Greetings,
Thank you for taking a few minutes to watch this video and read the attached bulletin. I’m reaching out today in hopes that this finds you well, considering the circumstances. Also that you and your family, as well as your co-workers and their families, are safe. As I reflect on these unprecedented times, I am as hopeful as anyone that the actions we take now will assist in ending this pandemic sooner rather than later and we can all begin to put back together the pieces of our personal and professional lives.
That said, like many of you, we are making the best of the situation and learning how to work and collaborate virtually from home. To that end, I wanted to provide a brief update on what we’re doing at DemandBridge during these challenging times.
First, we concentrated initially on getting all of our staff home, safe and as productive as possible. I would say, “mission accomplished”. Now, we are focused on being there for all of our customers, in whatever capacity that requires. Next, we are wasting no time trying to envision the “new normal” coming out of this so as to better position our solutions to help you thrive, not just survive, on the other side of this crisis.Together, we will get through this.
How do I know? In my 40 years in the workplace, I’ve lived through a few of these crises in my career. In fact, this is the third time in 20 years that I’ve been at the helm of a technology business in the face of a global crisis. So fortunately, I can imagine most of the challenges that likely lie ahead. I also know, based on prior experience, that with ingenuity and innovation, those who embrace change and adapt will prevail.
All-to-say, I think we’ll see permanent affects to the Print, Promotion & Office Product sectors. Some of you are already pivoting to Healthcare supplies to fill the void. Perhaps that and other innovations will become a permanent change, no different than morphing from Office Products to Print in the past, more recently to Promotional products and Marketing Services, and now to on-line Digital Services. Overnight, we have seen our entire society more apt to embrace virtual technologies and methods where the adoption has otherwise been “low and slow”.
Now, more than ever, I believe that the status quo for how we work, live, learn, collaborate, train, and gather is going to be challenged. Some of which forever changed. Certainly, that will be true in the world of eCommerce. So as mentioned before, adapting and thriving is what we intend to do at DemandBridge. Moreover, we are even more committed to helping every one of you do the same. Again, together, we can get through this!
To that end, please know we’re here to help in any way we can. In the short-term, perhaps that means providing more of the necessary technology, training, and support your teams need to effectively work remotely and service customers as you always have. For example, those of you who don’t currently license our popular Sourcing tool—which enables your Sales Reps and CSR’s to work from home—we are willing to temporarily furlough the subscription fees until September 1, 2020. All that we ask is for a nominal setup fee to cover our costs should we need extra labor to load your vendors, train, and get you started. As your traditional supply chains and sourcing options narrow it could be a big help to you finding alternatives. Again, our simple hope being that this results in a more positive outcome to your business in the short term, without having to worry about the upfront license fee, until help arrives in the form of the Federal Government’s stimulus package.
Additionally, as you may or may not know, DemandBridge has a Learning Center which is home to our “Training Webinar Series”. These training webinars are free and designed to educate users of the software on best practices, platform navigation, workflow efficiency, setup, configurations, new releases and much more! Again, easily done in the comfort of their homes. You should already receive a monthly webinar schedule with the April distribution just sent last week, but please let us know if you need to be added to the distribution. We encourage you and your teams to register and take advantage of free learning.
Last, stay tuned for more information as we offer further assistance. We are in the midst of finalizing a series of “Town Hall” calls—as well as—virtual Product Advisory “Chat Groups” aimed at sharing best practices and gathering new market requirements in the face of this downturn. Our hope is that these suggestions, and others to follow, will allow our valued customers to continue to move forward during this difficult time. Also, perhaps more important, that together we can move the Industry forward.
We appreciate your continued support. Thank you for your patience and commitment as we respond to this evolving situation together. As always, if there is anything DemandBridge can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask.
Please email productinquiries@demandbridge.com to get started. Our representatives are ready to assist and eager to help you.
Sincerely,
David B. Rich
CEO & Chairman
