DJC Insights
Defining "Qualified" without Opinions: Solving the "I felt like they were good" problem
Ask five sales reps to define a "Qualified Lead." You will get five different answers. "Has a budget." "Is the CEO." "Seemed really interested."
This ambiguity kills scale. If "Qualified" is a feeling, you cannot forecast. You cannot automate. You need Binary Qualification Gates.
The Problem with BANT
BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) is the old standard. The problem? It is subjective.
- Budget: "They said they have money." (How much? Allocated? Approved?)
- Authority: "I spoke to the V.P." (Is the V.P. the signer? Or the recommender?)
Subjectivity leads to "Happy Ears" – the tendency for reps to hear what they want to hear.
The Binary Gate System
In a Systems-First sales org, a lead moves to the next stage only if a specific field in the CRM is populated with binary data.
Gate 1: The "Fit" Gate (Marketing -> Sales)
Old Way: "This lead looks good." New Way:
Employee Count > 50(True/False)Geography = "KL/JB/Penang"(True/False)Technology Stack contains "Salesforce"(True/False)
If any are False, the lead is Disqualified automatically. No human debate.
Gate 2: The "Pain" Gate (Discovery -> Proposal)
You cannot send a proposal unless you have diagnosed a problem.
CRM Requirement: The field Identified_Pain_Impact_Cost must be > $0.
- Bad Entry: "They want to save time."
- Good Entry: "They are spending $40k/year on manual data entry."
If the field is empty or vague, the system blocks the "Create Proposal" button.
Gate 3: The "Power" Gate (Proposal -> Negotiation)
You cannot negotiate with a non-signer.
CRM Requirement: Decision_Maker_Attended_Demo = True.
If you are demoing to the user but not the buyer, you are in "Education" stage, not "Negotiation."
Summary
Opinions are for lunch orders. Data is for revenue. Strip the adjectives from your qualification criteria. Replace them with Boolean (True/False) logic.
If the system cannot validate it, it isn't real.
DJC System is designed with all these in mind.