Don’t ask the B-question! Ooh! You did!

A few years ago I accompanied a salesman on a call as his coach. The meeting with the prospect was going really well until he asked the B-question.

“No, I don’t have a budget for that.”

“That’s a shame”, he said as we queued for a post-call coffee “we could have really saved them some money there.”

Every sales training course, methodology and guru emphasises the need not to waste time selling to unqualified prospects.

Then they spout BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, Timescale

But the B in BANT is only relevant if you are selling a product or service that the customer knows he needs to buy and has defined the cost of himself.

Electricity? In the budget. Printing? In the budget. Replacement turret lathe? In the budget. Accountant’s fees? In the budget.

What if you are not selling such a product or service? Where the need or pain is latent?

The customer doesn’t know he needs it. She doesn’t know the cost. They have no idea what value it will deliver.

Therefore they can’t possibly have a budget for it.

How do you qualify then? Try AVANT™

• Access. Can they access the funds needed? If they can’t access the money now, can they later on? Not necessarily that individual but the organisation?
• Value. Do they understand the value? If you can generate a 250% RoI in year-one or end their IP dispute, you can bet they’ll see the value.
• Authority. The person you are talking to may not be able to sign-off what needs to be signed-off; but can they get you in front of people who can? If not can you get there anyway?
• Need. Not the same as value. Is there a compelling reason why now? Is that reason strong enough to align all the forces in the buying process?
• Timescale. Once they have acknowledged the value, can you develop a timescale for action?

Sure, it means taking time with a – by the BANT criteria – unqualified prospect to generate an understanding of the value you bring. But it does mean you don’t miss opportunities that you could pursue.

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