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tags: A2, Discovery
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# Introduction to the most common qualification frameworks

Chances are you will use many different frameworks and criteria of qualification throughout your sales career. **There is no best model: they each have their pros and cons, and are better or worse suited to different situations and companies.**

You don't need to know these by heart, but we thought we'd give you an overview of the most effective ones below so you can get an idea of the most widely use methods in the market.

Let's go!

## 1. BANT
BANT is probably the oldest and most widely used qualification framework in sales. What does it stand for?

- **B**udget – Does the prospect have the budget to buy the product?
- **A**uthority – Does the prospect have the decision-making authority or is she an influencer?
- **N**eed – Does the prospect have a business need for the product?
- **T**imeframe – Will the prospect be implementing a solution in a suitable timeframe (anytime soon)?
BANT was conceived by IBM as a way to identify an opportunity. According to IBM’s guidance, an opportunity is considered validated if the prospect meets three of four of the BANT items. Each sales team may decide on either a tighter or looser form of BANT.

Let’s have a look!

{%youtube uMPdfiz6GvE%}

 
## 2. CHAMP
CHAMP stands for *Challenges, Authority, Money, and Prioritization*. As you can see, it’s quite similar to BANT. Each CHAMP criterion is (more or less) reflected in a BANT criterion; however there are two key differences that respond to people's criticsm of BANT.

1. Challenges or "the need" comes first which really is the order it should be approached in.
2. Timing is just one part of prioritization. Picture the global Covid19 crises that completely changed many company's timelines. Understanding priority and timing gives you a more in depth understanding.

*Source: [Atlanticgrowthsolutions](https://www.atlanticgrowthsolutions.com/sales-qualifying/)*

 
## 3. MEDDIC
Actually, some say MEDDIC (one c), others use MEDDICC (two c's). It stands for *Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion (and Competition when used with two c)* and was pioneered by Jack Napoli when he was at technology company PTC. MEDDIC requires salespeople to understand every aspect of a target company's purchase process, down to whether you have an internal champion — an employee at a prospective company who will internally sell your product - and knowing who you are going up against in terms of competition.

*Source: [iSEEit](https://now.iseeit.com/meddic-sales-process-checklist/)*
 

## 4. GPCTBA/C&I
Yes, this is a long accronym that seems impossible to remember. Developed at HubSpot, it stands for *Goals, Plans, Challenges, Timeline, Budget, Authority/Negative Consequences and Positive Implications*. According to Hubspot, it is a response to changes in buyer behavior. Since buyers come to the sales process increasingly informed, salespeople (in this case AEs) need to add value on top of product knowledge.

In order to truly act as an advisor, salespeople may need to explore beyond the scope of the discrete problem that your product or service could solve. This means understanding a prospect’s strategic goals, their company’s business model, and how the specific issue you’re discussing fits into the larger picture of their professional life.

*Source: Hubspot Academy*

There are many other frameworks, but we'd say these 4 are the most common ones. Once again, while they're interesting to learn, it's not important to know them off by heart.

In fact, it's much more important to understand the underlying principles behind qualification criteria and the different layers of qualification we shuold tackle than strictly following a framework.

Let's have a look at how to peel the onion! 🧅

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