Last week, we discussed the importance of Lead Qualification frameworks and their impact on sales funnels and deals. It’s clear that many businesses are struggling with their sales pipelines because a significant portion of their leads are inadequately qualified, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities. A solid sales funnel and deal process starts with a rock-solid qualification process, nail that, and everything else within the deal should fall into place.

As previously mentioned, it’s also important to heavily focus on qualifying out. Why? Because this ensures your sales reps are focusing their time on the deals that count, the ones that have a fighting chance of successfully closing.

Understanding Lead Acronyms

Leads and understanding the terminology can be confusing at the best of times. MQL, SQL and PQL, I mean how many acronyms do we need to cover off a lead? Well, let’s break it down because this is where the lead magic begins.

• Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) - An MQL is a lead who has shown interest in your brand, likely driven to let’s say your website by marketing efforts. They might have filled out a form, downloaded an eBook, or subscribed to a webinar, essentially, they’ve raised their hand. However, just because they’ve shown interest doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy. Acceptance of an MQL by sales should be based on strict criteria to ensure your reps invest time in leads genuinely interested in your offering.

• Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) - Once an MQL is accepted by the sales team, it becomes an SQL. In basic terms, an SQL is a lead that has been vetted by the sales team and now resides within the sales funnel. This is where the real selling begins.

• Product Qualified Lead (PQL) - A PQL is a potential customer who has experienced your product firsthand, often through a free trial or freemium model. These leads understand the value of your product and, therefore, have a higher chance of converting into paying customers. Many believe PQL’s are the future of sales, especially where tech solutions are concerned.

Understanding these terms is important because they help shape your approach to qualifying leads. And with qualification frameworks, you can ensure your sales team is working smarter, not harder.

Lead Qualification Frameworks ANUM and CHAMP

Last week, we looked at BANT and MEDDPICC frameworks. This week, I’ll Walk you through ANUM and CHAMP, two more tried and tested frameworks that can help you filter out the dud leads from your pipelines allowing you to focus on the leads that matter.

ANUM - An Authority-based Lead Qualification Framework

Some reps may not have heard of ANUM, but it came along shortly after BANT. Like other frameworks, ANUM shares similarities with BANT, but it puts more emphasis on Authority as the primary qualifier. Here’s a breakdown of ANUM…

Authority - The most important step is identifying the decision-maker. Determining this from the get-go ensures you have an ICP-aligned, pre-qualified lead straight off the bat. Understanding their priorities and decision criteria allows you confidently invest more resources to progress the deal through the funnel, improving your chances of success while speeding up the sales process.

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on the clarity and engagement of authority:

• 0 - 10 Points: Authority is unclear or not identified, you're dealing with gatekeepers.

• 11 - 20 Points: Authority is identified but they've limited decision-making power.

• 21 - 25 Points: Decision-maker is identified and actively engaged in the process.

A high score confirms that you’re talking to the right person to help you take the deal forward.

Need - This step overlaps with BANT. Does your solution align with the lead's needs? If not, don’t waste time, qualify them out! If your solution fits their needs like a glove, you’ve got the green light to invest more resources into progressing with a deal.

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on how well your solution aligns with the prospect’s needs:

• 0 - 10 Points: Minimal alignment with the prospect’s needs, disqualify due to poor fit.

• 11 - 20 Points: Some alignment, but more discovery is needed to fully understand the need.

• 21 - 25 Points: Strong alignment; your offering clearly addresses the lead’s top challenges.

Scores between 21-25 suggest that the lead has a well-defined need that your offering can solve. In short, they’re seriously considering your solution.

Urgency - How committed is the lead to achieving their business goals or solving their challenges? What timelines are they working towards? Is there a sense of urgency? The more pressing their need, the better for you.

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on urgency:

• 0 - 10 Points: No urgency; the need isn’t pressing.

• 11-20 Points: Some urgency, but the timeline is flexible.

• 21-25 Points: High urgency; the lead is motivated to act quickly.

A high score here reflects their commitment to solving their challenges by moving forward quickly. A low score could reflect a lack of something like internal resources to move forward.

Money: Has the lead assigned a budget to the project? Can they afford your product or service? And do you have the metrics to start developing an ROI business case?

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on their financial readiness:

• 0-10 Points: No budget, the coffers are bare.

• 11-20 Points: Some budget, but it’s tight.

• 21-25 Points: The budgets in place, and they are sales-ready.

A high score here tells you they’re serious about making a purchase. A low score means it’s time to reconsider investing resources elsewhere.

When to Use ANUM

ANUM is best for sales processes where success depends on quickly identifying and engaging with decision-makers. It works well in straightforward, hierarchical buying processes. Avoid using ANUM in scenarios where decisions are made by multiple people or teams.

Part Two - Lead Qualification Frameworks

CHAMP - A Customer-centric Lead Qualification Framework

CHAMP is a more recent addition to the qualification framework family and stands for Challenges, Authority, Money, and Prioritisation. This framework shifts the focus to understanding the customer’s pain points and the specific challenges they face. Here’s how CHAMP works…

Challenges - Unlike other frameworks, CHAMP begins with the lead’s challenges. What are the main issues they’re facing? How can your solution alleviate those challenges? This is a really important first step because if you can’t solve their problems, there’s no point in moving forward.

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on solution alignment with the prospect’s challenges:

• 0-10 Points: The challenges don’t align with your solution and aren’t well defined.

• 11-20 Points: There’s some solution alignment but there’s a lack of detail.

• 21-25 Points: The challenges are clear, and your solution addresses their issues head on.

A high score here confirms your solution is well positioned to address the prospects issues.

Authority - Like ANUM, CHAMP emphasises the importance of identifying the decision-maker. Without authority, it’s unlikely will progress the deal successfully.

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on the clarity and engagement of authority:

• 0-10 Points: Authority is not identified or unclear, you’re being blocked by a gatekeeper.

• 11-20 Points: Authority is known but they're not fully engaged or have limited powers.

• 21-25 Points: Decision-maker is clearly identified and fully engaged in the process.

A score of 21-25 means that you’re dealing with the right person who can help you take the deal forward.

Money - Just like in ANUM, you need to ensure that your prospect has the budget to purchase your solution. No budget means no deal, plain and simple.

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on their financial readiness:

• 0-10 Points: No budget; the coffers are bare.

• 11-20 Points: Some budget, but it’s tight.

• 21-25 Points: The budgets in place, and they are sales ready.

Top marks here mean the lead is financially ready to buy. A low score means it’s probably not worth investing too many resources in this lead.

Prioritisation - How far up the priorities list of must action asap is this goal or challenge? If solving the challenge, you solution addresses isn’t a top priority, the deal could go south.

Lead Scoring Tip - Assign up to 25 points based on prioritisation:

• 0-10 Points: Low priority other projects are more important.

• 11-20 Points: Medium priority your solutions important but there’s no urgency.

• 21-25 Points: High priority your solution is crucial to their success.

A score between 21- 25 in this area confirms that your solution is essential to their operations, making the lead and therefore the deal more likely to close.

When to Use CHAMP

CHAMP is ideal for customer-centric, consultative sales models where understanding the customer’s challenges and tailoring solutions to meet those needs is key to successfully closing the deal. It’s less effective in sales models where the process is driven by strict budgetary constraints or rigid organisational hierarchies.

How to Apply The Lead Scoring Tally

To make the most of your lead scoring, tally up the points for each section across the framework. For both ANUM and CHAMP, a total score of:

• 80 - 100 Points - Reflects a highly qualified lead with a solid alignment with your qualification criteria. These leads are worthy of investing your time and resources into.

• 50 - 79 Points - Indicates a lead that is moderately qualified. This type of lead may need further nurturing or additional engagement and resources to assess their potential.

• 0 - 49 Points - Shows that the lead doesn’t meet your key qualification criteria. These leads should be disqualified or redirected back to the nurturing phase.

Making Every Lead Count

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve covered the top four lead qualification frameworks - BANT, MEDDPICC, ANUM, and CHAMP. Each framework offers a unique method for identifying which leads are truly worth your time.

The bottom line is that a strong sales pipeline isn’t about having a lot of leads, it’s about having the right leads. BANT helps you quickly sort through prospects, MEDDPICC tackles more complex deals, ANUM focuses on reaching decision-makers, and CHAMP homes in on solving specific customer problems.

When used correctly, these frameworks keep you from chasing dead ends and help you convert potential leads into viable opportunities that drive successful deals and positive revenue growth. Lead qualification isn’t just a step in the process, it’s a crucial part of your sales playbook and a key pillar in any successful sales strategy.

If you’re encountering pipeline bottlenecks or need advice on implementing these frameworks, feel free to reach out. Here’s to making every lead count!

#LeadQualification #SalesSuccess #BANT #MEDDPICC #ANUM #CHAMP

78% of leads sitting in funnels are already dead.

If you’re starting to suspect yours might be part of that stat, we’re always up for comparing notes on what works.