Salesforce Shows the Way

Another mass shooting, this time in Virginia Beach.  By the time some of you read this, another mass shooting may have driven the events in Virginia Beach out of the news cycle.  As seems to be our pattern, there has been sympathy, sorrow, and some outrage, with offers of "thoughts and prayers" from our elected officials in lieu of action. 

Salesforce.com is taking its own action.  In a move that occurred in April but was just reported on May 30 (the day before the Virginia Beach shooting, by the way), Salesforce has told customers that it will not let their customers use its software to sell a broad range of firearms.  The Washington Post, which first reported the move, had a great headline about the move: Tech giant brings software to a gun fight."

I wish I'd thought of that headline almost as much as I wish I had the nerve, or the ability, to take such a bold action. 

Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com co-CEO.  Credit: Getty Images

The Verge reported the specifics of Salesforce's policy as follows:

Worldwide, customers may not use a Service to transact online sales of any of the following firearms and/or related accessories to private citizens. Firearms: automatic firearms; semi-automatic firearms that have the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and any of the following: thumbhole stock, folding or telescoping stock, grenade launcher or flare launcher, flash or sound suppressor, forward pistol grip, pistol grip (in the case of a rifle) or second pistol grip (in the case of a pistol), barrel shroud; semi-automatic firearms with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds; ghost guns; 3D printed guns; firearms without serial numbers; .50 BMG rifles; firearms that use .50 BMG ammunition. Firearm Parts: magazines capable of accepting more than 10 rounds; flash or sound suppressors; multi-burst trigger devices; grenade or rocket launchers; 80% or unfinished lower receivers; blueprints for ghost guns; blueprints for 3D printed guns; barrel shrouds; thumbhole stocks; threaded barrels capable of accepting a flash suppressor or sound suppressor.

They've evidently given this some thought.

It's not entirely surprising that Salesforce might take such action.  It's founder, chairman, and co-CEO, Marc Benioff, called last year for the AR-15 to be banned, immediately following the Parkland shootings.  He's donated money to gun control groups, called for social media companies to be regulated due to their addictive products, and has been vocal about addressing the homeless problem in San Francisco. 

Late last year Salesforce also announced it was hiring Paula Goldman, as its first "chief ethical and humane use" officer, whose role is "to develop a strategic framework for the ethical and humane use of technology across Salesforce."  Ms. Goldman will report to Salesforce's Chief Equality Officer, yet another unique, high level, socially conscious position, which was created in 2016. 

I don't know if this decision was generated by Ms. Goldman or by Mr. Benioff directly, but, either way, but kudos to whomever thought of it and made it happen.  It potentially puts at risk millions of dollars in revenue from impacted customers/potential customers, but Salesforce's products -- especially its CRM suite -- are so integral to so many businesses that moving away from them is not a decision that any of them could make lightly.

Software to a gun fight indeed.

To be fair, Salesforce is not the only large company taking some action.  Retailers like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Dick's Sporting Goods have all moved to ban or restrict gun sales. Shopify won't let its platform be used to sell certain firearms.  Citigroup won't do business with clients who don't follow its policies of firearms.  Levi Strauss & Co. and Tom's Shoes are donating significant amounts of money to organizations seeking to end gun violence. 

Levi CEO Chip Bergh told Fast Company:

My daughter goes to school in San Francisco, and they practice lockdown drills more than they do earthquake drills.  That says something about our country. 

I really believe that 20 years from now, we’re going to look back and say this company was again on the right side of an important issue. I think it’s imperative that companies not be afraid to weigh in on the issues that are really impacting the world, whether that’s gun violence or climate change. If we stand on the sidelines, we’re not really fulfilling our full responsibility to the world.

Levi's would have a hard time figuring out how to not sell jeans to people who sell, or buy, guns, but tech companies can have significant impacts on people who do either.  Amazon may be bigger than Salesforce, but until it does something like saying Amazon Web Services (AWS) won't support companies that sell firearms, Salesforce has to take the prize for using software to do something to reduce gun violence. 

Credit: Chief Executive.net

I applaud Salesforce for this initiative, but to me it's not only about guns, or even about leveraging tech.  It's about corporations remembering that they are part of communities, and that the short and long-term health of those communities matter, even at some impact on revenues and profits.  It's about CEOs and other executives using their corporate roles to give back to the community, not just their philanthropic efforts.  Wall Street doesn't usually look kindly on those kinds of actions, but Main Street should.

Who more than healthcare organizations should be taking these kind of bold stands, in their own ways?

For example, I think about the churches buying up medical debt, as Kaiser Health News just reported, wiping out millions of dollars of such debt for thousands of people.  And I wonder about the healthcare organizations that are selling such debt, sending untold numbers of their patients to collections.  Where are the organizations, healthcare or other, who refuse to do business with ones that do? 

Let's do all we can to end gun violence.  Let's use tech to help accomplish that and other social goals.  But let's not stop at guns and let's not stop at tech.  Healthcare organizations and professionals should be not just be about delivering health care but also about using every means in their disposal to improve the lives of people in their communities, even if it means making some people mad. 

I don't know how successful Salesforce will be with their new policy, but I applaud them for it, and I am especially interested to see who will follow in their footsteps, and how.  I hope it's someone in healthcare.