BANT Qualifying Questions

Timeline Questions

• Is an ERP platform part of your road map for this year? and is it approved and budgeted by organization-wide management?
• What prompted you to explore our solution?
• No-one buys software just to buy software. People love to buy an impact.  What various leading indicators and outcomes you’re hoping to achieve?
• Have you explored a solution earlier? Can you talk about what you liked and dis-like about them?
• Do you understand the perceived value proposition of the ERP? and would you mind what that would be for you?
• And, what’s your understanding from the business and technical side of the project?
• And what’s the priority of this project along with other projects that might have been going on?

Note: The answer will tell us if they are seriously looking out or it’s just a casual google search to     fit in something at a later time (Surface Pain)

• How is it impacting your business? Eg: Cost cutting, poor operational efficiency, delayed accounting, etc.
• What if you didn’t do anything and kept the process the same? It will let us know the actual business pain - and typically while answering this question, the prospect is giving reasons for the concerns.
• If you had a chance to wave a magic wand to have the most desired outcome from a solution, what would that be? or what is your wish list for an ideal solution? This is for us to know how much as a solution we can help the prospect fulfill his/her wish.
• (Personal Pain) I understand the challenges and the need, but how does picking the right solution impact you, personally?  Note: If we do not get the answer and if we find it to be repetitive, we can ask - does it put you in a better space in front of your management?

OR

• Does it benefit you to showcase better work optimization? This is to reveal the personal pain   around the concerns if any. Also, this is a great question to make the prospect your Champion internally and also validate SUCCESS CRITERIA.
• While picking up the right solution, what is the most important component that you would consider? It could be price, scalability, or implementation time.

Note: This is a very important question - this can give us a lot of clarity around whether they are price sensitive or if they are looking for a functionally viable solution or if they are motivated enough to grow as a company if they are talking about scalability.

• What does the decision process look like? how technologies have been purchased in the past and how long did it take to fully deploy?

Note: To get an idea who else along with you would be involved in the process so that you can suggest getting someone on the conversation at a later time in the sales cycle. This will also give us a fair idea around how long the sales cycle can go post evaluation and accordingly we can take measures.

• By when do you plan to have a solution in place?

Note: If the conversation implies a longer timeline, we can ask " it seems like a big problem in hand. any particular reason why you are looking at a later solution? This question will help us know the timeline and how our follow up pattern/frequency needs to be.

• Do you think the initiatives of adopting an ERP platform can be put on hold and why?
• What could be three potential threats for not adopting a solution to your problem?

Budget Questions

• Do you have a budget set aside for this project? If so, would you mind sharing what that would be in round numbers?
• Have you given some thought to how much you will need to invest?
• When I work with other companies on a project of this size, I find that they usually have funds allocated? Has your company done that?
• Most often when I meet with a group such as yours, I find they have a budgeted amount they would like to stick to? Has your group come up with that amount?

Authority Questions

• Who will make the decision, their roles, direct/indirect influence, veto power, etc.? Who else is involved in making the decision - the purpose of each step?
• When will a decision be made?
• Where will the decision be made - at what level or part of the company?
• How will the decision be made?
• Why is the decision made this way?

Need Questions

• Tell me more about that?
• Can you be more specific and give me an example?
• How long has that been a problem?
• What have you tried to do about that?
• And did that work?
• How much do you think that has cost you?
• How do you feel about that?
• Have you given up trying to deal with the problem?