What an amazing year 2011 was at Infusionsoft! We made a ton of progress toward our dream to revolutionize the way small businesses grow. We added thousands of customers to the Infusionsoft family, we hired almost 90 employees, and we made huge strides in our product and we made our first acquisition when we bought CustomerHub in October. All tolled, it was a monumental year for us.
Each year, we establish annual priorities that will help us better serve our customers and propel us forward in our mission. I want to share with you our 2011 Annual Priorities and tell you how we fared.
1. Shape our Entire Company Around Target Users. The target user discipline was something Richard Tripp, our VP of Product & Strategy brought to the table when he came on board in late 2010. We clarified our target users based on the research of Richard and his team and got every department in the company focused on serving our target users and delivering the benefits they seek. As a result, we brought in more of the right customers and dramatically improved customer satisfaction.
2. Aggressive Growth and Positive Cash Flow. At a time when many software companies in our space are burning massive amounts of cash, we were cash-flow positive every quarter of the year. All while growing by 50% for the year. We’re pretty proud of that.
3. Create Successful Customers with Profitable Services. Toward the end of 2010 (after an 18-month experiment of not including services with our software), we concluded that in order to achieve success for our customers—and Infusionsoft—we needed to provide services to help them implement the software. However, we also knew we needed to provide those services profitably. Today, over 80% of our customers launch four campaigns within their first 60 days with us. Customer success has skyrocketed and our customer churn has plummeted. True, a huge part of this success is due to the product enhancements we made this year, but our implementation services were also a huge part. And we delivered those services profitably. Everyone wins!
4. Own Marketing Automation Software for Small Businesses. Simply put, we set out to become the clear leader in marketing automation software for small businesses with fewer than 25 employees. All year long we made progress in this area. In the fourth quarter, we got a bunch of press, including one independent publication that pointed out Infusionsoft has more customers than any other small business vendor. I’d call that “owning” the market. 
5. Prepare for Life as a $50 million Company. This priority was all about building the team and infrastructure to allow us to grow into a $50 million company in the future. I added a top-notch Chief Marketing Officer, Greg Head, to the team and a great SVP of Corporate Development, Hal Halladay. I am on the verge of hiring a CFO. Additionally, we added about 85 “Infusionites” to the team. And our systems and processes have significantly matured this year to enable future growth so that we can serve more customers confidently and effectively.
It was a fantastic year in 2011! While I can look at each of our five Annual Priorities and feel great about nailing them, two things make me most proud:
First, our customer satisfaction ratings soared throughout 2011. Our customers have seen our product improve by leaps and bounds. And they have benefited from our improved email deliverability, of which shot through the roof. In addition, our customer support hit a groove when we began executing to “The Perfect Customer Lifecycle.” As a result of all these big accomplishments (and a hundred more smaller ones), our customers showered us with praise and appreciation — and referrals! It’s funny how when you focus on truly serving your customers, everything falls into place.
Second, I’m super proud of the honor we were given when we were named #15 on the Small Workplaces to Work for in America. We strongly believe that happy employees make happy customers make happy shareholders. We invest heavily in our culture to create an environment where we all love to work. It was really fun to be recognized as one of the best companies to work for in America. My only question is, “Are there really 14 companies that are better to work for than Infusionsoft?” Really? I can’t imagine that!
I’m ecstatic about what 2012 holds for Infusionsoft and our customers. Here’s hoping your 2011 was fantastic and your 2012 is looking great!
