The S.T.A.R. Method for everyday use
Is the S.T.A.R. Method useful for anything else other than formal interviews?
I’ve often wondered if the S.T.A.R. Method makes sense during an interview, to help keep thoughts logical and the flow of traditional questions and answers on track, could it be used more frequently in a generic conversation, every day?
It can! But, not so much during a generic conversation with friends or family, but maybe more generally in business conversations during a strategy session.
Consider this, most people who have interviewed for a job learned that there is a great way to answer questions in an interview, especially the typical “situational” questions. The ones that go like this…”tell me about a time when…”
The interviewee would then answer that situational question using the S.T.A.R. methodology (Article from The Muse, discussing STAR interview method), which simply organizes the answer in a logical format that makes it easier for the interviewer to follow along and decide whether it is a good answer or might need more fleshing out from the interviewer to get the most out of the answer.
It might go something like this during an interview for a sales position:
Question:
Ron, tell me about a time when you had to persuade or convince someone to do something differently than they’ve done it before because you knew the outcome would be better than ever. How did you do it?
Answer:
S - Situation - Great question! I had a prospect that always did “X” this way, but our product would allow them to do “X” in a very different way, saving them time, and money.
T - Task - My challenge was to show them that even though they would have to do a few things differently in terms of “X”, which in the short term would lead to a little bit of a learning curve, in a relatively short period of time, doing “X” this new way, would lead to a much better overall experience, saving time, and money.
A - Actions - I was able to show them a demonstration, and tie that into an economic proposal that showed the value of their time, and the overall savings in time, which equated to saving money. In addition, freeing up their time allowed them to allocate human capital/resources a bit differently, which created other downstream opportunities they never anticipated.
R - Result - I was able to gain a commitment from the prospect to evaluate my product, and during the evaluation, I was able to get more staff members to see things the same way and everyone was quickly on board and loved the ideas I presented. Following the evaluation, they converted 100% of their business to my product.
But, itt could go something like this in a more normal, everyday, strategic conversation between a sales pro and their sales manager, or sales leader:
Question:
Hey Ron, how are things going with the “XYZ Company? (prospect in the sales pipeline)
Answer:
S - Situation - Well, boss, funny you should mention that. As we discussed last time, the situation was a bit fuzzy since I had been receiving some conflicting information from various parties as I was doing some detective work within the account.
T - Task - As it turned out, I figured that if I could get to the person that really makes “X” go, I could find out a little bit more about some “pain points” in their role, that might enlighten me about a few other things, so when I ultimately get further up the chain in the decision-making process, I’ve got some ammunition to create stronger value propositions for those stakeholders.
A - Actions - I decided to request a special appointment with that person, just me and them, and drafted up some great open-ended questions to really allow them to open up about how things really worked there.
R - Result - I requested, and was able to secure a quick, 15-minute appointment that actually lasted more like 45-minutes, and with the great open-ended questions I had prepared, was able to open this person up and garnered a wealth of valuable information to continue to move the ball forward in the conversation. In the end, they set up an appointment for me with the key decision makers at their next monthly meeting, where I will present to the group!
Moral of the story, structure to any conversation is good. Sometimes really good! And, you never know until you try using some of these concepts! So give it a try! Pick someone to try it with in a harmless conversation. Tell them what you are working on and ask them for some help. People genuinely love to help other people.
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