Posts by Gail Goodman

Welcome, 2012!

December 19, 2011 By Gail Goodman Leave a Comment

As 2011 comes to a close, many people are looking back on the year and trying to learn lessons from what we all experienced. The unfortunate truth is that 2011 was a challenging year, anywhere you looked. So my eyes — and the eyes of the entire team here at Constant Contact — are firmly on the future, and the year ahead.

We head into 2012 with a fresh optimism for ourselves, for our country, for our world, and especially, for small businesses everywhere. That’s because, from the perspective of the small business or the small business marketer, 2012 should be a year of opportunity. [Read more...]

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It’s Constant Contact’s Customers Who Make Us Influentia​l

September 13, 2011 By Gail Goodman Leave a Comment

These are exciting times for small businesses.

We are evolving into a consumer buying culture that’s heavily driven by word-of-mouth recommendations. New tools that allow businesses of all sizes to reach and communicate with customers are leveling the playing field. In short, the ability for a small business to compete has never been stronger.

As the effect of word of mouth grows, influence takes on even more significance.

That’s why I’m so proud that Constant Contact was recently chosen as a Small Business Influencer Champion by Small Business Trends and Smallbiztechnology.com. Champions were chosen from 520 nominations, in two stages: voting by the community (weighted at 40%) and voting by a panel of judges (weighted at 60%). I’m also personally honored to have been chosen as an Honorable Mention, along with two of our RDDs, Wendi Caplan-Carroll and Julie Niehoff.

At Constant Contact, our influence is guided by our customers. While we love that we have influence, what we like even more is the two-way dialogue that helps us understand what you’re dealing with, and stay focused on what really matters. [Read more...]

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When “Everythin​g’s Fine” Means “Something​’s Wrong”

July 21, 2011 By Gail Goodman Leave a Comment

Has this ever happened to you?

You go out for a nice dinner at a new restaurant you’ve been meaning to try, hungry and hopeful. After a 30-minute wait, the host seats you at a cramped table next to the kitchen door. When the server finally shows up, he seems distracted and bored. The food arrives late, cold, and undercooked. All-in-all, a disappointing experience.

At the end of the meal, when the waiter plunks down the bill and asks, “Was everything OK?” you say “Fine.” And you walk out, never to return again. If you’re a social consumer, you might tweet about the experience or post a negative review on Yelp! or some other customer reviews site from your smartphone on the ride home.

Most people are guilty of not always being 100% truthful when a business asks, “How did we do?” So why does politeness prevail when the customer is clearly unsatisfied? Because it’s human nature to avoid confrontation and an uncomfortable situation. It’s easier for some people to say “Everything’s fine,” knowing they’ll never patronize that business again.

This “everything’s fine = something’s wrong” scenario doesn’t just happen at restaurants. It can happen to any type of business or organization that provides products or services to customers —  retail stores, hotels and tourism agencies, spas and salons, any and all services industries. It’s a huge opportunity lost for the business, which doesn’t get a chance to make what went wrong right. Or even to improve on something that could be done better.

There are a few things you can do to encourage customers to give you useful feedback. [Read more...]

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Fire Up Your Marketing with Mini Campaigns

June 8, 2011 By Gail Goodman Leave a Comment

Small business owners tell us they’re eager to find new cost-effective ways to engage their customers.

The explosion of social media and other online marketing tools — combined with the growing popularity of Internet-connected mobile devices — means businesses have more ways to communicate with customers than ever before.

If you’re like most entrepreneurs we meet, you have lots of marketing communications options — but not a lot of time to figure out which tools and tactics might work best. The good news is you can try new ways of marketing your business without investing a great deal of time and resources.

How can you accomplish that? With what we like to call “mini marketing campaigns.” [Read more...]

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