Consulting Conversations

Partner asks you to defend your proposal

Advanced · 25 minutes

Situation brief

Before a proposal is sent, a partner challenges your approach, asking why the client will pay for it and whether your team can deliver the promised outcome.

Your role

Consulting manager seeking approval for a client proposal

Counterparty

Firm partner testing commercial and delivery logic

Objective

Defend the proposal concisely, acknowledge risks and earn approval for the next step.

Constraints

You need partner confidence; commitments must remain deliverable and evidence based.

Evaluation criteria

Structured thinking Stakeholder sensitivity Executive presence Recommendation clarity Handling ambiguity Trusted advisor behaviour

Before you begin

Purpose

Practise the judgement, wording and next-step discipline required in a realistic business conversation.

Psychological safety

This is a practice environment. Respond naturally rather than trying to write a perfect textbook answer.

How to respond

Write what you would actually say in the meeting. Specific examples, questions and commitments score better than theory.

Debrief

After the roleplay, you will complete a short reflection and receive a score, transcript, feedback and action plan.