Author: Angie Jackson, CPP -PPS Director of Marketing and Key Accounts
So, if you’ve committed to earning your Certified Pricing Professional designation, you’ve taken the six online and/or Workshop prerequisite courses, you’ll have a fundamental understanding of the values-based pricing both from a mathematical/scientific perspective and when there’s some art involved (we don’t get to price in a vacuum, for example). You’ve passed the quizzes. You’ve learned from experts that live and breathe this discipline every day, including success stories and some failures as wise words of caution.
Now it’s time to prove you know your stuff when it comes to price setting and execution, including segmentation and promotions and the like. But how does one approach the CPP exam?
Quick caveat: I am not a pricer by nature. I have a marketing and sales background, both leveraging pricing, if somewhat, indirectly. But I was committed to going through the CPP journey to demonstrate pricing mastery, understand personally what our member experience is, and because, well, if I can do it, any one can.
Here’s what I did to wrangle this bad boy:
Study and take it quickly as you can.
I took the test 7 days from beginning to study (8 days total including the exam). The first entire day, I created a study guide (see #2) to set myself up for success and create a pricing playbook for myself to use forevermore. I front loaded all my regular work so I could focus and deep dive into the content. I did little else for those 8 days besides study and master the concepts in the study guide. I read my notes before closing my laptop on the 7th day, and then read them again before starting the test.
Insider tip: Don’t drag it out. Just do it.
Create a Word document to serve as your master study guide.
I spent my entire first day of studying pulling all the editorial content from the PDFs associated with each study module into a Word document, so it was searchable for the exam since the exam is open notes. As I went through the 11 (there are really 12) study modules via the videos and Dr. Tim Smith’s engaging and thorough commentary, I made notes of things he said for later reference, and I pulled in the charts and graphs via screenshots and labeled the graphs with typed words so I could find them later when searching the document. Literally, on the exam, if I had a question about ‘Economic Value to Customer’, for example, I searched the document so I could find every mention of it to give me confidence when answering the question.
Insider tip: I also created a one pager with all the formulas so I could keep that right next to me as I went.
Make an exam plan or use mine.
With the test being 4 hours long, 110 questions, and I needed an 83%, I thought through the timing and test execution so I could make sure I was on pace to complete the exam while marking questions I was unsure about to double check them, if I had time.
Here was my plan:
I can miss 18 questions.
1 hour mark: 28 questions
2 hours mark: 56
3 hours mark: 84
Insider tip: I’d guess the exam is about 65% math. That’s not a fact; that’s an estimation. And I had plenty of time. I completed the test in 2 hours and 45 minutes.
No need to do the study modules in order but ensure you have mastery of the quiz questions on each.
When it came to the study modules themselves, they are about 75 minutes long each. I did two per day, stopping to take notes as I went and make sure I have complete mastery of the questions at the end of the modules (except for one, see below). If I didn’t get a question right, I went back to the section Tim suggested and rewatched it, so I could execute the question correctly.
I started them order, but I knew the heavy quantitative sections were going to be more difficult for me, and therefore take more time. I decided to skip those—price segmentation and conjoint analysis to do those last. That was a key for me because:
1. I didn’t get bogged down studying those and could keep my studying momentum going.
I studied those two on the last day, so the math execution was fresh in my mind.
It seemed to me there were disproportionately more questions on those two sections, but maybe that was just me because I found them the most time consuming. Also, the segmentation and conjoint questions build on themselves, so if you missed one conjoint question, for example, then you could miss them all. And we can only miss 18 questions. Also, the test is randomized so the easiest question probably won’t be first. You may be asked a conjoint question first that you have to perform a few more calculations to answer.
Insider tip: Conjoint wasn’t difficult for me, but I hear it’s a little scary to some people. Don’t be scared. Just take the practice test, and you’ll be able to do it.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, is on the exam that isn’t stated or taught in the study module. The test was easier than I expected because I was well prepared for the exam through the study modules.
Don’t over think the exam.
I’m an overthinker, as I’m sure many of us are. Do not overthink the exam questions. The most obvious answer is probably the right one. If you know Tim, he’s not interested in tricking us. The test is multiple choice, and often two of the answers are obviously wrong. But you’ll often have to choose from two answers that, upon first glance, seem correct. If you made your complete study guide, search the document for everywhere he talked about that topic, and you’ll be able to determine which is the best choice.
Insider tip: I’d guess 75%+ of the exam are questions directly derived from the study module quizzes. Have I said make sure you can demonstrate mastery of the study modules?
PPS CPPs grow their businesses with evidence-based profitability strategies and techniques. It’s an honor to join this elite group of over 2,000 distinguished pricing professionals (and growing every day). If you have any questions around the CPP exam or any other aspects of PPS, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Good luck and happy studying!
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