Describe a professional situation in which you were able to successfully persuade others to see things your way.

Sample One

For a recent project at a department store, I led a work stream to evaluate its marketing practices and processes. I prepared detailed process maps and PowerPoint slides to outline the roles, responsibilities, tools, and process that would help successfully execute future marketing initiatives. A successful implementation of our recommendations relied upon gaining the support and buy-in of the client’s SVP of Marketing, a creative guru who lacked knowledge on technology and process. Uninterested in my process maps, charts, and tables, he did not seem concerned with the technical and consulting jargon. Rather, he preferred to speak about his new concept for the winter catalogue, “snow people, blanketed in white,” and to discuss which famous graphic designer would create the cover.

I realized that for me to gain his buy-in, I would need to translate the consulting jargon into a language that this individual preferred to speak. After losing his attention so quickly in our initial meeting, I chose to walk the flagship store with him, perusing the products and relating examples of how different tools could improve his organization. At the handbag counter, I did not launch into the benefits of a customer relationship management system which I had previously presented at our meeting. Instead, pointing to the Coach handbag, I told him how the in-store business could share information with the online business about the shopping tendencies of Coach customers. This information sharing would enable both departments to better target Coach handbag customers with promotional coupons, emails of future handbag sales, and news of product launches. Throughout our tour, I crafted various similar vignettes for each of our recommendations. His nods affirmed that he understood our recommendations around technology and process and how they could help him realize his marketing dreams.

This experience taught me to be more conscious of my audience and each stakeholder’s motivations and interests. By understanding the SVP’s character and altering my approach, I was able to connect with him, gain his respect, and persuade him to support our recommendations. I learned the importance of tailoring information into terms that each business user understands. By walking through the store and focusing on the products and customer experience, rather than using charts and graphs in a board room, I also realized the power of changing a group’s environment to better demonstrate a point. I am now more aware of my audience and how to adapt my communication style and overall approach to be more effective in persuading others.

Sample Two

Last year, my current employer LINKA Communications was faced with a challenge. One of our top selling products was failing with our customers. This product failure was of great distress to management because this product accounted for $5 million in annual revenue, a significant amount for a mid-size company. The management was extremely concerned that a product failure would tarnish our reputation for impeccable quality and reliability. My group had designed the failing product in early 2000, but our chief designer was busy with another project at the time these failures were reported. Due to the urgent nature and importance of the project for our company, I took on the responsibility to spearhead the product failure issue. My preliminary investigation showed that changes in our manufacturing process had caused these failures. In order to avoid further risk of strained customer relationships, I advocated to put the entire inventory on hold and to purge our stockroom of the defective product.

Initially, management was reluctant to put the entire inventory on hold because the decision could cost us significant revenue and business opportunities. However, I convinced management by appealing to a core strategic business argument. I argued that the continued shipment of failed devices had a greater risk of tarnishing our reputation and could result in long-term revenue loss, as customers would be hesitant to purchase our products in the future. I maintained my position that benefiting our short-term financial bottom line would be at the expense of our company’s long-term interests. I created and presented a risk analysis that quantified short-term gains versus long-term effects. Management realized the extent of the problem, appreciated my analyses and halted further shipments. Realizing the importance of saving our existing business, yet also realizing it would be impossible to fix the existing problem in time to please our current customers, it was necessary to replace our defective product with an entirely new one. For the next two months, I led a cross-functional team to develop the new product while communicating with customers and our management.

It was intimidating for me to champion an unpopular position. However, I believed in myself and remained steadfast, which paid off in the end. My ability to see the big picture of the business had a large impact on my company. We could never fix the problem of our existing product. However, we replaced our customers’ inventories and assembly lines with the new product. Our customers appreciated the new design solution and our company increased its revenue. Over two million units of this new product have been sold since its inception. Most importantly, our company was able to sustain partnerships with customers and live up to our commitment to excellent quality and reliability.