“No matter what you do, don’t pass leads directly to the sales team.”
— Jon Miller, Marketo
Data from a MarketingSherpa report indicates that over 61% of B2B marketers pass all leads directly to their sales team, of which only 27%, on average, are qualified.
Lead generation is complicated. According to a survey from HubSpot, about 61% of marketers have reported generating leads as one of their biggest marketing challenges.
But qualifying these leads can be an even more challenging task. However, it’s a step you cannot miss. After all, you don’t want your sales team to waste their valuable time talking to leads who are unlikely to convert.
Even the most talented sales executives will have difficulty delivering results if your marketing and sales departments don’t work together to qualify the leads.
If you have a problem with lead qualification, it’s time to stop letting your sales executives spin their wheels as they try to close leads that are unlikely to convert.
So, we’ve put together the top three lead qualification frameworks that could help you qualify leads and, thus, save your sales executives’ time. Let’s have a look.
Which Lead Qualification Framework Should You Use?
The following are, in our estimation, the top three lead qualification frameworks:
- BANT(S)
- ChAMP
- MEDDICC
Let’s touch on each of these lead qualification frameworks one by one.
BANT(S)
BANT is the oldest, yet one of the most popular, B2B lead qualification frameworks. BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline.
IBM invented this framework in the 1950s to help sales reps get valuable information about their sales leads. BANT is used by thousands of B2B companies and sales executives.
So, how does this framework work? Let’s understand the meaning of the four words that BANT represents:
- Budget – Can the prospect or lead afford or allocate the funds to purchase our product?
- Authority – Does the prospect or lead have the authority to close the deal and purchase our product or service?
- Need – Does the prospect or lead have a business pain point or problem we can solve?
- Timeline – What’s the estimated purchase timeline? In general, it’s better if there is some urgency to solve the problem.
The budget-related questions will allow your sales executives to understand whether a prospect is capable of purchasing your product or solution.
Also, when your reps ask authority-related questions, they will gain insights into whether the prospect/lead they’re talking to can make the deal or not. After all, you don’t want your sales executives to be talking to the wrong people. However, if they are conversing with someone unable to seal the deal, they can ask for a referral to the individual or team members who could make the decision.
The “need” section will help your sales team clarify any challenge(s) your prospects or leads are facing. We also like to add an S to BANT, which stands for “solution.” In addition to all the above qualifiers, you obviously should ensure you have a solution that meets the prospect’s needs.
Lastly, “timing” questions will allow your reps to gain insights into the estimated purchase timeline. A little urgency always helps in closing deals.
ChAMP
ChAMP stands for Challenges, Authority, Money and Prioritization. While using this framework, you’ll be putting your consumers’ pain points and problems in the foreground. Closing deals in today’s crowded market may not be easy. And if you want to convert your leads into paying customers, you need to focus on their problems — which is what the ChAMP lead qualification framework is all about.
Let’s understand the meaning of ChAMP:
- Challenges – What are the challenges faced by this lead and how can you help solve them?
- Authority – Does the prospect or lead have the authority to close the deal and purchase our product or service?
- Money – How much is the lead able to pay for the product?
- Prioritization – How important is it for the lead to solve the challenge(s) they face when compared with their other priorities?
Again, even if a lead isn’t a decision-maker, let’s say it’s the end-user of the product in a company, then that doesn’t mean you should disqualify them. Instead, you should ask questions to determine the organization’s structure and hierarchy to gain insights into who to reach out to next.
MEDDICC
Invented by Jack Napoli in the early 1990s, MEDDICC is another popular lead qualification framework. The letters stand for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion and Competition.
This lead qualification framework has helped sales executives globally increase forecast accuracy — which is important for businesses looking forward to closing enterprise customers.
Let’s dive a bit deeper and try to understand what this framework is all about:
- Metrics – How much money will your product save the lead? Questions on metrics help establish the business case for buying.
- Economic Buyer – Who’s responsible for profit and loss?
- Decision Criteria – What are the criteria that will influence whether this prospect/lead purchases the product or not?
- Decision Process – What does the decision-making process look like in the organization the prospect/lead belongs to?
- Identify Pain – What are the pain points?
- Champion – Who can sell your product to the rest of the company on your behalf?
- Competitors – Are there any competitors involved? Who?
MEDDICC is a brilliant lead qualification framework for B2B companies looking forward to closing enterprise customers with long sales cycles. If you sell something that requires you to change your customers’ behavior and your average sales price is on the high end of the scale, then implementing this framework will help you streamline your sales process and increase your revenue.
Which Framework Is Right for You?
Wondering which one of the three lead qualification frameworks to choose? It’s not a one-size-fits-all decision. You need to determine which one meets your goals and needs. Talk to members of your sales and marketing teams to gain their input. And then try out the one that you think is the best fit.
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