Small Business News

With the COVID-19 epidemic causing ripples across the global supply chain, companies are trying to come with grips with shortages in key inputs for their production. Hard hit is the manufacturing sector that produces vital medical supplies. These include Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) such as masks, gloves and medical robes.

Recent weeks have seen a surge in medical supplies and protective gear as numbers of those infected rose across the nation. The problem was further compounded with factories seeing either closures or quarantines coupled with international trade heavily restricted.

Hard hit include manufacturers heavily dependent on inputs from the Chinese market the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. The US needs an estimated 3.5 billion masks to cope with the outbreak this year. Manufacturers are now looking in country for solutions to address the current pinch in supplies.

Against this background the shortage crisis has caused textile companies to recalibrate their businesses to address the urgent need for face ma

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The way small businesses or companies of any size operate has been upended by the coronavirus. So, addressing how to handle the coronavirus crisis and keep your company productive during this time has become paramount.

And this week’s roundup has an article appropriately titled, “How to Handle the Coronavirus Crisis and Keep Your Team and Yourself Productive.” It looks at how you and your team can work remotely and the tools you can use to make it happen.

Similarly, another article looks at the anxiety business owners and employees are experiencing brought on by the outbreak. This is a timely read for everyone as it lines out ways you can reduce your anxiety level with tips from experts in the field.

Last but not least is the government response to the coronavirus. From the Families First Coronavirus Response Act to the IRS extending payment and filing deadlines, the roundup has all the information you need.

Take a look at the rest of the roundup below as well as our Coronavirus Business Center page.

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One of the key things Vistage’s Joe Galvin said during last week’s convo was that vendors who treat you well in challenging times are the ones you will turn to when things get better.  And the ones who don’t will get left behind at the first opportunity to do so.

I couldn’t agree more with Joe, because we all want to be treated like we’re valued for more than just a single transaction, or for the brand they represent – but for what they truly have to offer us.  And that brought me back to a conversation I had, alongside my CRM Playaz co-host Paul Greenberg, with John Taschek – SVP of Market Strategy for Salesforce.

John came to Salesforce coming up on 17 years ago and built what many feel is the model for analyst relations in the CRM industry.  What’s ironic is he did that while not viewing it as being analyst relations, and while not following the industry practice of focusing solely on the big name firms like Gartner and Forrester.  In fact, based on his past experiences as a tech media exec, he wanted to find the right voices to listen to regardless of whether they had a big brand after their name, and treated those he found the same way he treated those who did come from a big brand firm.

So we spent a few minutes with John (at the last conference I attended before the pandemic) learning more about why he decided to build the program the way he did, the role Marc Benioff played in letting him be “a CEO of one”, and why it was important to him to not limit his search for voices to the usual suspects; and to treat those other voices the same way as those coming from the big brands.

Below is an edited transcript of our conversation.  To see the full convo watch the video or click on the embedded SoundCloud player below. 

Paul Greenberg: You’re SVP of Market Strategy. It’s actually a unique title.

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