During a major sale event like 11.11, the Commercial team changes a deal's discount without informing Marketing, leading to customer complaints about incorrect pricing. How would you resolve this while the event is live?
RoleProject Manager
DifficultyEasy
TopicCommunication
Asked at
Why This Is Asked
No verbatim questions are publicly documented, but the role requires coordinating with Commercial, Marketing, and Product teams during campaigns, so this tests conflict resolution and cross-functional communication.
General Approach
Prioritize immediate damage control, then bring teams together to align, and finally propose a proactive process improvement. Demonstrate that you value collaboration over blame.
General Answer
First contain the customer-facing problem: verify what the actual live price or discount is, and either correct it immediately or clearly communicate the accurate pricing across the relevant channels to stop further complaints from compounding. Then bring Commercial and Marketing together at the same time rather than separately, so both align on the correct current terms and agree on a single consistent message rather than issuing conflicting updates. Handle affected customers according to company policy, whether that means honoring the advertised price where reasonably required or offering a goodwill gesture, so they aren't left stuck between two departments' versions of events. Once the event stabilizes, propose a concrete process fix, such as requiring sign-off from both teams or a shared real-time change log for any pricing update during live campaigns, so a change can't go out unannounced again. Keep the tone collaborative and focused on the fix rather than assigning blame while the event is still live.
PH Interview Gotcha
Avoid saying 'Kayo kasi, hindi nag-inform' which shifts blame. Instead, focus on solution: 'Let's fix it now, then let's set up a system so this doesn't happen again.'
Sample STAR Answer▾
S
Situation
While interning at a retail company during a big holiday sale, the merchandising team decided to slash prices on several items without updating the e-commerce team, causing the website to display the old, higher prices and frustrating customers.
T
Task
My task was to quickly align both teams, correct the customer-facing information, and prevent further complaints without pausing the sale.
A
Action
I immediately set up a 10-minute emergency huddle with leads from both teams to confirm the new discounts. While they talked, I drafted a temporary site banner stating 'Prices updating – refresh for final price at checkout.' Within an hour, we had the correct prices live. Afterward, I proposed a shared real-time promo tracker on Google Sheets to prevent future misalignments.
R
Result
Customer complaints dropped by about 70% that same afternoon, and the promo tracker was adopted for all future campaigns, reducing pricing errors to nearly zero.
Key Takeaway
Real-time communication tools and a single source of truth prevent costly cross-team misalignments.
Attempt Your Answer
Write your own answer, then get instant AI feedback graded against:
- •STAR Structure
- •Specificity & Numbers
- •Ownership Language
- •PH Workplace Context
Get AI feedback on your answer — free.
3 free AI-graded answers + 1 free mock interview, no card needed.
Sign Up FreeAlready have an account? Log in
Share Your Answer (0)
Sort
Sign in to join the conversation.
No answers shared yet — be the first to show how you'd approach this.