and the sooner your prospects can get what they need, the better.
If a potential customer expresses concern about their business performance and a decreasing rate of return on their current product, it’s a sign they could be an ideal prospect.
This could suggest they are in need of tangible solutions and you may have just the right thing to offer.
Conclusion: Why Is It Important to Know How to Qualify Sales Leads?
Being able to qualify leads is an important part of the sales process because it makes it smoother, more efficient, and more successful.
Knowing which are the right questions to ask in order to identify if the prospect is a good sales opportunity for your product or service, will save you a lot of energy in avoiding future complications, and increasing the revenue of your company.
Nowadays, is even more difficult to know if a prospect is really willing to buy your product or service, especially if you’re working remotely because you are not fully able to comprehend the prospect’s behavior and intentions.
However, within our digitized world, we are able to find processes, systems, and tools that will help you a lot in recognizing if a lead might become a prospect or not.
Therefore, sales processes focused on how to qualify sales leads are becoming really crucial for companies, that are expanding the use of sales developers in markets where their product or service can solve the needs of their potential buyers.
We will be posting more relevant content about how to qualify sales leads, but if you think something has not been covered in this post, or if you would like to know more about a specific related topic, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment below!
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