Customer Experience Professionals Association Launches with More Than 20 Leading Companies Signed

New Global Trade Group Formed by Industry Experts Bruce Temkin and Jeanne Bliss Will Provide Members with Extensive Research, Education and Networking Opportunities

WAKEFIELD, Mass. – April 27, 2011? Responding to a greatly increased need for a centralized and interactive community that brings together the growing field of all those who develop, manage, optimize and envision how organizations interact with their customers, the Customer Experience Professionals Association (CXPA ) launched today with more than 20 leading companies signed as Founding Corporate Members and Gold, Silver and Bronze Sponsors.

CXPA is a global industry trade group whose members are responsible for creating and maintaining an overall positive customer experience – a vital objective for any organization that offers products or services for sale. CXPA supports the professional development of its members and advances the field by providing research and education, establishing standards, offering networking and career opportunities, promoting the industry and creating a better understanding of the discipline of customer experience.

Governed by a Board of Directors to be drawn from its membership, CXPA is led by Bruce Temkin, co-founder and chair, and Jeanne Bliss, co-founder and vice chair – pioneers in the customer experience field that have a deep understanding of the roots of this burgeoning industry and a keen shared vision of its future.

Recognizing the inherent value CXPA offers ? and the critical, strategic impact customer experience has to their organizations ? the new association has already attracted a number of companies in a range of industries that have signed as Founding Corporate Members and sponsors.

The initial Founding Corporate Members of CXPA include: Adobe, Clarabridge, Inc., Confirmit, Cox Communications, Inc., EMC Corporation, Fidelity Investments, Healthy Directions, Medallia, Microsoft, Mindshare Technologies, ResponseTek, RightNow Technologies, Safeco Insurance™, SAP, SapientNitro, Strativity Group, Symantec,Tealeaf Technology, Thunderhead, Universal Mind, Inc. and Vovici.

As a non-profit association, CXPA depends on sponsorships to fund member programs. Initial Gold Sponsors of CXPA include Adobe, Confirmit, Medallia, RightNow Technologies, SapientNitro and Tealeaf Technology. Clarabridge, Inc. and ResponseTek are Silver Sponsors of CXPA, and Mindshare Technologies is a Bronze Sponsor.

“The formation of CXPA fills a void in the customer experience arena, and will provide a single, collective voice to guide its evolution as a highly-respected profession,” said Temkin. “Our mission is to help CXPA members ?across all fields and vertical markets ?make customer experience management an integral part of how their companies operate, and to enable them to embed its skill set across their organizations. Our goal is to break down the work, create standards and best practice approaches and transfer those skills across the CXPA network.”

Temkin is the managing partner of the Temkin Group and is widely viewed as one of the leading experts in how large organizations can build differentiation with customer experience. He is also the author of the popular blog “Customer Experience Matters.” Previously, Temkin spent 12 years with Forrester Research, during which time he led the firm’s business-to-business, financial services and customer experience practices. As a vice president and principal analyst, Temkin was the most-read analyst for 13 consecutive quarters and also the creator of Forrester’s “Voice of the Customer Award” and “Customer Experience Index.”

Bliss is the president of CustomerBliss , where she coaches executives and their teams across a wide range of industries and helps drive the customer loyalty commitment into their business operations. Earlier, she spent 25 years as the chief customer officer at five large U.S. market leaders ? Lands’ End, Coldwell Banker, Allstate, Microsoft and Mazda Motor of America. Bliss is also the author of two best-selling books: “Chief Customer Officer” and “I Love You More Than My Dog: Five Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad.”

Membership Details

CXPA is offering membership in two categories: individual and corporate. Individual Membership is for customer experience professionals in the field. Corporate Membership is open to companies, government agencies, non-profits, educational institutions, tool providers and others offering goods and services related to the field of customer experience, and offers an unlimited number of employee memberships.

Members will benefit from the many networking, career development and educational resources available, while companies will gain a competitive advantage through new avenues to position their businesses as customer experience leaders in their industry. Additional information about CXPA’s membership structure, benefits and dues – along with related sponsorship opportunities ? can be found at cxpa.org/join .

CXPA will also establish several committees – Education, Marketing, Membership, Networking and Professional Development – whereby members can participate and help shape the direction of the association. Additionally, CXPA is scheduling a series of webinars starting in June on a variety of customer experience-related topics.

About CXPA

The Customer Experience Professionals Association is a global, non-profit 501(c)(6) organization dedicated to the advancement of customer experience management best practices. CXPA’s members include individuals who develop, manage, optimize and envision how organizations interact with their customers. This community includes customer experience practitioners within companies, vendors who support customer experience efforts and other stakeholders in the industry. CXPA Gold Sponsors include Adobe, Confirmit, Medallia, RightNow Technologies, SapientNitro and Tealeaf Technology, and Clarabridge, Inc. and ResponseTek are Silver Sponsors. For more information or to join CXPA, visit cxpa.org .

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Customer Experience Professionals Association, CXPA and the CXPA logo are trademarks of the Customer Experience Professionals Association.

All other company names mentioned may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.