Meeting Your Customers Where They Are with Bitty & Beau’s Coffee Co-Founders, Amy and Ben Wright, and Salesforce EVP & GM of B2B CRM, Bill Patterson

Michael Rivo: From Salesforce Studios, this is Blazing Trails. Welcome back to Blazing Trails. I'm Michael Rivo with Salesforce Studios and welcome to episode two of Leading Through Change, our 10 part series, featuring guidance, knowledge, and advice to help you and your team manage through these unprecedented times. Today, we have a conversation with Amy and Ben Wright, a husband and wife team who co-founded Bitty& Beau's Coffee in 2016. The shop was named after their two youngest children who both have down syndrome and from the beginning the Wright's have employed people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Today, they have four locations in four different States. It's an incredible mission and an incredible journey that continues even during this time of social distancing and one that Salesforce is proud to be a part of. Amy and Ben sat down with Salesforce, executive vice president, and general manager of B2B CRM, Bill Patterson, and vice president of Trailhead of Evangelism at Salesforce, Leah McGowen- Hare for a conversation in a Q and A. They explain how they use e-commerce to meet customers where they are, particularly in today's environment and how they are recreating their unique in-person experience online. And now here's Bill Patterson and Amy and Ben Wright.

Bill Patterson: Please join me in welcoming Amy and Ben today to talk about their experiences and how they are managing through this leading for a change moment. Amy, Ben, I just want to start by welcoming you and asking you how you and your family are personally holding out during this time.

Ben Wright: Good morning, Bill.

Amy Wright: Hey, Bill. It's great to see you and we're delighted to be joining you today. Thank you for asking about our family. Our four children are doing very well. We are spending a lot of quality time together as a family, a lot of inaudible but we are grateful for our health during this really scary time.

Bill Patterson: How has this pandemic really impacted your business in recent weeks?

Ben Wright: Well, about two weeks ago, I think it was, we made the decision to shut down temporarily all five of our coffee shops, and that meant laying off over 120 of our employees. It's been very difficult as you can imagine. It's difficult for all of business in America for the most part. And what exacerbates that a bit is some people with intellectual developmental disabilities don't understand exactly why that they've been laid off. So we've had to be very careful to do our best and explaining that it's temporary, it's not their fault, and we're going to do everything we can to remain viable and bring them back to work just as soon as possible.

Amy Wright: And I think to piggyback on what Ben said, the majority of our employees for them, it's their first job ever working at Bitty& Beau's Coffee so to have the excitement and the ability to start saving and planning for their futures and then have to put all that on hold has been a scary time for everybody.

Bill Patterson: I can imagine, part of the magic of Bitty and Beau's is the in store experience and I experienced it myself at your flagship store in Wilmington, North Carolina. It's the interaction with the staff. It's the atmosphere. It's the welcoming, it's the sheer love that you feel in your workplace. It's a feeling that you're part of something special. So what I ask of you is how are you trying to replicate that today online while keep serving your customers?

Amy Wright: Well, we're glad you felt that we hope everybody that comes in our shops leaves with that feeling. And what we've tried to do since this pandemic hit is create that experience as well as we can online. And we have an online business where we sell our coffee beans and our merchandise. And with every order, we include a handwritten note from one of our employees, so that customers still feel connected to our staff. We've ramped up our newsletters. We have launched a social media campaign called fill your feed, and we're trying to share good stories about what's going on with our employees and continue conversations with our employees, having them interviewed, and then sharing them through our social media channels, just trying to stay connected to our customers because they mean so much to us and we want them to continue to feel connected to our business and our mission.

Bill Patterson: Yeah, I ordered coffee. I got a handwritten note from Elizabeth. It completely touched my heart. It's a simple active of doing something so basic and routine that ultimately is differentiating for your business. And I think you have such a purpose driven business. It's so much more than coffee. It's about accessibility. It's about making the world a better place and where everyone has an opportunity. Now, how has that sense of business purpose really helped you think about this transformation of the business during this time as well?

Ben Wright: Bill, I think it's a good reminder that what we try to do is meet people where they are for who they are. And I think a lot of times in business, we try to meet people where we want them to be instead of where they are in that moment. And I think the whole world sort of is going through this time of figuring it out. And it's very much what we do on a daily basis when our kids were born with down syndrome, we couldn't drop everything and go get PhDs and special education. We just had to figure it out. And when we started the coffee shop, we just had to figure it out. And this COVID- 19 epidemic is so horrific and everybody's just having to figure it out. It's kind of more of the same. It's just another iteration of having to figure it out.

Bill Patterson: One of the lessons you've taught me both is the importance of taking care of all of your employees, no matter what their ability level might be, what lessons can you pass on to other business leaders that they can then, take forth about making their future more accessible to everyone?

Amy Wright: I think what Ben said about meeting people where they are is step one. Everybody has needs and I think when you figure out what those are and you just meet people there, it brings out the best in your employees, which is what we all want to do as business owners. And we practice that daily as parents of two children with down syndrome and one with autism. And when we bring that to work and I a lot of the time I look through the eyes of being a mother, when I have conversations with my employees and I think about them as family members and treating them such and it really does make a huge difference and I believe brings out the best of them.

Bill Patterson: You don't want... At times like this, Amy and Ben I know your business model is put to the test and your ability to shift and pivot that business model is why we're talking today. Maybe you can talk a little bit about some of the choices that you made prior to COVID- 19 that have allowed you to pivot so quickly from an in store coffee shop experience, to now an eCommerce business for Bitty& Beau's coffee.

Amy Wright: The best decision we ever made was teaming up with Salesforce to have all our ducks in a row, little did we know we'd find ourselves in this situation right now, but working with Salesforce such that our website was streamlined and able to handle incoming communication, which we're getting a lot of that was well established. So I feel like we were really prepped for this moment.

Ben Wright: Yeah, it couldn't have happened at a better time when you reached out to us Bill and we teamed up and started working together. It's just really enabled us to respond and to pivot from being a within six feet of one another retail business to primarily right now we're online, the Salesforce tools that you have enabled us with have just been so instrumental in that.

Bill Patterson: Well, it's been amazing to partner with you. You guys are amazing business, and we know that right now, so many small businesses are really fighting for their survival too. This isn't a story we know the ending to at this point in time, but in your case, I know it's to be continued and it's going to be continued in a thriving way. What advice do you have for other business leaders who are finding themselves at this critical point for how they carried their business forth in an era where many people don't know the ending at this point?

Ben Wright: I'll call it the three, maybe the four Cs, the three Cs are communicate, communicate, and communicate. And I don't just mean with your customers. I mean, with your employees, with your vendors, your suppliers, everybody's in the same boat. Everybody's figuring this out and you're not always going to have the right answers or even a good answer, but just letting people know what it is you're trying to do. There is light at the end of the tunnel, the fourth C would be capitalize, boy, if you can find some additional capital somewhere, somehow temporarily find it, all the things that business owners know to do when times get tough.

Bill Patterson: So the three Cs of communicate and one for capitalize. I think that's great advice for everyone here listening to the call. I know we have a lot of questions coming in from the audience today, and I want to bring back my colleague, Leah, right now and let's go through them together.

Amy Wright: Perfect.

Ben Wright: Great.

Leah McGowen-Hare: A question from James, for Amy and Ben, what was the response like when you opened your business and how do you think your sense of business purpose helped lead to so much success so fast?

Amy Wright: Wow. Well, from day one, we had a great response in our community. We had a line out the door. We were going to open that business, whether people showed up or not, it meant that much to us, but I think where our mission started was creating jobs for people with disabilities in our community has really evolved into more of a human rights movement and showing the value of the lives of people with disabilities to the world. Because when other people pick up on that and they recognize that then other business leaders are going to organically find a way to put people with disabilities on their workforce too. But it's been a wonderful journey.

Ben Wright: It's estimated that about 200 million people across the world have intellectual and developmental disabilities. And roughly 80% of those people do not have a job in their own community. So this resonates with people. If the numbers are like that, then just about everybody you meet either know someone or has someone in their family with a disability, with the same problem. So having a purpose like we have, and the mission that we have is just critical for not just our family, but for many, many people in the world.

Leah McGowen-Hare: Great. Thank you. This question is for you Bill, you mentioned Salesforce cares, what is that? And how do customers, or how are customers using it?

Bill Patterson: Great, thank you, Leah. I firmly believe that technology, should be in service of everyone. And Salesforce care is just that. It's a set of free products that we've built and made available to companies to stay connected to their customers, their employees, their partners, and really their communities as they navigate through this COVID- 19 crisis. We are incredibly proud of this program. We launched it in a little bit more than a week. We have over 2000 companies from across 47 countries signed up for it today. If anyone is interested in learning more, you can go directly to salesforce. com to learn more about the Salesforce care offering. But essentially if you have needs about rapidly responding to your customers or keeping your employees all under the same communications right now, where every moment matters in this crisis, that's exactly what we've created to help all in this moment in time.

Leah McGowen-Hare: Thank you for that. A question from Emily, for Ben and Amy, how do you think these new global challenges will fundamentally impact your business?

Ben Wright: Well, the global challenges won't stop. We're a connected world and we're all going through what we're going through now at the same time, I think we just have to adapt. We have to continue to do more of what we've always done, which is just adapt to the situation at hand. And if you can do that and do that with a smile on your face and realize that there's nothing so enormous, that it's just going to take you down entirely, you just adapt and again, meet people where they are for who they are and make the best decisions you can with the information at hand that's all anybody can really be expected to do.

Leah McGowen-Hare: Absolutely, and I love that. Now, question from MC on the live stream for Amy and Ben, what Salesforce products are you currently using and how have they helped you with your eCommerce business?

Ben Wright: At first, we got nothing but emails and then Salesforce stepped in and they created like a help center for us. That was just incredible to be able to respond quickly to people with good information, rather than just responding to them eight weeks later, because that's how long it took to get to the massive emails.

Amy Wright: Salesforce is there to answer our questions, to support us in ways that we never even dreamed existed. We're working on some Trailhead right now to help guide other employers with hiring people with disabilities. It's a great use of our time while we can't be open and operating our shops. So we're excited to be rolling out that Trailhead at some point here. And we're incorporating our employees in that planning process too, because we want their voices to be heard. They're the best advocates for themselves. So why not have someone with autism help design that so that employers better understand them? So lots of good things on the horizon.

Leah McGowen-Hare: Great. Thank you. Here's a question for Bill. Are there any customers who have been using Salesforce to help respond to this pandemic?

Bill Patterson: Yes. As I mentioned, there's 2000 using our Salesforce care offering, but I want to highlight maybe a couple of the heroes that are really doing something amazing on our Salesforce platform today. And the first is Nicole Sult at Lippert Components out of Indiana and the United States, Nicole has connected inaudible accompany with her greater community as they convert their production lines at Lippert to help start manufacturing, personal protective equipment here to fight the pandemic. It's just an amazing story of how someone has just, again, pivoted their business on a dime to really respond to the crisis. Now their Italian teams have been supporting the government on face shields and they're using now they're sewing lines to produce new masks and gowns as other PPE items are in shortfall. So Nicole is doing amazing things, can't thank her enough for all of the work for the community there. And then also [inaudible 00:15: 52 ], who works at connectRN, which is a technology platform that connects nurses and other care providers with nearby healthcare facilities to deliver staffing where, and when it's needed the most. We are in a situation in many geographies where the healthcare system is just over flooded and using Salesforce to help schedule that process, to get scarce resources out to the places where it's needed most is also just another great use of the platform. So [inaudible 00:16: 19 ], Nicole, great examples of leaders and trailblazers in their own right, going out there and taking the platform and applying it for the good for all of us.

Leah McGowen-Hare: Great. Just love hearing those great stories. Next question is for Amy and Ben, you two are so inspiring as business owners and especially to me as a parent, my four year old son has down syndrome. Do you have any advice for parents?

Amy Wright: I think it's just believing that your child can accomplish anything they set their mind to. We feel so blessed to have two children with down syndrome and one child with autism. It has taught us so much about who we are and what we were put here on this earth to do. And we're excited to see what their future holds.

Ben Wright: We think and talk about it a lot. There's so much to say and we appreciate the question. I'm sure that the person who has to ask the question has thought about is when you have a child with a disability, you have to learn how to switch gears without a clutch a lot of the time. And inaudible said differently, you're grinding those gears. A lot of the time, it's difficult because you're going back and forth from typically developing to people with disabilities. But I think it's a lesson for all of us that if you approach people again, not every disability is a visible disability. You approach them in a very neutral gear and figure out who they are first before you try to get them to figure out who you are, right? Seek first to understand and not to be understood is the notion there. But anyway, back more specifically to your question, just keep advocating for your child I know that you do. The world is not built for people with disabilities. We're trying to change that the business world is not built for people with disabilities. We're trying to change that. So just help us get the word out about what we're doing and get other businesses to consider hiring people with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

Leah McGowen-Hare: The next question is for Ben and Amy from another Ben. For a lot of customers, this crisis has opened up a communication line of transparency and openness, maybe for the first time among employees, as a company that prides itself on culture. Can you offer some guidelines on how you've been able to, inaudible and empathy into your business.

Amy Wright: Again, lots of communication. We just stay in touch. We make ourselves available and we communicate with them so that they know that we've got their back and that we will be returning to work here soon. That is the plan.

Leah McGowen-Hare: Awesome. That's just such great information. A time for us all to be open and transparent about how we're feeling.

Bill Patterson: Amy and Ben, I want to thank you both for joining us today. What you have built is more than a business model. It's really a business purpose. We want to help you get through this crisis. So today I want to give you some good news. We're going to be purchasing$50, 000 worth of goods from your website and inaudible subscriptions. Lots of those amazing hoodies that you guys love and have the hashtag not broken t- shirts. And I have two of them. I know, and I wear it proudly. And I know because it's running on Salesforce, it will run safely and that purchase will go through no problem crosstalk going to be a lot of well caffeinated, Salesforce colleagues, dressed in Bitty& Beau's gear because we love you guys. We love what you do. We love what you stand for. And we think that it is again, a mission that we are so happy to support well into the future.

Amy Wright: Thank you so much, Bill. We [inaudible 00:20:12].

Ben Wright: Bill, you and the Salesforce organization, once again have shown who you are. Every time you communicate with us, you show us who you are, and this is no exception. And from the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.

Bill Patterson: Thank you. Both.

Michael Rivo: That was Salesforce's Bill Patterson and Leah McGowen- Hare with Bitty and Beau's cofounders, Amy and Ben Wright. To learn more about their company and how you can support their worthy mission. Go to bittyandbeauscoffee. com for more information and resources on leading your business through change, go to salesforce. com. You can also tune into these conversations live every Tuesday at 10 AM at Salesforce Live at salesforce. com. Salesforce is here to help.

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