(FORTUNE Small Business) – In August 2003, Gail Goodman, 44, doubled the number of customer service reps at ConstantContact, which helps companies do their own e-mail marketing. A year later customers of the business, based in Waltham, Mass., had doubled to 20,000, and revenues had jumped from $5 million to $10 million.

A NEW CALLING ConstantContact provides e-mail marketing tools to small businesses through more than 100 service providers, such as AOL and IBM. To attract more stand-alone clients, Goodman decided to try harder to convert free-trial users on her website. "It was clear that customers were hesitating when it came to hitting SEND on their first e-mail campaign," says Goodman. So the CEO invested in a six-person support staff (up from three earlier that year) dedicated to helping more than 100 free-trial customers a day.

A QUESTION OF ASKING Goodman soon learned that customers had their own helpful lessons to impart. The engineers received tips on making the product easier to use; the marketing staff learned which messages resonated. Today it's company policy that each of the 50 employees answers at least ten customer service questions a month."It's how we stay close to small business, our customers," she says. —MAGGIE OVERFELT