Customer Management Association (CMA)

On September 1st 2009 a new global association for the customer service and customer contact industries will be launched in six countries, with a worldwide rollout by the end of the year.

The Customer Management Association (CMA) is being formed to promote best practice, knowledge share, and skills development in the strategically and economically important customer services industry.

Individual memberships to the CMA will be free for customer service and contact center staff and their managers. Membership benefits will include a choice of news and information bulletins, webinars, etraining opportunities, career development advice, as well as local and national networking opportunities.

The CMA website, also scheduled for launch in September, will have an extensive members-only resource section, rough-guides to a range of management issues and technologies, and a knowledge-share forum.

Local Chapters

Despite being a global association, the CMA will in fact be a network of local Chapters. Jon Snow, founder of the CMA explains:

“Local Chapters are at the heart of the Customer Management Association project. The localisation process will evolve naturally over time. Once 50 members have registered from a particular city - Glasgow in Scotland for example - a Glasgow Chapter will be formed.

“Slowly slowly Chapters will appear all over the world in cities and regions where there are customer service and contact center employment hotspots.”

Once a new Chapter has been established the CMA will help facilitate local and regional networking events and best practice forums. Each Chapter will get a page on the CMA website, where events can be advertised and news/ announcements posted.

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