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Some people were born to run — just ask Ruth England, who, along with Steve Sisson and Carolyn Mangold, founded Rogue Training Systems in 2004. The Austin, Texas-based company offers group training programs to help their community of athletes reach their physical, mental and spiritual potential, whether that's through running, riding a bike, or swimming in a lake. Their athletes have gone on to compete in some of the world's most grueling races, pushing their bodies to the limit, and pushing the limits of their training.

Challenge: Agile, Two-Way Communication Between Trainers and Members

Keeping in touch with such a mobile group of members — as well as finding new customers and retaining old ones — can be more challenging than breaking a four-minute mile. But it's important that Rogue either meet or exceed the expectation of its members, and the results can be telling: either you finish the races faster, or you don't. Because many of their events are subject to the weather on weekends and in the evenings, it's important to have an agile method of communicating. But it needs to be a two-way conversation so they can know how many people will attend and other details that might pop up.

Solution: Online Surveys, Emails, and Newsletters Keep Everyone Informed

For that, Rogue turns to Constant Contact's newsletters and online surveys. "Constant Contact helps us stay in touch with our current customers and encourages them to be involved in our community," says England.

In addition to Rogue's monthly newsletter and weekly emails specifically customized to certain groups, the company also uses Constant Contact to survey their customers in the middle and end of each training program, We are the most professional and organized training group in our region — I believe that's because of Constant Contact. which helps the program administrators gauge their members needs. "We wanted to find out how we were doing, collect testimonials, evaluate our staff and get suggestions on new programs," says England.

Specifically, Rogue asks customers how well the company is communicating, whether their programs are delivering on their promises, and how their coaches have performed. The surveys also solicit different running routes from their clients and ask about the social activities that the company plans. And finally — the big question for retaining customers — Rogue asks what their runners would like to do next.

Results: The Region's Most Professional Training Group Stays in Sync

England finds the service easy to use because she can store her photos on Constant Contact's website, rather than have to hunt them down on her computer. She also likes the Constant Contact's library of more than 60 customizable survey templates, to help kick-start her imagination. These allow her to tailor Rogue's survey questions and layouts based on what demographic she's targeting. "We also create programming and locations based on response," says the former Survey Monkey customer.

And at the end of the day — for this fleet-footed company and its customers — it's all about results. Because of the feedback they have received from their surveys, Rogue has decided not to re-hire certain coaches (due to poor ratings) and they have made the move to emphasize more one-to-one coaching in their programs. Both moves mirror the company's mission to help its members reach their potential, because the smoother Rogue runs, the better its runners get. "We are the most professional and organized training group in our region," says England. "I believe that's because of Constant Contact."