ANUM sales qualification: All you need to know! 

According to a study, 22% of sales reps reported sales qualification as the most challenging part of their sales process.  

Maybe those still need to introduce a sales lead qualification framework!  

Various sales methodologies can help you qualify the actual buyers. And today, we are discussing one of the most effective sales frameworks- ANUM.

Moreover, you can set your qualification process on autopilot.

So, let’s find all the nitty-gritty of the ANUM framework.

What is the ANUM sales qualification framework? 

Ken Krogue develops the ANUM framework. It is a lead qualification framework that takes a customer-centric approach and helps sales reps identify sales opportunities.  

It is a restructured version of the BANT framework where authority is prioritized over budget.  

Prospecting isn’t easy. Reps invest a lot of effort and time in contacting the right audience.  

In such a scenario, realizing that you reached out to an irrelevant prospect is devastating. 

ANUM is a practical framework as it qualifies based on whether they have decision-making powers or not.

Also, beginning your sales pitch focusing on a budget can be daunting. Here’s why the ANUM framework seems effective, as it considers money criteria later.

Moreover, this framework helps reps save time and effort by deciding whether they are dealing with the right prospects or need to look for the correct ones.   

Let’s understand each qualification criterion of ANUM.

The complete process of the ANUM qualification framework

1. Authority  

You just can’t afford to work on a lead that has no power to make the purchasing decision.

This is why the ANUM framework prioritizes authority. It lets you discover whether you are pitching your winning script to the decision-maker or not. 

But who is/are the potential decision-makers?  

Well- it depends.  

There is no perfect definition of the decision-maker. It is purely subjective to the company and its organizational structure.

At some companies, it may be a CFO or a departmental head; in some processes, there may be a group of people who need to be involved throughout the process, and so on.

The technique is to ask the right qualifying question to the MQLs to discover whether they have the decision-making authority or not.

To understand the authority of a prospect to make the purchase decision, you should ask the questions mentioned below:

• Can you help me know your company’s buying process, especially with purchasing a product or service like ours? 
• Is there anyone else from your team that needs to be included in this conversation? 
• How are purchasing decisions typically made in your organization for products/services like ours?
• Who is responsible for making the final purchase decision? 
• Can you include the (decision maker) in our call? 
• Can you help me with the coordinates of (the decision maker) to contact them directly? 

What if you discover that the lead you’re communicating with for sales isn’t the decision-maker? 

Well, you shouldn’t cut off the lead who isn’t the decision-maker, as they can serve as a bridge to reach the person concerned.  

2. Need  

Once you’ve tapped the decision-maker, you must understand their requirements and expectations from a brand like yours.  

Understanding their pain points and taking the conversation in the right direction is vital.

At this stage, you should be aware of their role and responsibilities. This helps you to offer a tailored solution to them. 

Identifying customers’ needs would help you offer a consultive sales approach that boosts the probability of deal conversion. 

Nearly 53% of sales representatives believe the consultative selling approach makes their sales process more efficient. 

As this method considers having a consultation session with the potential buyer that caters to their requirement.

Below are the questions you can ask the lead to understand their needs: 

• What’s the key problem your company/ team/ department faces? 
• What’s the source of this key problem? 
• What’s the goal your team/company aims at achieving? 
• Why hasn’t it been addressed before? 
• What would be the ideal solution for this problem?  

3. Urgency 

At this stage, you must determine the importance and extremity of your prospect’s purchase plan.

This phase is even denoted as priority and timing in some other frameworks like (BANT, FAINT, CHAMP, etc.)  

This stage evaluates how urgently your prospect requires the solution to their problem.  

However, there is an urgency in an ideal situation at this stage since you already know the prospects are facing problems and need a solution.

So, here’s how you can even directly discover these factors by asking a question like:

• What’s the timeframe for getting the problem fixed? 
• How long can you wait to get the problem solved? 
• Where does this solution stand on your priority list? 
• How important is it to get this solution in place? 

Also, you can even discover the urgency of the purchase by getting to know the company’s general news, like its structural changes, mergers, acquisition, etc.

4. Money 

The above qualification will help you understand who you are selling to and how to pitch your product as the solution to their problem. 

But you must qualify your prospect for the most important stage- budget.  

Though self-explanatory, the budget takes a backseat when you communicate with the right person and offer them the required solution.  

The businesses have a budget range per the market prices, so if you can convince your prospects that your solution is a game-changer, they will probably be flexible about it. 

Through the below qualifying questions, you provide certainty about their budget: 

• Do you have a budget for this solution? 
• How much are you willing to spend on an accurate solution?  
• Would you mind spending higher than you’re planned budget on this solution? 
• Is there anything else you’re currently allocating the budget on? 

Let’s find out how you can implement ANUM to qualify leads for sales.  

An example of the ANUM qualification framework

This example will help you understand how to leverage ANUM for qualification. 

Ron(sales rep): Hi, I am Ron from XYZ software company. Am I talking to Mr. Dave, the head of marketing at ABC company? 

Dave(prospect): Yes, what is this call regarding? 

Ron: We noticed you recently filled out a web form on our site expressing interest in our marketing automation software. Are you looking for a strong solution in this direction? 

Dave: Well, yes, we’re looking for a marketing automation solution to help our team automate outreach and improve our lead generation efforts. 

Ron: Okay, awesome. Before discussing your solution, who else in your company is involved in the decision-making process? 

Dave: Oh, It’s me and the CMO. 

Ron: Okay, thank you. Please, can you help me understand the critical problem you and your team face? 

Dave: Until now, our team has been manually doing most of the outreach activities and nurturing campaigns. But now, we’re planning to implement automation in most lead generation and management tasks.

Ron: Well, sir, you can automate all the repeated and time-consuming tasks like lead generation and management, outreach, nurturing and follow up, and much more with our powerful automation suit. 

Dave: Wow, this sounds helpful. 

Ron: Thanks, sir. May I know where this solution stands on your priority list?  

Dave: Well, we plan to start with automation by the end of this month. 

Ron: Okay, thanks for letting me know. Regarding budget, what optimal range are you looking at for this solution?  

Dave: We have a budget of around $75,000. 

Ron: Okay, sir. How about scheduling a meeting for tomorrow regarding the brief and the product’s free live demo? 

Dae: Okay, sounds good! 

Ron: Could you please provide me with the email id of the CMO, sir, so I can arrange a joint meeting with our senior product expert? 

Dave: Yes, sure. I have dropped the details. Kindly check. 

Hope this was helpful. 

Can you automate your qualification process? 

According to a McKinsey report in 2017, 45% of current activities can be automated with present-day technology, saving $2 trillion. 

The percentage might increase only with more and more technology evolution. 

You can simply automate many marketing efforts; here are the most valuable ones: 

You can simply set your lead qualification on auto-pilot with a chatbot.  

Set qualifying questions like specific needs, time frame, urgency, etc., on your Chatbot and qualify web visitors while communicating with them. 

If you want to learn how chatbots qualify leads automatically, click here. 

Wrapping up 

ANUM sales framework is a smart sales methodology that helps to qualify the prospect.

It stands for ANUM (authority, need, urgency, money).

If authority is something you aim to qualify for initially, go for the ANUM qualification framework.

Moreover, the sales team can boost their lead qualification process by automatically prioritizing qualified leads and rejecting unqualified leads with a smart automation platform.