Whether you are a customer or an agency you should be asked or asking these questions? BANT is a methodology that protects our most valuable commoditiy...TIME. Check out how to qualify or understand what you are being quizzed and why.
BANT breaks down into the following terms:
Why is this important to you? Why is this going to save you precious seconds, minutes and hours?
Why is this important? It is crucial for every form of marketing. If your agency is asking you for a budget don't be disheartened, they are not trying to rob you for everything you have. They are getting a real perspective of what you want to do and how much you are commiting to this project.
It also allows your agency to construct a basis for ROI (return on investment). The beauty of digital marketing is that you can quantify pretty much everything. If your agency is good, honest and uses maths to their benefit, they will tell you what you are putting in and what you will get back in return.
Tip: Don't waste your time. If you can't afford the agency or they do not give you solid numbers, end the conversation and get out.
Why are my agency asking about decision makers? For this there are two reasons.
If the decision maker is in the meeting, great, they can make a judgement call straight away and stop the need for a continual string of meetings.
If they are in the room, you don't have to remember everything and try to sell this to your management to your managment. You are not a digital marketing expert, otherwise you wouldn't have called. We don't expect you to know, understand and remember the intricacies but its these small elements that could make the difference between approval and rejection.
Tip: Let the decision maker be present and let's not waste anyone's time.
By far and away the most important of the four questions. What do you need? What are you looking for? What does failure look like? What does success look like? These are all part of building the crucial answers to what you need.
Need also understands what the real problem is? Many times I get contacted by people that are trying to force feed a solution into a need. Tell your agency the desired results and let them build the solution.
Tip: Be upfront, tell your agency exactly what the problem is, what you are looking to do and what great results look like for your business. You both then have robust expectations.
Simple. your digital marketing agencty needs to know how long do you have to complete this project?
Be honest and set clear expectations. Again, if you have only a month and your agency can't do it in that time, leave the conversation.
Tip: Let the decision maker be present and let's not waste anyone's time. (You might have heard this one before)
CONCLUSION:
Don't be afraid to qualify or be qualified. If done right you will both get a huge amount from the conversation, you will either save yourself a huge amount of time or you will have the framework for a highly successful project.
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