Where did Molly go wrong? Read the following, true story of Molly Milkcakes* and see if you can spot her mistake.

Molly, aconsultant with Local Universal Consulting (a.k.a. LUC), was at a hot prospect’soffice trying to close a project.

She eloquentlyoutlined the benefits of LUC’s offering and, while the decision makers noddedalong, she ran through the alternative approaches. Then Molly deftly offered thefollowing arguments in her quest to seal the deal:

Objection response #1: “You don’t need to worry about this project extending past the end of your fiscal year, which I know is on the horizon. Our entire approach is based on rapid sprints that eliminate the risk of missing important deadlines like the one you have coming up.”

Objection response #2: “The time required of you will also be minimal. I’m aware of how consulting projects like these can be a time-drain, and we’ve designed our client interface to minimize that burden. I’d guess your entire time commitment during this engagement is less than two days.”

Objection response #3: “We can also work with you on the payment terms to make the fees more manageable. I recognize that all three alternatives we’ve suggested are substantial investments, and we can be flexible on terms, as needed, to make this work for you.”

Molly’sresponses to objections over duration, time requirements, and fees were cogentand well-articulated. In fact, she had previously prepared responses to themost common objections.

(By the way,I highly recommend you follow Molly’s example and prepare your responses to themost common objections you hear.)

So, why didMolly lose the consulting deal? Where did she go astray?

Molly’sresponses to objections would have been terrific if they had been needed.

They weren’t. She responded to “phantom objections.”

Her consulting prospect had never brought up any of the challenges she addressed. Molly had made assumptions based on her conversations with previous prospects, and she projected her own fears and concerns about the consulting engagement she was proposing.

Phantomobjections are the easiest to avoid. Ironically, they’re also the most prevalent.

Facing offagainst phantom objections is a surprisingly common, unforced error forconsultants. In your eagerness to address any concerns, it’s easy to presumeand project doubts into your prospect’s vague statements.

Fortunately,you can take two steps to avoid phantom objections.

1. Don’t answer concerns that haven’tbeen raised by your consulting prospect!
2. Listen. Rather than assuming you knowwhat your consulting prospect’s objections are, ask them, listen, and ask forclarification.

Is there atime to preemptively address objections? Yes.

Yourconsulting firm’s marketing materials can anticipate and addresscommon concerns.

On the other hand, during live conversations, listen carefully to your consulting prospect. Ask for clarification and address the concrete challenges you hear, not the phantom objections you imagine.

Have youever seen a phantom objection trip up a consultant?

Text and images are © 2020 David A. Fields, all rights reserved.