AFSM International Expands Commitment to Customer Relationship Management-CRM- Initiative

Business Wire, July 23, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

FORT MYERS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2002

AFSM International (AFSMI), the worldwide association for professionals in the high-technology services and support-- s-business --industry, announced that it is expanding its commitment to the research and implementation of customer relationship management (CRM).

According to AFSMI CEO John Schoenewald, "Customer relationship management is what's happening right now in our industry. As the voice of the services industry, helping our members define and implement CRM in their organizations is vital. Finding out what works is a top priority for us, and we have taken a number of steps to expand our focus on this critical area."

Some of the steps the Association has taken include:

- CRMAdvocate--AFSMI, along with 30 other forward-thinking organizations, including leading CRM solution providers, industry analysts, Web destinations, associations, publications, and event producers have founded CRMAdvocate. CRMAdvocate is the worldwide source for CRM success, where buyers can find hundreds of documented CRM implementations that can be searched and sorted by industry segment, application, solution provider, and/or geography. A weekly electronic magazine (CRMAdvocate Weekly) highlights new success stories and case studies as well as upcoming CRM Webcasts. All information is available for syndication (free of charge) to other Web destinations.

- CRM Marketplace at the AFSMI S-Business Education Summit and Expo--For the first time, AFSMI will showcase a CRM Marketplace at its annual S-Business Education Summit and Expo. Created in partnership with the CRM Association (CRMA), a special section of the expo hall will be dedicated to vendors of CRM products and services. In addition, presentations specific to CRM are scheduled as part of the overall education program. The Summit will be held October 6-8 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

- CRM Research and Publications--Known for its quality research and publications, AFSMI has an ongoing column on CRM and has published a CRM series of feature articles in its Sbusiness journal. The white paper Transition into Applied CRM is currently available, and an executive review titled Are Technology and Information Getting in the Way of Customers? 14 Tomographic Perspectives of CRM as a "Killer App" will be available this fall.

For more information on CRMAdvocate, visit www.CRMAdvocate.com. For information on the AFSMI S-Business Education Summit and Expo, visit www.afsmi.org/atlanta. For information on the CRM Association, visit www.crm-a.org. For information about AFSMI publications, visit www.afsmi.org/index.cfm?sbusiness=1 and www.afsmi.org/bks-vids/bookstore.cfm.>

Since 1975, AFSMI has provided leadership and education that helps services professionals meet the industry's growing challenges. A nonprofit organization, AFSMI has over 3,500 members representing more than 1,500 organizations in 47 countries. For more information about AFSMI, contact 888-756-3241, 239-275-7887, or visit www.afsmi.org.