---
name: sales-strella
description: "Strella (strella.io) platform help — an AI-moderated customer research platform that interviews REAL humans (not synthetic personas) with deterministic, repeatable scripted flows: text-first chat interviews escalating to voice/video, optional human moderator, stimuli testing, a 3M+ participant panel or your own customers, and real-time theme synthesis into a queryable research repository. UI-only — no public API, webhooks, Zapier, or MCP. Use when writing a Strella discussion guide, the setup wizard feels overwhelming, recruiting from the panel vs your own customers, digging out verbatims buried under insights, judging whether its frequency-pattern synthesis goes deep enough, exporting data with no API, or choosing Strella vs User Intuition / Outset / Listen Labs. Do NOT use for comparing research tools or the validate-before-building method (use /sales-idea-validation), an API/webhook/MCP-native pipeline (use /sales-userintuition), or analyzing existing NPS/CSAT/VoC feedback (use /sales-customer-feedback)."
argument-hint: "[describe what you need help with in Strella]"
license: MIT
version: 1.0.0
tags: [sales, pre-launch, platform]
---

# Strella Platform Help

Strella (strella.io) runs **AI-moderated customer research on REAL humans** — an AI interviewer that
runs **text-first chat** conversations (escalating to **voice/video** when a richer modality serves the
question), in parallel across dozens of participants, with **themes synthesized in minutes** and
**highlight reels** auto-cut. Recruit from a **3M+ participant panel** (via a User Interviews
partnership) or **bring your own customers**, pay incentives in-platform, and query everything in a
research **repository**. *"Run 100 customer interviews by tomorrow morning."*

Its edge in the AI-moderated-interview cluster is **deterministic, repeatable scripted flows** — the
most configurable moderator here, genuinely useful when every conversation must run **identically**
(regulated work, tracking studies). The trade-off is the other side of that coin: independent testing
puts its **adaptive probing depth** below the best prober (User Intuition), and its synthesis leans
toward **frequency patterns** ("40% mentioned shipping speed") rather than the motivational *why*.

**Two things to say almost every time:**
- **It's real humans, but a stated "I'd pay" is still not a purchase.** Real interviews beat synthetic
  signal (genuine reasoning, objections, language) — but the willingness-to-pay go/no-go belongs to a
  **real behavior test** (pre-sale, smoke test), not a moderator transcript. Route that to `/sales-idea-validation`.
- **Strella is UI-only.** There is **no public API, no webhooks, no Zapier, no MCP** — so any "pipe
  transcripts into my CRM/warehouse" ask is manual export, not an integration. If the user needs an
  API-native interview pipeline, the right tool is `/sales-userintuition`, not Strella.

## Step 1 — Gather context

If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask only what you can't infer:

1. **What do you want from Strella?**
   - A) **Set up a study** — write the discussion guide/objective, pick chat vs voice vs video, AI-only vs a human moderator on the call
   - B) **Recruit** — the 3M+ panel (with targeting) vs bring-your-own-customers (BYOC), incentives
   - C) **Read results** — themes, highlight reels, verbatims, repository query — or decide whether to trust them
   - D) **Get data out** — export transcripts/reels for a deck, CRM, or warehouse (no API — manual)
   - E) **Choose** — Strella vs User Intuition / Outset / Listen Labs / Conveo for your use case
2. **Is this discovery (strangers on the panel) or feedback from your own customers?** That decides
   panel vs BYOC and the honesty of the signal.

Skip-ahead: if the user wants to **compare** research tools across the market or the
validate-before-building *method*, that's a `/sales-idea-validation` question — route in Step 2.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the user's question is about… | Route to |
|---|---|
| Comparing research/idea/synthetic tools across the market, or the validate-before-building **method** | `/sales-idea-validation {question}` |
| An **API / webhook / MCP-native** interview pipeline (Strella has none) | `/sales-userintuition {question}` |
| Running a **real behavior** demand test (smoke-test page, waitlist, pre-sale) after interviews | `/sales-idea-validation` or `/sales-funnel` `{question}` |
| Analyzing **existing** NPS/CSAT/VoC/review feedback (post-launch, not new interviews) | `/sales-customer-feedback {question}` |
| A **synthetic-persona** peer (AI personas instead of real people) | `/sales-syntheticusers` or `/sales-ditto` `{question}` |

When routing, give the exact command: "This is a {domain} question — run: `/sales-idea-validation {original question}`"

Otherwise, answer Strella-specific questions using Step 3.

## Step 3 — Strella platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for the full reference — the module/automation-surface table
(what's exportable vs UI-only), best-effort pricing and plan gates, the
Study → Interview → Participant → Insight data model, recruiting (panel vs BYOC), and the
no-API data-out playbook. Strella has **no public API**, so there is no API-reference file.

Answer using only the relevant section — don't dump the full reference.

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

- **Say the caveat: a real interview is not a purchase.** Whatever the user asks, make explicit that
  Strella interviews **real humans** (a big step up from synthetic personas — genuine reasoning,
  objections, language), but a stated "I'd pay" in an interview is **not observed demand**. Keep the
  *why/objections/language* and take the go/no-go from a **real behavior test** (smoke-test click,
  pre-sale) — route that to `/sales-idea-validation`.
- **Flag it as UI-only when any automation/export comes up.** Strella has **no public API, webhooks,
  Zapier, or MCP** (verify against current docs — it may change). "Sync transcripts to HubSpot/Snowflake"
  is a **manual** export/copy job, not an integration. If the user needs a programmatic interview
  pipeline, tell them so and route to `/sales-userintuition`.
- **Keep the discussion guide tight — don't drown in the setup wizard.** Setup is the platform's biggest
  friction (research plan, interview details, moderator name/voice, session timeout, response speed, and
  advanced LLM/TTS/STT provider settings *before* you reach a question). Start from a template, write a
  **sharp objective + a short set of core questions**, and leave the advanced provider knobs at defaults
  unless there's a reason. A thin brief caps depth; the moderator only probes around what you gave it.
- **Play to deterministic/repeatable, not emergent depth.** Strella's strength is **identical, scripted
  flows** — recommend it for tracking studies, regulated work, or A/Bing a fixed script. If the user
  needs the deepest *adaptive* laddering or emergent-need discovery, say so plainly and name
  User Intuition / Outset as the probing-depth picks.
- **Get to the verbatims — the richness is a click below the insights.** Its report surfaces
  **synthesized insights first** and buries the verbatim quotes/clips underneath. When interpreting
  results, tell the user to open the underlying quotes/highlight clips, not to stop at the top-line
  "X% mentioned Y" frequency summary.
- **Panel vs BYOC: match to the question.** Panel (3M+ via User Interviews, with targeting) reaches
  strangers for discovery/concept tests; **BYOC** interviews *your own* customers for churn/win-loss and
  is the honest audience for product feedback. Panel recruiting is **self-serve/card-pay only** — no
  managed/concierge recruiting, so hard-to-reach B2B is a known weak spot.
- **Present all pricing as best-effort.** Strella doesn't publish full pricing; it's **seat-based**
  (unlimited users) and enterprise tiers are quote-only. State any figure as best-effort and point the
  user to **strella.io** to confirm.

If you discover a gotcha or tip not in `references/learnings.md`, append it there with today's date.

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research (2026-07) — pricing, panel size/source (a User Interviews partnership, "3M+"
on the product page vs "8M" in some marketing), the modality mix, and the (absent) API/export surface
move; verify at strella.io.*

- **Real ≠ demand.** Interviews reveal the *why* better than any synthetic tool, but a stated intent to
  pay is not a purchase — the go/no-go still belongs to a real behavior test (pre-sale, smoke test).
- **No API, no webhooks, no Zapier, no MCP.** Strella is UI-only; the only data-out is manual export
  (transcripts, highlight reels, dashboards). Don't design a live integration around it — route
  pipeline needs to `/sales-userintuition`.
- **Setup wizard is heavy.** You configure a research plan, interview details, moderator name/voice,
  timeout, response speed, and (advanced) the LLM/TTS/STT providers before your first question — reviewers
  call it the most config-heavy of its peers. Start from a template; keep the guide short.
- **Synthesis skews to frequency, not motivation.** The default report reads as "40% mentioned X"; the
  motivational *why* lives in the verbatims a click underneath — don't take the top-line summary as the finding.
- **Adaptive depth is middling.** Independent head-to-head testing ranked its moderator's probing depth
  below the strongest prober — great for scripted consistency, weaker for emergent-need discovery.
- **Panel recruiting is self-serve/card-pay only.** No concierge recruiting or managed quality-filtering,
  so hard-to-reach B2B audiences are a known gap; BYOC (your own customers) sidesteps it but you own incentives.
- **Pricing is seat-based and mostly unpublished.** Unlimited users, enterprise quote-only — treat any
  per-plan number as best-effort and confirm on site.

## Related skills

- `/sales-idea-validation` — The tool-agnostic validate-before-building method + the full research/persona/validator tool landscape (use this to actually decide build-or-not; an interview "yes" is not demand). Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-idea-validation -a claude-code`
- `/sales-userintuition` — The API/webhook/MCP-native real-human interview peer — the pick when you need a programmatic pipeline Strella can't offer (deepest developer surface in this cluster). Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-userintuition -a claude-code`
- `/sales-voicepanel` — Voicepanel platform help — the real-human peer that, unlike UI-only Strella, **does** expose an **MCP server** (though no REST API/webhooks, and MCP access is onboarded in waves) and adds **phone + screen-share usability tasks**; pick it over Strella when you want agent/MCP access or the broadest modality set. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-voicepanel -a claude-code`
- `/sales-syntheticusers` — Synthetic Users platform help (synthetic AI-persona interview studies with a REST API; Strella's contrast is that it interviews **real** humans, not personas). Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-syntheticusers -a claude-code`
- `/sales-customer-feedback` — Real-customer NPS/CSAT/VoC strategy across tools (use to analyze *existing* feedback; Strella proactively runs new interviews). Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-customer-feedback -a claude-code`
- `/sales-funnel` — Build the smoke-test / fake-door landing page that turns an interview hypothesis into a real demand test. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-funnel -a claude-code`
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code`

## Examples

### Example 1: "The interviews loved my concept — should I build it?"
**User says**: "I ran 20 Strella interviews and most said they'd use and pay for it. Green light?"
**Skill does**: Credits the signal as **real** (actual humans, genuine reasoning — far better than a
synthetic tool), then draws the line: a stated "I'd pay" in an interview is **not a purchase**. Tells the
user to open the **verbatims a click under the insights** and mine objections, hesitation, and pricing
language (the real value — not the "X% mentioned Y" top line), then take the go/no-go from a **real
behavior test** (pre-sale or a "buy" click) via `/sales-idea-validation`. Flags pricing as best-effort.
**Result**: The founder keeps the qualitative depth and runs a pre-sale before committing weeks of build.

### Example 2: "How do I get Strella transcripts into HubSpot automatically?" (developer/automation)
**User says**: "I want every completed Strella interview transcript to land on the HubSpot contact."
**Skill does**: States plainly that **Strella is UI-only — no public API, webhooks, Zapier, or MCP** — so
there's no automated path; the only data-out is a **manual export** of transcripts/highlight reels. If a
live pipeline is a hard requirement, routes to `/sales-userintuition` (REST API + HMAC webhooks + MCP)
as the API-native alternative, and notes the trade-off (Strella's edge is deterministic scripted flows).
**Result**: The user stops hunting for an API that doesn't exist and either exports manually or switches
tools for the pipeline.

### Example 3: "Setup is overwhelming and my results feel shallow"
**User says**: "There's so much to configure before I can even ask a question, and the report is just percentages."
**Skill does**: Tells the user to **start from a template** and leave the advanced LLM/TTS/STT provider
knobs at defaults, then write a **sharp objective + a short set of core questions** (a thin brief caps
depth — the moderator only probes around what you give it). For the "just percentages" complaint, points
them to the **verbatims/highlight clips a click beneath the insights**, and notes Strella's synthesis
skews to frequency patterns while adaptive probing depth trails the strongest prober (name User
Intuition / Outset if depth is the priority).
**Result**: The user ships a tighter guide and reads the motivational *why* under the frequency summary.

## Troubleshooting

### "The report is just 'X% mentioned Y' — where's the depth?"
**Symptom**: The synthesis reads as frequency patterns; the motivational *why* seems missing.
**Cause**: Strella surfaces **synthesized insights first** and its default synthesis skews to frequency;
the richness (verbatim quotes, highlight clips) sits **a click underneath** the insight.
**Solution**: Open the underlying verbatims/clips for each theme and read the reasoning behind the
number. If you need deeper *adaptive* probing across the board, Strella's moderator ranks below the
strongest prober — consider User Intuition / Outset (route via `/sales-idea-validation`). And take the
go/no-go to a real behavior test, not the transcript.

### "Setup takes forever before I can ask anything"
**Symptom**: You're configuring a research plan, moderator name/voice, timeouts, response speed, and
advanced provider settings before reaching your first question.
**Cause**: Strella is the most configuration-heavy moderator in its class — powerful for deterministic,
repeatable scripts, but front-loaded.
**Solution**: Start from a **template**, keep the discussion guide to a sharp objective + a few core
questions, and leave the advanced LLM/TTS/STT provider knobs at defaults unless you have a specific
reason. Iterate the guide after a pilot batch rather than perfecting config up front.

### "How do I automate exports / connect Strella to my stack?"
**Symptom**: You want transcripts, reels, or insights flowing into a CRM, warehouse, or Slack.
**Cause**: Strella has **no public API, webhooks, Zapier, or MCP** — it's UI-only (verify against current
docs; this can change).
**Solution**: Use the built-in **manual export** (transcripts / highlight reels / dashboards) for decks
and ad-hoc handoff. If an automated, programmatic pipeline is a requirement, use an API-native
interview tool instead — route to `/sales-userintuition` (REST API + HMAC-signed webhooks + MCP server).