Epson, IBM, Microsoft, Sprint, Among Others Join Forces to Improve Customer Service Talisma sparks the formation of the Customer Interaction Management (CIM) Forum

London, UK – Talisma® Corporation (www.talisma.com), the market leader in enterprise Customer Interaction Management (CIM) solutions, today announced the launch of the CIM Forum, a new business and technology consortium focused exclusively on managing online customer interactions. CIM Forum charter members include companies with visionary online service and support operations, such as Epson, IBM, Microsoft, Outsell, Pitney Bowes, and Sprint.
Through events and research co-developed with CRM strategic advisory firm eVergance, the CIM Forum will explore thought leadership opportunities, key performance indicators, and technical infrastructure associated with creating consistent, positive customer experiences.
“The formation of a new industry organisation focused solely on improving customer interaction management speaks to the growing importance of this area,” said Jon Prial, IBM vice president for Content Management and Discovery. “As a provider of content discovery software that helps improve access to information for call centers and for customer interaction online, IBM is eager to share our knowledge of how better access to information, search and analytics software can help improve customer interactions.”
The CIM Forum was created as a result of the charter members’ mission to continuously improve enterprise CIM and the overall customer and agent experience. Built upon a strong customer service background and combined knowledge gleaned from hundreds of millions of chat, email, and online support sessions, the CIM Forum provides thought leadership and best practices for companies worldwide.
“We realise how important customer service is to our business which is why we’re collaborating with many of the world’s best companies to ensure that each and every customer is satisfied with our service,” said Ian Bodsworth, European Customer Interaction Manager of EPSON. “The CIM Forum will be the voice in the CRM industry that will bring important service issues into discussion in order to drive improvements.”
Improving consumer loyalty is a key focus of the CIM Forum, as customers are likely to leave a company on account of a single negative customer service experience. The October 2005 Forrester report, “Twenty-Three Best Practices for Customer Service Center”, states, “With similar products and services offered by multiple suppliers or vendors, customer loyalty is low.” The report also states, “A poor service experience may be all that it takes for a customer to decide to go elsewhere.” The CIM Forum will not only share best practices regarding CIM, but will also foster change in online customer service business processes that increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.
“The formation of the CIM Forum couldn’t have come at a better time,” said Allen Bonde, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Marketing of eVergance. “Streamlining service delivery via enhanced online support and new CRM v.2 models has become a key business priority. Yet many companies are unaware of the best practices and key steps to truly transform the customer experience. The CIM Forum offers to provide this insight along with unique perspectives from industry leaders.”
Unlike other customer service consortiums, the CIM Forum is the only organisation focused on customer service and sales interactions, highlighting the fundamental operation adoption and management of multiple interaction channels. The CIM Forum released its first white paper, focused specifically on enterprise chat. The white paper analyses key enterprise chat topics, including best practices, performance management, key metrics, and technical infrastructure. The CIM Forum decided to initially focus on enterprise chat due to the rapid increase in consumer adoption of chat and the tremendous results in both customer satisfaction and return on investment that chat offers. According to a report by JupiterResearch, 63% of U.S. online consumers who contacted customer service used text chat at least once in 2005, compared to 41% in 2001. (Customer Service Through Text Chat, JupiterResearch, May 2006)
Future white papers will study email management, Web self-service, knowledge management, and cross-channel analytics among other topics. Visit the CIM Forum Web site (www.cimforum.org) to learn more, join the organisation, access white papers, interactive blogs and polls, or read about future events.
“Talisma has always been committed to putting the customer first, and it is thrilling to see that the CIM Forum members are dedicated to this mission,” said, Dan Vetras, President and CEO of Talisma. “The CIM Forum is an organisation that will change the way people think about online customer service. Each member plays a key role to ensure that the value of CIM is realised throughout their organisations. We look forward to working with the charter members to expand the Forum to include other companies striving to provide an exceptional customer experience.”
About the CIM Forum
The CIM Forum is a business and technology consortium dedicated to the continuous improvement of Enterprise Customer Interaction Management (CIM) and the overall CIM user experience. The consortium is sponsored by IBM and Talisma, and is co-managed by eVergance. Founding members include Epson, IBM, Microsoft, Outsell, Pitney Bowes, and Sprint. For more information, visit www.cimforum.org.

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