The use of BANT - an acronym for Budget, Authority, Need and Timing - has been around for decades. For some time, these factors were considered the four criteria that best demonstrated that a specific individual or company was a ‘qualified lead’, and not just a raw inquirer. BANT is a very useful tool for ensuring that entrepreneurs, sales, product and marketing professionals are working with appropriate people and not wasting their time on those that are not in a position to become a customer in the near future. These (lead) qualification principles are still valid today and useful when starting a new venture - a startup.

1. BANT for kids
Startup Weekend Kids 2017
Bartosz Mozyrko

2. Sell this pen
1) Get in pairs.
2) One person takes the role of a prospect.
3) The second puts on the seller's hat.
4) The seller will try to sell the pen.
5) Time: 5 minutes.

3. Did the seller ask questions?

4. “The art and science of asking questions
is the source of all knowledge.“
-Thomas Berger

5. Imagine this...
Jack
To have fun
Kinga
To be comfortable
Mark
To be reliable

6. The result

7. Who would want such a product?

9. OK, so how do I avoid it?

10. Authority
BANT technique
Budget Need Time

11. Budget
Do you have 100% confidence that you are
talking to someone who is willing to pay you?
Do you know how big the budget is for
implementing the solution?
Being sure that the prospect is interested in your
product is always worth checking if he or she is
able to accept your pricing.

12. Authority
Are you sure you are talking to someone who
can make the decision?
Is it a decision maker or is he/she an influencer?
The decision maker may pay attention to
completely different benefits of your product than
the influencer (e.g. the user).

13. Need
What is the prospect’s business need?
To what extent does your product solve his or
her pain?
Is she aware that she has this problem?
By asking questions about business pains and
needs, you will get a sense of how much value
your product has in the prospect’s eyes.

14. Time
Does the prospect have time to test out your
product?
Does she plan to buy it this week, a month or a
quarter from now, or in the distant future?
Talking to a prospect who has set a timeline for
making a decision has a better chance of
success.

16. Quality of questions is important
It is often a mistake to ask only closed-ended
questions, where the answer can only
be "yes" or "no".
Do you like this pen?
Asking closed-ended questions can make
conversation difficult, and jeopardize true
understanding of prospect's needs.
A few examples of open-ended questions:
What do you think about...?
What could make you to...?
What information would be useful to...?
When could I follow up to...?
What makes it difficult to...?

17. Exercise once more
1) Let’s swap roles.
2) Sellers - find out what the prospect needs are.
3) Try asking open-ended questions.
4) Align product description with uncovered needs.
5) Time: 5 minutes.

18. Wrap up
When we understand the needs of another
person, we can better align with them.
This approach is useful not just in business or
research, but also in everyday life.
If you find yourself asking a closed-ended
question, you can always open it up at the end.
For example, if you start by asking “Did you find
value in this product?" you can follow it up with,
"If so, please tell me in what ways.”

19. Questions = Ideas = Unicorns