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Special Report

Small Business Trends

Read insights from small businesses worldwide on driving impact with data, CRM, and AI.

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Eric Bensley VP, Salesforce SMB and Essentials Product Marketing

A Note from Eric Bensley

VP, SMB and Essentials Product Marketing

Small and medium businesses (SMBs) are pushing forward after a year of change. Owners and leaders have guided their businesses through an ongoing health crisis, large-scale social change, and a volatile economy. While many have suffered in the pandemic, others have seized entrepreneurial opportunities. As we see in this year’s report, many SMB leaders have successfully adjusted — and even flourished.

In the fifth edition of the “Small and Medium Business Trends” report, we share a snapshot of the latest small business trends — specifically what SMB leaders’ perceptions are today and offer insights into how these have changed.

Here are the major small business trends from 2500+ leaders worldwide:

1. Communities and Governments Step Up

Sixty-seven percent of SMB leaders say community support has been important to their company’s survival.

2. SMBs Transform Employee and Customer Engagement

Seventy-one percent of SMBs say their customers expect online transactions and nearly the same proportion have an ecommerce presence.

3. SMBs Embrace the Digital-First World

Animated Pie Chart showing more than 50%

More than half of growing SMBs accelerated investments in sales and customer service technology over the past year.

4. SMBs Foresee Long-Term Changes

Seventy-five percent of SMB leaders believe shifts they’ve made to their business operations over the past year will benefit them long-term.

Sixty-five percent of customers expect companies to adapt to their changing needs and preferences. But 61% of customers say most companies treat them as a number. It’s a divide that businesses need to bridge. Discover strategies used by small business leaders to meet these challenges.

65% of customer expect companies to change to their adapting needs

Thriving in a data-first world

Data. Customer Relationship Management. AI. See how small business leaders are adapting to these latest trends and powering their businesses across marketing, sales, and service. Download our report to learn how successful small businesses are:

Adapting to a data-first environment
Putting a customer relationship management (CRM) system to work for deeper customer insights
Leveraging AI to create more time to improve customer experience

Ready to drive impact with data, CRM and AI? Get all the details in our report.

Which challenges are still the most daunting for SMBs

How growing SMBs have adapted their operations for success

The state of SMBs, featuring data from 18 different countries

Ready to drive impact with data, CRM and AI? Get all the details in our report.

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RESOURCE CENTER

Special Report

Small Business Trends

A Note from Eric Bensley

Here are the major small business trends from 2500+ leaders worldwide:

1. Communities and Governments Step Up

Sixty-seven percent of SMB leaders say community support has been important to their company’s survival.

2. SMBs Transform Employee and Customer Engagement

Seventy-one percent of SMBs say their customers expect online transactions and nearly the same proportion have an ecommerce presence.

3. SMBs Embrace the Digital-First World

More than half of growing SMBs accelerated investments in sales and customer service technology over the past year.

4. SMBs Foresee Long-Term Changes

Seventy-five percent of SMB leaders believe shifts they’ve made to their business operations over the past year will benefit them long-term.

Thriving in a data-first world

Ready to drive impact with data, CRM and AI? Get all the details in our report.

Ready to drive impact with data, CRM and AI? Get all the details in our report.

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