CMP Research is a business-to-business research and advisory firm focused on operations and technologies in customer contact, customer experience (CX), and contact centers. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Mario Matulich, President of CMP Research, to gain a deeper understanding of the company.
Mario Matulich’s Background
Could you tell me more about your background? Matulich said:
“I started my career with a short stint as a minor league baseball player, playing for the Cleveland Guardians organization. My father was a New York City Firefighter, so I grew up in humble beginnings. Many won’t connect my background with a profession in customer service and experience, but it was these exact direct and indirect experiences – working within teams, supporting teammates, and interacting with many people from diverse backgrounds – that drew me to this great industry. From there, it was a little bit of good fortune.”
“I have been working within the CX and Customer Contact space in some shape or form since 2005, first working with the end user practitioners, helping them leverage our various conferences and exhibitions to reach their different objectives. Later on, I worked more exclusively with the solution-providing market to help them access the prospects that needed their various offerings more effectively. However, over the last nine years, we have defined and pursued the Customer Management Practice’s (CMP) mission to deliver market research, events, and communities to all organizations that value customer centricity.”
“I am responsible for the overall success of CMP, a market intelligence firm that delivers market research, events, and communities to all organizations that value customer centricity. Our goal is to be the leading provider and definitive resource for market analysis and industry connections across the end-to-end customer journey.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Matulich reflected:
“When we started CMP, we had this vision to build something very special. In hindsight, it was fairly straightforward; we put our people and customers first. We began following all of the guiding principles consistently shared on our stages by the greatest leaders in customer experience today.”
“From there, #theCMPway was defined. We put together a group of smart, hard-working, and passionate team members who provided our business the foundation it needed to pursue its goals. We think like entrepreneurs but thrive in high-performing teams. We define success by outcomes. We hustle. We are confident. We are self-motivated and proactively identify challenges, then work to find solutions together. We are empowered to take ownership of our responsibilities. We thrive in environments of freedom. We challenge the status quo and pursue improvement.”
“At the time, and still today, we agreed that #theCMPway was not a slogan or a core values poster. #theCMPway defines who we are.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Matulich explained:
“CMP is a market intelligence firm that delivers research and community to businesses and organizations striving for excellent customer relationships. With a focus on end-to-end customer journey analysis and industry connections, CMP provides valuable resources through large-scale conferences, events, and personal curations. As a steadfast advocate for customer-centricity, CMP is unwavering in helping businesses across all industries enrich and enhance the customer experience and is hyper-focused on how future work trends impact customer contact.”
“Through our research division, CMP Research, we provide insights, data, and advisory services designed to equip executives with a clear understanding of their performance relative to their peers and best practices in the industry. Recently, our team has rolled out CMP Certified, a certification program for contact center agents and leaders powered by CMP Research’s ground-breaking insights that tests core competencies on the behaviors necessary to drive performance in today’s flexible customer contact environment, and Prism, a technology assessment framework for customer contact and customer experience (CX) executives.”
“On our events side, we have led the largest CX event series in the world for over 25 years, Customer Contact Week (CCW). From keynotes and panel discussions to workshops and online events, CCW offers a unique platform for attendees to network, learn, and gain access to exclusive data and research. With a focus on delivering impactful outcomes for companies across a wide breadth of industries, CCW is the industry’s go-to event series for those seeking to grow their market share and stay ahead of the curve in the customer contact industry.”
Challenges Faced
Have you faced any challenges in your sector of work recently? Matulich acknowledged:
“CX is a complex industry right now, with call centers attempting to understand and implement AI while catering to the demand of service issues and inquiries. That is why we are here: to help companies overcome these challenges through a mix of data, market research, and CX tools. Our proprietary tools, like CMP Research’s Prism, decipher pain points in CX, which helps CMP conjure solutions to take targeted action. Through our CX leadership playbooks, peer-led learning at CCW events, and real-time bench marketing, CMP provides solutions during tumultuous times to ensure our clients are ready to take on actionable next steps.”
Evolution Of The Company’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Matulich noted:
“Like most industries, we’ve understood the benefits of AI and advanced technology and utilized it internally and in our services to clients. CMP has increased our focus on automation, particularly on how call centers can implement chatbots effectively. Most recently, CMP Research launched Prism, a significant step toward data-driven decision-making, using a rigorous, criteria-based evaluation system to assess vendors for investment benchmarks most important to customer contact and CX executives, including price, customization, flexibility, integration capability, and more.”
“Additionally, our CCW Digital division, the world’s largest and most influential online customer service platform, provides regular market studies exploring how customer contact centers focus more on omnichannel strategies, digital tools, and generative AI. Through comprehensive surveys, CCW Digital has unveiled industry challenges to overcome, ambitions to pursue, and predictions expected to materialize.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Matulich cited:
“In 2023, CCW celebrated its 25th milestone anniversary, a remarkable accomplishment for our company. In over two decades, we have delivered cutting-edge market research, dynamic events, and a thriving community of customer-centric organizations, earning us the esteemed reputation as the go-to source for customer enhancement.”
“Plus, we’ve had the pleasure of partnering and welcoming notable keynote speakers from a variety of household-name companies, including Marriott, Capital One, Uber, Amazon, United Healthcare, and more. In 2024, we saw our largest turnout at our flagship CCW event in Las Vegas, with over 4,000 attendees, and have been featured in prominent press, including MarketWatch, Forbes, and The Washington Post, to name a few.”
“Lastly, the launch of CMP Research’s Prism was a proud moment for our company. Prism, the only tech assessment in the industry solely for CX professionals, helps customer contact leaders and CXOs differentiate solution providers in a complex market and make more informed, confident investment decisions that future-proof the CX technology stack. There’s nothing else like it in the marketplace.”
Customer Success Stories
When asking Matulich about customer success stories, he highlighted:
“We had an unhappy customer back in 2008. It was a sponsor, an economic development agency, that had a primary objective of getting various companies to choose their geo as the location for future contact center placement. At the time, this organization was exhibiting at our flagship event in Las Vegas, Customer Contact Week. We had promised to make five introductions to targeted prospects they wanted to meet. We had them choose 10 prospects, knowing we planned to deliver five.”
“We delivered seven, but the client was unhappy, wanting to know why the other three delegates didn’t want to meet. It was for various reasons – timing, no immediate need, etc. However, the client was pushing to get to ten. We kept hustling, trying to find additional introductions, and I believe we eventually got up to eight introductions. At one point, my frustration was boiling over and the client knew it.”
“I thought my frustration ruined the relationship, and the customer wouldn’t work with us again. I was fortunate, though, that he recognized how hard we were working and rewarded us by listing our effort as the sole reason for returning the following year.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Matulich assessed:
“We target any organization that has customers, values them, and is attempting to leverage and improve their customer experience as a core differentiator of their value proposition.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Matulich affirmed:
“With a sole focus on customer contact, CMP stands apart from its competitors in the space as the company that brings together a supportive community to demonstrate real-world solutions and drive positive change in the customer service industry. Through rigorous research and cutting-edge tools, CMP empowers business leaders to understand and engage with their customer agents more effectively, leading to a better customer experience. With expertise across multiple industries, including, but not limited to, finance, healthcare, and insurance, CMP offers unique and indispensable solutions that empower contact center executives, as well as customer experience (CX) professionals, to tackle challenges confidently. This singularity of purpose sets CMP apart from others in the field and makes it the trusted go-to resource for clients looking to understand and improve their customers’ experiences.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future goals? Matulich concluded:
“CMP’s core pillar is to become the leading provider and definitive resource for market analysis and industry connections across the end-to-end customer journey. We plan to continue evolving our CMP Research division and growing Prism, conduct important market studies through our CCW Digital Division, and provide tailored solutions that meet each client’s unique needs to improve customer experience, streamline operations, and boost their bottom line.”
