Some Small Companies Grow As Large Firms Cut Costs

Other industries are also seeking help to cut costs.

Allegiance, a software company in South Jordan, Utah, has enjoyed triple-digit sales growth in the past 18 months and has hired 14 people in the past year, said Chris Cottle, the company's vice president of marketing.

The reason: Allegiance software allows companies to survey customers and respond to feedback through a single, Web-based platform.

Besides increasing customer retention, Cottle says Allegiance software allows companies to meld their surveys. For example, rather than human resources and marketing surveying separately, they can both use Allegiance software, at an average cost of $100,000 a year, saving money, manpower and time.

Corporate frugality is so trendy now that Allegiance's Cottle said even some of the biggest corporations are moving away from their traditional $2 million-a-year Gallup polls and using his software instead.

Melanie Jones, e-commerce manager for Ultradent, a dental equipment company also based in South Jordan, said Allegiance allowed it to streamline how it gathers feedback, making it easier to find and respond to customers who were unhappy. And in this economy, customer retention is key, Jones said.