What questions should I ask to qualify a lead?
The ones whose answers would change whether you take the meeting, which for most businesses means the problem, the scale, the timing and who decides.
The four that earn their place
Problem, scale, timing and authority — asked in the respondent's language rather than as a checklist borrowed from a sales methodology.
Frameworks like BANT are fine as a reminder of what to cover and poor as a script. Nobody wants to be asked to confirm their budget authority. They will happily tell you their role, and their role answers the same question without the interrogation.
- What are you trying to fix, in your own words?
- How big is it — volume, spend, headcount, whatever applies?
- When do you need this solved by?
- What is your role in the decision?
What to leave out
Anything you are collecting because it would be nice to know, and anything a rep can find in thirty seconds.
Company size and industry are usually both: they look like qualification and in most businesses they change nothing. Every question you cut raises the completion rate of the ones that do matter, which is a straight trade in your favour.
Part of our guide to qualifying leads before the sales call.
Related questions
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Last updated 2026-10-02