GM. It's Tuesday.
Two weeks ago we covered discovery: getting prospects to open up about their situation, impact, and what success looks like.
Now comes the uncomfortable part: figuring out whether the deal is actually winnable.
The Problem With Unqualified Pipeline
You hit quota this month. Pipeline looks solid. Then Q2 comes and half your forecast evaporates.
Here's what happened:
Your reps qualified based on hope, not criteria.
The company is real.
There might be budget.
The contact seems interested.
So the rep marks it Qualified.
But they don't have a champion. The budget is "maybe in Q2." The prospect is already leaning toward a competitor.
That's not qualified. That's "not dead yet."
Most reps confuse "they took a meeting" with "they'll buy." Then you spend the whole quarter chasing deals that were never going to close.
Real forecast accuracy comes from consistent qualification, not optimism.
Good qualification frameworks solve one problem: they remove opinion from your forecast.
The Three Qualification Frameworks
There's no one "right" framework. But there are three proven ones. Most high-performing teams use a combination depending on the deal stage.
Framework 1: BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline)
Best for: Quick qualification in early conversations. SDR → Sales handoff point.
What you're checking:
Budget: Do they have money allocated for this?
Authority: Is the person you're talking to a decision-maker (or connected to one)?
Need: Does this solve a real problem for them?
Timeline: When do they need to solve it?
How to assess:
Budget: "How is this budgeted? Is this a Q2 initiative?"
Authority: "Who else needs to sign off on this decision?"
Need: "What happens if this problem isn't solved?"
Timeline: "When do you need to have this live?"
Red flag:
If they can't answer 2+ questions clearly, it's not ready for sales yet.
Strength:
Fast. Works at scale. Good for high-volume outbound.
Weakness:
Surface-level. Misses deal health signals (champion risk, competitive threats, internal politics).
Framework 2: MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion)
Best for: Enterprise or complex deals. Discovery → Solution Presentation phase.
What you're checking:
Metrics: How does success get measured?
Economic Buyer: Who controls the budget?
Decision Criteria: What are the deal requirements?
Decision Process: How many people? How long?
Identify Pain: What's the business impact of NOT solving this?
Champion: Who internally advocates for you?
How to assess:
Metrics: "If we implemented this, what metric would move?"
Economic Buyer: "Who signs off on a $200K spend?"
Decision Criteria: "What does the ideal solution look like to you?"
Decision Process: "Walk me through approval. How many people, what's the timeline?"
Pain: "What does it cost you not to solve this?"
Champion: "Who inside the company would push hardest to make this happen?"
Strength:
Comprehensive. Uncovers deal killers early.
Weakness:
Time-intensive. Not practical for high-velocity outbound.
Framework 3: Your Custom ICP Qualification
Best for: Mid-market or SMB teams. Fits the reality of your sales motion.
How to build it:
Pull your last 10 closed-won deals. What 4–5 things were true about all of them?
Real example:
✓ Deal size > $50K
✓ Multi-threaded (3+ stakeholders involved)
✓ Explicit budget (not "we'll find it")
✓ Champion identified
✓ Clear next step with date
Deals with 4–5 signals closed.
Deals with fewer than 3 almost never did.
Scoring:
4–5 = Commit (schedule close activities)
2–3 = Pipeline (keep working, still uncertain)
0–1 = Bad fit (stop wasting time)
Which Framework to Use When
BANT = SDR handing to AE. "Is this worth a discovery call?"
MEDDIC = Post-discovery, pre-proposal. "How healthy is this deal really?"
Custom ICP = Ongoing deal scoring. "Is this a Commit or Pipeline?"
Most winning teams use all three in sequence.
Why This Matters
One team had 30 deals sitting in Forecast.
After running MEDDIC on them:
8 had no champion
5 had budget but no timeline
4 were competing against a vendor already selected
Only 13 were realistically closable that quarter
Forecast went from $2.5M to $650K — more accurate, less painful. They stopped chasing dead deals.
Your Action Items This Week
Today:
Pick one framework:
BANT if you need fast early qualification
MEDDIC for complex deals
Custom ICP if you already know your winning pattern
Write down the 4–5 criteria that define a "real" opportunity for you.
This week:
Score your top 5 deals against these criteria.
Ask yourself: "Would I bet money on the Commit deals closing this month?"
If the answer is "maybe," your criteria aren't tight enough.
Next week:
Share this framework with your team.
Start scoring new deals at opportunity creation.
Track: How often do Commit deals actually close?
The Bottom Line
Qualification isn't a box to check. It's about accuracy.
Your forecast is only as good as your qualification criteria. Define them. Use them. Refine them.
Better qualification means:
less time chasing dead deals
more accurate forecasts
higher close rates
See you Friday for Pipeline Pulse.
— Pipeline Playbook