Yellow Lights: Yellow lights are doubts, stalls, concerns, fears, objections or tough questions. The rule with yellow lights is: If you see it, hear it, or feel it, find a way to say it – tactfully. (37 – 41; 147- 151, 158)

Question 1

Situation: The client insists on moving ahead with a solution to solve the problem without identifying the evidence of its existence and the impact on the organization.

Answer 1

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I have a concern.“

Part B: “If we have no evidence of the true nature of the problem and no sense of the impact on the organization, somebody somewhere is going to seriously question the validity of this/project.“

Part C: “Is that possible?” (So, what do you think we should do?)

Question 2

Situation: The client mentions to you that the CEO has not been overly favorable to this project in the past.

Answer 2

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I think we may have a problem.”

Part B: “It seems that even if we were able to identify a solution that would exactly meet your needs and help you achieve the results you are hoping for, there is a little chance that we will get the approval from the CEO. He has killed this project in the past and it’s likely he will kill it again.”

Part C: “What do you think we should do?”

Question 3

Situation: You feel you are being asked to bid on a solution that is going to be done by the client’s internal resources.

Answer 3

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I can’t help but thinking…”

Part B: “You have been successful at addressing these issues with internal resources up to now. It seems this project could be done using internal resources as well.”

Part C: “Is that an option you’re strongly considering?” (Let’s talk about what will drive your decision to build or buy.)

Question 4

Situation: You believe that the cost of the solution your client is asking for is larger than the cost of the problem it is intended to solve.

Answer 4

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I have a concern.”

Part B: “It seems as if the cost of the solution may be larger than the problem itself and that it wouldn’t make fiscal sense to move ahead.”

Part C: “Am I missing something?”

Question 5

Situation: You are concerned that you client is uncomfortable with the direction your discussion is headed.

Answer 5

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I have a concern.”

Part B: “I’m sensing that you are uncomfortable with the direction our conversation is headed.”

Part C: “Could you give me some feedback?”

Question 6

Situation: As you were asking your client a question, you noticed an expression come across her face that made you think she was displeased.

Answer 6

Consultant Response:

Part A: “Could I check something out?”

Part B: “I noticed a moment ago an expression cross your face? I’m not sure what was going on for you.”

Part C: “Can you share what you were thinking?”

Question 7

Situation: You get a sense that the only one in the company who will feel the issues you have been talking about are important is your direct client contact.

Answer 7

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I have a concern.”

Part B: “I’m getting the sense that even though these issues are very important to you, it’s possible that others will not be as supportive as we move ahead. And without that support, there is a pretty good chance this project won’t be adopted.”

Part C: “Do you share that concern?”

Question 8

Situation: Your client doesn’t want to take the time to develop a solid business case for a solution because “everyone knows this is a problem.”

Answer 8

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I have a concern.”

Part B: “I don’t know if your CFO is anything like our CFO. However, at our company, even if everyone thinks there is a problem, there needs to be a good business case backing up the request before he’ll allocate funds.”

Part C: “Could that possibly happen here?”

Question 9

Situation: In an attempt to qualify the importance of the issues on a scale of 1-10, the client indicates that they are a six.

Answer 9

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I have a concern.”

Part B: “It seems that the organization is more likely to work on issues that are 8’s, 9’s or 10’s, rather than on something that’s only a 6.”

Part C: “Is that fair?”

Question 10

Situation: You begin to feel that a decision has already been made to give the business to a competitor.

Answer 10

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I would like to check something out with you.”

Part B: “It sounds as if you already have a sense of who you want to work with on this project.”

Part C: “Am I off target?”

Question 11

Situation: You have done your best job to elicit the steps your client’s organization will take to make a decision, and it is still unclear to both of you what will happen.

Answer 11

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I think we may have a problem.”

Part B: “It seems that even if we had a solution that would exactly meet your needs, there no reason to doubt that a decision will be made – one way or the other. It is unclear who will be involved and what criteria they will apply.”

Part C: “What’s your sense?”

Question 12

Situation: The gatekeeper will not allow you to see the decision-makers.

Answer 12

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I think we may have a problem.”

Part B: “One of our principles is that we don’t allow ourselves to guess what our clients need. If I can’t talk to the key owners of those needs, we would be guessing, and our proposal is likely to be off target. We won’t be able to give them the information they need to make a well-informed decision.”

Part C: “What do you think we should do?”

Question 13

Situation: You notice your client has glanced at his watch two or three times since your discussion began.

Answer 13

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I would like to check something out with you.”

Part B: “I noticed that you have glanced at your watch a few times.”

Part C: “Do we have a time issue?”

Question 14

Situation: Based on nonverbal cues, you sense the client is not strongly engaged and focused on the conversation.

Answer 14

Consultant Response:

Part A: “Could I check something out with you?”

Part B: “You’re being very polite and helpful, yet I’m getting a gut feeling that for whatever reason this topic of conversation isn’t really grabbing you.”

Part C: “Am I misreading the situation?” (What would get us back on track?)

Question 15

Situation: Your preliminary conversations with the client show that ORD is very weak, and that you will likely spend time on a proposal that won’t pay off – or even worse “win” a deal that won’t be profitable for either party. Yet, an important partner has specifically asked you to make a proposal. What do you say to the partner?

Answer 15

Consultant Response:

Part A: “I have some concerns I’d like to share.”

Part B: “I know you want to make sure that we provide real value to the client and profit to your organization. Based on my conversations to date, neither is going to happen. It’s going to be lose-lose rather than win-win (or at best it’s going to be win-lose and we’ll lose). Normally, I would find a way to exit very gracefully.”

Part B: “What would you suggest?” (If they want to proceed, will they absorb the BD costs? Will they absorb the loss?)