CLIENT CHALLENGES

• Move beyond existing products to meet demands of new markets
• Create products that appeal to a new segment of end users
• Ensure that existing and new products are relevant to a global market  

CLIENT RESULTS

• A robust product offering to capture new markets
• Appropriate messaging to reach customers in diverse global markets 

PDC SOLUTION

• Market-Driven Product Definition (MDPD®)

CPP, with its tagline “the people development people,” is best known for the Myers-Briggs® Assessment. In 2014, CPP undertook a project with PDC, with the mission of defining and developing products and services that enable organizations worldwide to succeed by improving employee performance.

As the first step in the MDPD process, CPP identified a number of types of companies from which to gather voice-of-the-customer (VOC) data, including domestic and multinational corporations, government entities, consulting firms, hospitals, and service organizations. These organizations spanned the globe, from various regions of the US to Europe, Asia, and South America. Individuals in the interview process represented a range of functions, from line-of-business managers to owners, trainers, and professional development staff.

The interview step of the process is an important one, in which a cross-functional team conducts open-ended interviews and then creates an image diagram representing users’ biggest frustrations in getting their jobs done. Based on the voices in the transcripts from the interviews, combined with the image diagram, the CPP team created customer requirements that drove the product roadmap and individual features of their new products.

Globalization—an added benefit

An added benefit of the MDPD process was that it enabled CPP to tailor its offerings globally. CPP has distribution partners all over the world, some of whom have been working with the company for as many as 25 years. In that time, the company had never asked its distributors “What’s the experience you offer to the end user?” Asking this question and starting the discussion was key to beginning the process of creating a global brand.

CPP’s VOC work also helped in parts of the world where cultural norms had become a barrier. Jeffrey Hayes, CPP’s president and CEO, explained that In Japan, for example, an assessment like Myers-Briggs is actually counter-cultural. In a collectivist society, giving an assessment that celebrates differences is a disconnect from the prevailing culture. CPP needed to completely rethink how it would help Japanese citizens and companies benefit from the richness of an assessment that seemed on its face to undermine deeply held cultural values. CPP was able to work with its partner in Japan to understand the elements of the assessment experience that would translate and those that would need to change.

Because CPP also focused on the qualitative piece of data gathering, the company was able to use VOC data to develop appropriate messaging and marketing materials for different regions to account for cultural differences.