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For four generations, Ford's Gourmet Foods has been making mouths water with their Bone Suckin' Barbeque Sauces, Wine Nuts and Fire Dancer Jalapeño Peanuts. Their all-natural, gluten free foods have been hailed by critics from the backyards of North Carolina to the pages of Newsweek. And even though the company got its start from a family recipe, its products can now be found in 40 countries worldwide.

Challenge: Standing Out in a Crowded Market

Despite Ford's considerable success, not even these foodie favorites can rest on their laurels. The specialty food item market is a crowded space, and in order to find new customers (and remind their existing clients of their tasty goods) they needed to set themselves apart. That mandate is doubly important in a tough economy, where luxuries, like sauces, are sometimes forgone for stables like meat.

Solution: Ask their Biggest Fans for Ideas

In order to take — and quicken — the pulse of their customers, Ford's Gourmet Foods begin using Constant Contact's Online Surveys in 2007. After all, what better way to learn how to differentiate their products than from the people who specifically seek it out?

"We include a flier with a survey link in every shipment we send." says Patrick Ford, the company's vice president and international marketing director. It allows us to really target our communication with our customers. We send them what is relevant to them because they've told us through Constant Contact. "This helps us to not only learn more about our customers, but also gives us the opportunity to identify, through our store locator, more locations where our products are sold."

The Raleigh, N.C.-based company also sends online surveys to retail stores, distributors and other customers every six to nine months, from beginning to the end of the barbeque season. Surveying throughout company's busiest season gives them a reliable benchmark for understanding where they're winning and where they need to improve.

Results: Better Web Presence, More Efficient Communication, and Increased Sales

In particular, two of the service's features have made a big impact on the North Carolina company's operations: online response tracking and results filtering. "The results are virtually instantaneous — they help me to get a quick read on my customers, who they are demographically, what they're buying, and what they're thinking," says Ford. "That's important in my business because it feeds into what we feature online, the emails we send to targeted audiences, our web navigation, and even our product development." For example, respondents said the company's web navigation and online shopping cart needed improvement, the company needed a presence on sites like Facebook and YouTube, and they wanted new products, like potato chips. All of these suggestions have either been addressed by Ford's or are currently in development.

In addition, the survey's filter feature has helped Ford's refine the relevancy of their messaging, further improving their results. "It allows us to really target our communication with our customers," says Ford. "We send them what is relevant to them because they've told us through Constant Contact."

And the customer feedback has done more than just improve the company's performance — it has also helped to build customer loyalty. "Our customers are grateful for being given the opportunity and the forum to provide feedback," says Ford. "Then, they get to see that feedback being acted upon.... They like feeling as if they are a part of building the brand."

As a result, Ford's is a robust operation that's getting stronger by the day. Since partnering Constant Contact, Ford's Gourmet Foods' web sales have increased 63 percent year-over-year. "Anytime we're increasing sales, it means we're introducing new customers to our products and that is what it's all about," says Ford. "Our customers also like being a part of building our brand and making it better — Constant Contact is helping us to do that."