Company: Constant Contact, Waltham, MA
Company Description: Constant Contact®, Inc. is a leading provider of on-demand email marketing and interactive communications services for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits. Through customizable, easy-to-use tools, including email marketing and online surveys, Constant Contact helps all types of small organizations build stronger customer relationships, drive sales, and achieve success.
Nomination Category: Company Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Overall Company of the Year

Nomination Title: Constant Contact: Thriving in the Face of Adversity

Tell the story about what this nominated company achieved since January 1 2008 (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Accomplishments:
•Surpassed 250,000 customers, making it 5x the size of its nearest
competitor

•Gail Goodman, CEO, was named the Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst &
Young

•The Company increased revenue 70% over 2007

•The Company hired 138 new employees in 2008, increasing the Company by
43  percent

•The Company experienced 104-percent year-over-year customer billing
growth in its franchise program (as measured between September 2007 and
September 2008) and now serves more than 100 individual franchise brands

•Stevie’s award for Best Customer Service in 2008

Obstacles Overcome:
•The overall economic market has been perilous, particularly for those
that service the small to mid-sized business

•Market saturation with email and the ongoing competition from newer
channels of communication, such as social networking, online advertising, etc.
has been fierce

Innovations:
•Customer Service: Constant Contact excels at customer service and
offers three distinct types, Self Service, Peer-to-Peer, and Assisted Help. 
Constant Contact's support runs from in person tutorials, to blogging, to live
chat and beyond, moreover there is no limit to the number of calls to support. 
This year Constant Contact went even further by developing the entity @CTCTHelp
on Twitter and has been addressing customer issues for several months.

•R&D: CTCT is always focused on making their product the best. To help
with that endeavor, they have added the newly-created role of vice president of
Constant Contact Labs, held by Daniel Richards. The mission of Constant Contact
Labs is to identify and prototype new technologies for use in future products.

•Product Enhancements: CTCT released new features and functionality for
its SpeakUp!TM Email Marketing product with the introduction of an auto
responder feature and a desktop widget to assist in updating and maintaining
email marketing lists.

•Customer Communication Guidance:
oThe Constant Contact MarketSmart newsletter – tips on marketing in a
down economy
oConstant Contact's free downloadable guide, "Finding Opportunity in a
Down Economy: A Back-to-Basics Approach to Successful Marketing in Difficult
Times"
oExpanded hands-on educational seminars - Constant Contact now has 11
small business marketing experts located across the United States.

•Partnership Developments:
oThe official launch of CTCT’s SBDC Program, designed to help Small
Business Development Centers (SBDC) drive success through improved
communications with their more than 1.2 million small business clients.
oCTCT expanded its relationship with chambers of commerce by launching
the Constant Contact Chamber Program.
oCTCT announced the launch of its SCORE “Counselors to America’s Small
Business” partnership benefiting more than eight million aspiring entrepreneurs
and small business owners.

Outcomes:
•Industry recognition: "They're accelerating away as a leader in the e-
mail marketing space," says Richard Baldry, who follows the company for
Cannacord Adams"—Boston Globe

•Referrals: The top source of new customers for Constant Contact
continues to be word of mouth, showing how much customers value or services.
Moreover, on average, customers use the service for nearly four years on
average.

•Company growth: Customers, revenue, employee growth year over year.

List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

Supporting Links:

http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/press/press_2009_0212.jsp

http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/press/press_2008_11_18.jsp

http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/press/press_2008_1107.jsp

http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/press/pr_2008_0701.jsp  

http://www.constantcontact.com/about-constant-contact/press/Press_2008_0619.jsp

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/11/02/keeping_it_simple_for_the_customer/

http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/03/09/story8.html

Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader of this nominated company:

A small business expert and visionary, Gail has revolutionized the way that
small businesses and organizations can effectively and affordably communicate
with their customers and members. Since taking leadership of Constant Contact
in April 1999, she has led the company to more than 250,000 customers worldwide
and its initial public offering in October 2007, when common shares of Constant
Contact began trading on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol "CTCT." Gail
was the 2008 New England Regional winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of
the Year, and Constant Contact was ranked 180 on the Deloitte 2008 Technology
Fast 500.