BANT: Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline
BANT is a four-question sales qualification framework — Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline — used by SDRs and AEs to score whether a prospect is worth pursuing.
What is BANT?
BANT was created by IBM in the 1960s and is still the most widely taught qualification framework. It works well for transactional and SMB sales where one person decides and the cycle is short. For complex enterprise deals, MEDDPICC has largely replaced it.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What does BANT stand for?
- Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline — the four qualification dimensions IBM defined in the 1960s.
- Is BANT outdated?
- BANT still works for short-cycle SMB sales. For enterprise B2B with multiple stakeholders, frameworks like MEDDPICC or SPICED are stronger.
- What is the difference between BANT and MEDDIC?
- BANT is four broad questions for early qualification. MEDDIC is six deeper dimensions for late-stage enterprise deals. Many teams use BANT for SDR calls and MEDDIC for AE pipeline reviews.