All Posts
Inside Help ScoutFour customer service lessons leaders learned early — and still call on today
How Help Scout leaders’ first jobs shaped a commitment to building a customer-centric company
Customer ServiceConversational AI for Customer Service: How to Get it Right
In this post, we take a closer look at conversational AI, an area of AI technology now playing a large role in customer support experiences. We cover what it is, how it works, and how it can be used as part of a successful support strategy.
Customer Service7 Customer Service Resume Examples + Best Practices
Struggling to write a customer service resume? In this article, we share seven different customer service resume examples that cover a variety of roles.
Customer ServiceHow to Enhance Customer Service with AI Tools: Featuring Close, JustCall, & Make
Watch the recording to learn how to leverage AI tools to enhance your customer support teams and better serve your customers.
Growth & CultureWhat Is the Best Ecommerce Team Structure?
To build a brand that lasts, you need to find an ecommerce team structure that enables great collaboration and smooth scaling. In this article, we’ll dive into the essentials of structuring your ecommerce team for maximum efficiency and profit.
Customer ServiceCommon Customer Complaints: 8 Examples and Solutions
In this article, we’ll explore the three types of customer complaints, look at examples of common requests, and offer suggestions on how to resolve them, including some example responses you can use for your own support needs.
Growth & CultureBeginner’s Guide to Solution Selling (Definition and Examples)
Solution selling is a customer-centric methodology that can help improve your understanding of customer pain points, develop better sales pitches, and deliver more meaningful solutions to your audience. Learn more about it in this beginner's guide.
Customer ServiceBenefits of AI in Customer Service: 4 Ways AI Can Help
Generative AI can be an incredibly powerful tool when implemented and used correctly. Here are four benefits of using AI in your customer service experience, as well as advice on how to do so responsibly.
Customer Service13 Inspiring FAQ Page Examples
In this article, we'll share practical examples of FAQ pages we love and discuss their features. We'll also explore best practices that can enable you to craft an intuitive, user-friendly FAQ page of your own.
Customer ServiceInside Support: Q&A with Support Leader Brittany Ferguson
Learn from folks who are helping customers, building teams, and growing careers in ecommerce customer service.
Customer ServiceAI Knowledge Base: An Essential Guide
In this AI knowledge base guide, we’ll explore what an AI knowledge base is along with its key components and benefits, helping you determine if an AI-driven knowledge base is right for you.
Customer ServiceNavigating Product Changes in SaaS Support
The constant changes in SaaS software can create extra work for support teams, and can require an almost sales-like approach. Here's how to succeed through periods of change.
Customer ServiceHow to Create a Jira Ticketing System
Looking to create a ticketing system using Jira? Read on to learn about three different ways your team can use Jira to create, organize, and manage tickets.
Customer ServiceGorgias Pricing Explained: Features, Plans, and Alternatives
Need to know how Gorgias pricing really works? Read our breakdown of Gorgias pricing, features, and the best help desk alternatives for Shopify users.
Customer ServiceThe 7 Best CRM Platforms Compared (2023)
There are quite a few CRMs available on the market today and some excel more in certain areas than others. We've put together a list to cover a variety of use cases, company stages, and team sizes.
Inside Help ScoutIntroducing AI Assist for Better, Faster Responses
AI won't replace teams that talk with customers every day, it'll make their jobs easier. Learn how Help Scout's newest AI feature can help teams write better, faster responses.
Inside Help ScoutFinding Joy in the Feedback Loop — Through Improv and in the Queue
Supporting folks as they engage in all the things that fill them up outside of work is a priority at Help Scout.
Customer ServiceFirst Impressions Are Fast Impressions
Here's why creating more positive first impressions will improve the experience for your customers and the quality of work life for your service staff.
Customer ServiceThe 7 Best Issue Tracking Software for Customer Support Teams
If you’re looking to learn more about the best issue tracking tools available today, this article will highlight the many different types of issue trackers and some of the best tools for each use case.
Inside Help Scout5 Ways Customer Success Teams Can Use Messages to Boost Engagement
Watch the recording to learn how Messages empowers Customer Success Managers to achieve their goals.
Growth & Culture53 Key Ecommerce Statistics: Trends, Insights, and Predictions
In this article, we'll cover the most current statistics related to ecommerce. From market share and growth projections to consumer behavior, we'll cover a wide range of data you can use to inform your business or marketing strategy.
Customer ServiceThe 10 Best Shopify Customer Service Apps (Compared)
Do you need a Shopify customer service app to help you manage customer support requests? Find out which Shopify apps are the best in this guide.
Growth & CultureHow to Improve Ecommerce Customer Experience (11 Ways)
We’ll show you practical ways to improve the customer experience for your ecommerce store so you can get more repeat customers and word-of-mouth referrals.
Customer ServiceHow To Be Heard By Your Product Team
Your customers know what they want from your product, and you know what your customers want from your product, but you can't get the product team to make those changes. Here's what to do.
Customer ServiceBuilding Stronger Customer Relationships
Maintaining relationships of all kinds takes hard work. If we want to hold onto our customers for the long term, then we need to understand and strengthen our relationships with them. Here are some practical ways to make that happen.
Customer ServiceKnowledge Management System Essentials + Tools To Consider
From large-scale corporations to burgeoning startups, businesses are adopting knowledge management systems to streamline operations and leverage the information they hold. In this article, we’ll explore a few of the best tools available in the market.
Inside Help ScoutHow Mabel’s Labels Achieved a 93 CSAT Score while Reducing Support Volume by 58%
Learn how Mabel's Labels' transformed their customer experience and increased team productivity with Help Scout.
Customer ServiceAI Customer Support Software: 11 Best Tools for 2023
If you want to improve your customer support operations or are considering implementing AI-based solutions, this list of 11 promising AI tools for customer service will enable you to make an informed decision.
Inside Help ScoutMeet Help Scout's New Conversation Editor
When it comes to crafting the best responses possible, Help Scout’s brand new conversation editor has you covered.
Customer ServiceThe 10 Best Customer Experience Software Options on the Market (2023)
Many aspects of business success depend on customer experience — customer retention, loyalty, and overall growth. In this post, we’ll look at 10 of the best customer experience tools on the market today.
Customer ServiceGoing off Script
In call centers and big businesses all around the world, customer service staff are given strict scripts to follow. There is some validity to this approach, but there is a better way to achieve the same goals.
Growth & CultureCustomer Acquisition Cost Explained: Strategies for Sustainable Growth
In this comprehensive guide, we explore what customer acquisition cost (CAC) is, why it’s important, how to calculate it, and strategies to improve it.
Growth & Culture21 Ecommerce Best Practices to Boost Your Sales
Implementing effective ecommerce best practices is crucial for driving sales and staying ahead of the competition.
Customer ServiceThe 15 Best WordPress Help Desk Plugins for Customer Support
With so many options, it can be hard to find the right plugin to build the WordPress help desk your customers deserve. To help, we've created a list of the 15 best plugins for providing personalized and timely customer support on any WordPress site.
Growth & Culture4 Steps Toward Building a Culture That's Aligned with Company Values
Key lessons we've learned at Help Scout about building a values-aligned culture.
Customer Service17 Great Customer Service Examples to Inspire You
Customer service is one of the touchpoints that can make or break your business. In this article, we’ve compiled examples of brands whose customer service transcended the ordinary and we’ll look at what you can learn from them to elevate your own level of support.
Customer ServiceCustomer Service Management: How to Develop an Effective Strategy
Customer service management starts with how your support team interacts with customers, but it’s also a lot more than that. Here are five ways to help develop an effective customer service management strategy for your business.
Customer ServiceThe 18 Best Contact Us Page Examples + Best Practices
A well-designed contact page helps visitors get in touch with you and reflects your brand's commitment to customer service. Here we explore the best contact us page examples along with best practices for creating an engaging and effective contact page for your website.
Customer ServiceThe 8 Best Knowledge Management Tools Compared (2023)
Looking for the best knowledge management tool to gather and distribute information for yourself or your team? Here are the top information management systems.
Growth & CultureCustomer Lifetime Value for Ecommerce: The Ultimate Guide
Customer lifetime value (LTV) is one of the essential elements in the world of ecommerce. It measures the total expected revenue from a single customer over the course of their relationship with your brand.
Customer ServiceBuilding a Customer-Oriented Ecommerce Business Through Better Human Interaction
Focus on interactions, rather than transactions, to create an online shopping experience that keeps customers at the center.
Growth & Culture48 Ecommerce Interview Questions for Hiring the Right Team
Ask these ecommerce interview questions to find people with technical expertise, marketing acumen, customer-centricity, and a deep understanding of online consumer behavior.
Growth & Culture50+ Ecommerce Survey Questions To Ask in 2023
If you want to start conducting ecommerce surveys, here's a curated list of 50+ questions, divided into different sections. These will help you identify customer pain points, identify new growth opportunities, and more.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, July 2023: AI Summarize, Tag Organization, and More
Introducing the newest updates to the Help Scout platform! AI to quickly summarize conversation threads, Tags organizational enhancements, and more!
Growth & Culture29 Ecommerce Tools to Scale Your Business in 2023
We've curated a list of the top ecommerce tools you need to know about in 2023. These tools have been hand-picked to help you streamline your operations, improve your marketing efforts, enhance customer service, and ultimately, drive more revenue for your business.
Inside Help ScoutHelp Scout’s AI Is at Your Service
AI won’t replace customer support teams, it'll make their jobs easier. Learn more about AI in Help Scout and how our new AI-powered features will enable customer support teams to take their service to the next level.
Inside Help ScoutWe’ve Changed Our Minds About AI in Customer Service
Learn how and why AI is coming to Help Scout! Recent progress in AI, particularly the arrival of large language models and ChatGPT, have had us rethinking our approach to the value and application of AI in customer service.
Customer ServiceHelp Scout + AI = Better Customer Support
Watch the webinar to learn how and why Help Scout’s new AI features will help you deliver better service to your customers.
Growth & Culture30 Key Ecommerce KPIs & Performance Metrics to Track
By tracking key ecommerce metrics and KPIs, you’ll cultivate a thriving business, enhance customer experiences, and propel growth.
Customer ServiceWill AI-Powered Customer Service Replace Your Job?
AI has many customer service applications, but that doesn’t mean it will replace human service. Here's a look at what that means.
Growth & CultureEcommerce Automation: Step by Step Guide for Beginners
By automating various aspects of your online store, you can save time, reduce errors, and scale your business more effectively.
Customer ServiceBuilding a Customer-Centric Ecommerce Business: The Complete Guide
All the resources you need to build an ecommerce business that attracts and retains loyal customers through best-in-class service.
Customer ServiceThe 8 Best Customer Service Mobile Apps (Features + Pricing)
Looking for the best customer service mobile apps so your team can answer customer questions on any device? Here are the top mobile apps for customer service.
Inside Help ScoutHow Castiron Helps Thousands of Customers With a Two-Person Support Team
Learn about Castiron's success using Help Scout.
Customer ServiceAttract, Delight, Repeat: How To Turn Ecommerce Buyers Into Repeat Customers
Watch the webinar recording to learn how exceptional customer service can drive repeat ecommerce customers.
Customer ServiceComparing SaaS and Ecommerce Support
Whether you are building out a new support team or trying to enhance your existing service delivery, this article will help you level up your team by understanding the differences between ecommerce and saas support.
Customer ServiceThe 5 Best HIPAA-Compliant Live Chat Messaging Apps
Do you want to provide live chat support on your website for current or prospective patients? Stay HIPAA-compliant with these live chat apps.
Customer ServicePaid SaaS Support: How To Offer It and Why It Matters
Transitioning to a paid, profit-making support model can be tricky, but with a little thought and some simple calculations, you can directly prove your value to the business and enjoy increased influence and impact. Here’s how to do it.
Inside Help ScoutHow BombTech Golf Increased Customer Satisfaction as Their Business Scaled
Learn about BombTech Golf's success with Help Scout.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, April 2023: Messenger App, Restricted Docs, and More
Introducing the newest updates to the Help Scout platform! Facebook Messenger channel app, restricted Docs, a brand new Docs editing experience, importing capabilities, and more.
Customer ServiceFacebook Messenger for Customer Service: The Basics
Thinking about using Facebook Messenger for customer service? Learn the basics and check out 10 tools to help you get the most out of the channel.
Inside Help ScoutCharting the Course of an Unexpected Career
There’s no one path to a role at Help Scout, and the result is a stronger team.
Customer ServiceUnlocking the Power of Customer Feedback with Microsurveys
Join us on April 12th to learn how to capture feedback from your customers using Help Scout's variety of microsurveys, including NPS, multiple choice, text forms, and more.
Customer ServiceHow To Optimize Your Support Strategy for Messaging Channels
It’s easy to add a new messaging support channel, but can your business deliver high-quality service through that channel at sufficient scale? Here are some ways in which you can make it happen.
Customer Service8 Customer Success Software Tools to Encourage Growth
Need a better way to monitor customer health? Here are 8 customer success software platforms to help you reduce churn and encourage growth.
Customer ServiceChoosing the Best Customer Communications Management Software
Managing customer interactions across an organization isn’t easy, but customer communications management software can help! Here are seven great tools to try.
Inside Help ScoutFriday Notes Keep Us on the Same Page
Help Scout’s CEO shares a weekly written message to clarify his own thinking and unite a globally distributed team.
Inside Help ScoutDeliver a Seamless Support Experience with Messenger in Help Scout
Connect your company’s Facebook Messenger account to Help Scout to better manage customer conversations across multiple channels.
Customer ServiceCustomer Engagement Software: 12 Tools to Try in 2023
Building great customer relationships can be tough! Here are 12 customer engagement software tools to help you better connect with customers.
Customer ServiceBeyond Tickets: How Support Teams Impact Revenue (Featuring Litmus and Close)
Join us for a webinar on March 9 at 2pm ET where Litmus, Close, and Help Scout chat about how customer support teams can drive new business, improve customer retention, and deepen brand engagement.
Customer ServiceArtificial Integrity: Trust, AI, and Customer Service
Every interaction with a customer is equally an opportunity to grow trust or a chance to destroy it. So we should be very thoughtful about the introduction of artificial intelligence into customer service scenarios beyond the most limited forms.
Customer ServiceMake Customer Support a Team Sport with Light Users
Help Scout's light users make it easy to collaborate on customer conversations and extend knowledge by bringing in other teams that have the answers, without having to use additional tools.
Customer ServiceTap Into Revenue in the Queue With Light Users
Don’t miss out on revenue opportunities hiding in your support queue. Add sales, marketing, and account management into Help Scout as light users and tap into new revenue potential.
Customer ServiceThe 11 Best SaaS Knowledge Base Platforms for 2023
A SaaS knowledge base is an easy way to get your documentation online fast. Learn the basics and discover 11 platforms that make the process a snap.
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Help Scout Alternatives (Including Features and Price)
Looking for a Help Scout alternative? Here are some Help Scout competitors, including features and price, so you can pick the customer service software that’s best for you.
Growth & CultureInterviewing at Help Scout: The Insider Perspective
Are you interview ready? Check out these insights from Help Scout's Customers team to improve planning, sharing, and thoughtful reflection.
Customer ServiceHow to Get More Shoppers to Purchase with Messages
Watch the on-demand webinar to learn how Help Scout's Messages will help you drive sales in 2023.
Inside Help ScoutGo Ahead, Learn Something: How Help Scout Empowers Employee Growth
How Help Scout's Learn Something stipend supports team members' personal and professional growth.
Customer ServiceLeveling Up Your Support Toolkit: Using Messages in Help Scout
Join customer support expert Alison Groves to learn how Help Scout's Messages will help you retain customers in 2023.
Customer ServiceCustomer Support Tactic: Isolate the Backlog
When your support queues are long and the task at hand seems endless, it can be dispiriting for the team and unhelpful for your customers. Taking active steps to isolate and manage the backlog can get you back on track.
Customer ServiceGoogle Groups Alternatives: 11 Great Options for Businesses
Google Groups can be useful for hobbyists, but it isn’t the best choice for businesses. Here are 11 Google Groups alternatives designed to help your business thrive.
Inside Help ScoutSpikeball is a Help Scout User for Life: Here's Why
Learn why Spikeball switched from Zendesk and hasn't looked back.
Customer ServiceUsing ChatGPT for Customer Service
How ChatGPT — or other generative AI tools — can be used to help answer customer service queries and deliver better service. How good is ChatGPT and in what other ways could it be used in customer service situations?
Customer ServiceCustomer Support Job Description: Examples and Best Practices
Learn how to write a customer support job description that attracts your ideal applicants, and review some excellent real-world examples.
Inside Help ScoutLitmus Boosts Customer Retention Rate by 26% with Help Scout
Learn how Litmus increased customer retention rate and efficiency by centralizing all customer communications with Help Scout.
Inside Help ScoutWhy Underground Printing Switched from Gmail to Help Scout
Learn why Underground Printing chose Help Scout to upgrade their customer support, and how they take advantage of the entire platform to serve customers.
Inside Help ScoutSpace and Support Help Working Parents Thrive
Meet Help Scout employees who are finding harmony as working parents.
Inside Help ScoutHow Ashesi University Created a School-Wide Support Center with Help Scout
Learn how Ashesi University centralized emails across all departments, launched a knowledge base, and scaled service with automations at an award-winning university.
Customer Service12 LiveChat Alternatives for Support Teams and Beyond
Not sure if LiveChat is the right chat platform for your team? Discover 12 LiveChat alternatives that might be a better fit.
Customer ServiceHow Distributed Customer Service Teams Improve Each Other’s Skills
More is caught than taught, they say. But when your colleagues are in different cities, or on different continents, it's harder to transmit knowledge. Here are some practical ways to bridge the gap.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, Dec 2022: More Microsurveys, Message Styles, and More
Introducing the newest updates to the Help Scout platform! Microsurveys, new message styles, bug bashes, and more. Plus see what's coming up in our new docs editor and iOS app.
Inside Help Scout4 Message Styles and How to Use Them
Help Scout's Messages feature allows you to reach your customers in-app or on your website to share news and capture sentiment. Here are four message types and how you can use them.
Customer ServiceHelp Scout vs. Intercom: A Deep-Dive Comparison
Help Scout vs. Intercom: Trying to decide which one is right for your team? Click through to learn more about how the two platforms stack up.
Customer Service7 Predictions for Customer Service and Support in 2023
Here are 7 important trends that will affect your work in customer service and experience for 2023, from supply chain recovery to AI-driven productivity.
Inside Help ScoutTop Shelf Reads from Help Scout Leaders
Help Scout's leadership team shares books they've loved and learned from.
Customer ServiceHow To Tell if a Company Is Really Customer-Centric
Practical ways to tell the difference between a company that says it cares about customers and a company that’s truly built to be customer-centered.
Customer ServiceSupport Tactic: Fresh Eyes, Fresh Voice
When a conversation with a customer is not progressing toward a solution, it can be frustrating for everyone involved. Use this tactic to restore customer confidence and get things moving again.
Customer Service12 Response Templates for Tricky Customer Service Emails
Use these customer service response templates and examples to craft perfect replies to the trickiest emails your team receives.
Customer Service7 GrooveHQ Alternatives to Help your Team Scale
Groove is a solid tool, but can it meet your needs as your company grows? If your business is starting to scale, here are seven GrooveHQ alternatives to consider.
Inside Help ScoutWords are the Bridge: Finding Harmony in Songwriting and Content Strategy
Meet Help Scout employees who are committed to their roles — and to hobbies, side hustles, and passion projects.
Customer ServiceThe 10 Best Web-Based Help Desks for Growing Businesses
Are your customer-facing teams outgrowing Gmail and Outlook? Learn how a web help desk can help you better communicate with your customers.
Inside Help ScoutMicrosurveys: The Quick Way to Capture Customer Feedback
With microsurveys, you can quickly set up short, in-app surveys to capture customer feedback at key moments and close the loop directly from Help Scout.
Customer ServiceSetup Guide: How to Create a Shared Inbox in Gmail
Need a shared inbox in Gmail for your team? Learn how to set one up, and discover the pros and cons of each of Google’s shared mailbox solutions.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, October 2022: Light Users, Microsurveys, and More
Release Notes is our quarterly update that highlights recent product improvements we've made so you can easily stay up to date on what's new in Help Scout.
Customer Service8 Gorgias Alternatives for Better Customer Support
Think you need Gorgias to support your eCommerce company? Here are 8 solid Gorgias alternatives for your customer service team.
Inside Help ScoutSabbaticals in the Real World: How Help Scouters Are Using Their Time Away
Learn how Help Scouters are using their month-long sabbaticals to rest, relax, and recharge.
Customer Service12 Tips and Tools to Better Manage Your Work Email
In this article, we offer a number of practical management tactics and tools you can use to better manage email and get control of your inbox.
Customer ServiceRemoving customer service accents via AI: The wrong solution to a real problem
Sanas claim that their real-time “accent matching” improves understanding by 31% and customer satisfaction by 21%. What does it mean for customer service teams, and how should we think about it?
Customer ServiceHow a Shared Inbox Can Improve Efficiency, Transparency, and Collaboration
Learn the different ways a shared inbox can improve team performance through better efficiency, transparency, and collaboration.
Customer ServiceThe 12 Best Help Desk Software for 2023 - Buyer's Guide
Managing customer requests is a hassle without the right tool. These 12 help desk software options will help you get things under control.
Inside Help ScoutFinding Flow at Work and on the Trail
Meet Help Scout employees who are committed to their roles — and to hobbies, side hustles, and passion projects.
Inside Help ScoutStraight From the Source: Help Scout Love
If you want to know what it’s really like to work at Help Scout, read on for the real deal.
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Missive Alternatives for Team Collaboration
Shared inboxes are great for team collaboration, but not all tools are the same. If Missive isn’t right for your team, try one of these Missive alternatives.
Customer ServiceBest Practices and Tips for Implementing a Help Desk
Are you ready to start using a help desk? Follow this guide full of best practices and tips to ensure that your implementation and evaluation go off without a hitch.
Customer ServiceThe Ultimate Guide to Email Management for Education
Is email overwhelming your staff? Learn how the right strategies and tools can improve email management for education professionals.
Customer ServiceThe Complete Guide to Email Management in Higher Education: Ebook
Learn how to create high-quality experiences for students, faculty, and staff by taking control of your university inboxes.
Customer ServiceChoosing an Email Ticketing System: Our Top 11 Picks
Need to get your company email in check? Learn how an email ticketing system can help, and view our picks for teams looking to make the switch.
Inside Help ScoutProduct Walkthrough: Help Scout for Education
Need help managing communications at your school or university? See how Help Scout can keep your team working together with ease.
Customer ServiceA Love Letter to Social Media Customer Service Pros
Social media customer service is a skill of its own. Here's our love letter to the people doing the hard work, in public, every day.
Customer ServiceHelp Desk vs. Service Desk: Which Is Best for You?
When evaluating a help desk vs. a service desk, there are many important considerations to keep in mind. Understand exactly what you’re looking for and how it fits to determine whether a help desk or service desk is best for you.
Customer ServiceLive Chat Software for Education: The 11 Best Options
On the hunt for new live chat software for your education program or school? Here are 11 options to consider as you begin your search.
Customer Service6 Great Templates for Customer Onboarding Emails
Customer success managers are already busy. Save time (and improve your customers' experience!) with these onboarding email templates.
Customer ServiceHow to Create and Organize a Knowledge Base
Your knowledge base is one of the hardest working members of your team. Putting effort and energy into great knowledge base articles and organization helps it work even more efficiently.
Customer ServiceHow To Create an Excellent Customer Engagement Strategy
Learn what a customer engagement strategy is, why it’s important, how to measure it, and how to improve it.
Inside Help ScoutThe Beginner’s Guide to Help Scout
This guide will walk you through how to get started with Help Scout. You’ll learn all the fundamentals of the platform, from managing your mailbox to creating self-service support with Docs, Beacon, and more.
Customer ServiceBuilding a Customer-Focused Company
This guide will show you how to build a business known for its commitment to its customers.
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Kustomer Alternatives for Help Desk Tickets
Time for a new help desk? Here are 9 Kustomer alternatives to help you find the right customer service software for your company.
Customer ServiceA Guide to Customer Success Manager Career Paths
Building a customer success manager career path can feel intimidating if you’re just getting started. Read our guide on how to move into a CSM role or boost your existing career in customer success.
Customer ServiceChanging a Company Culture
What can you do if your company's leadership are not interested in doing the work to become customer-centric and to truly value customer service? In our latest advice column, we offer some suggestions.
Inside Help ScoutStandard vs. Plus Pricing: How to Choose the Right Plan For You
Learn the difference between the Standard and Plus pricing plan—and which plan is right for you.
Customer ServiceHow to Create Great Customer Feedback Email Templates
Every customer-facing team should be asking for constructive insights from their customers. These customer feedback email templates take the guesswork out of how to ask.
Customer Service8 Free Customer Satisfaction Survey Templates
Uncover eight free customer satisfaction survey templates and how to glean insights after your customers respond.
Customer ServiceIf Customer Service Were Really Superheroes
We don't need customer service heroes. We need customer-centric companies producing predictable service outcomes. But what if they really were heroes?
Customer ServiceEmail vs. Live Chat Support
One of the most impactful things to consider in your support strategy is which channels to use. Both email and live chat support have pros and cons to consider as you expand on your customer support offerings.
Customer ServiceHow to Write the Best Customer Support Manager Job Description
Writing the best customer support manager job description is important when staffing for this key role within your company. Here are ten examples of great descriptions and templates you can use to write your next one.
Customer ServiceWork For Customers, Not Personas
Here’s how (and why) to give every person in your business a deeper understanding of who your customers are, how they think, and what they need.
Customer ServiceThe Problem With Gmail and Outlook for Shared Email
If you're struggling to manage email with Google Collaborative Inbox or Outlook Shared Mailbox, learn if upgrading to a shared inbox might be right for you.
Customer Service4 Customer Success Plan Templates and How to Use Them
These free customer success plan templates will help guide your team toward providing the best possible experience for your customers.
Customer ServiceCustomer Service Hiring: Project Ideas
Customer service job interview projects are useful, but they are by no means a silver bullet. Learn the dos and don’ts to find the best candidate for your role.
Customer ServiceSupport Team Swarming Vs. Tiering
Tiered support has been the established method of addressing customer questions. However, support swarming has additional benefits that can help with specific aspects of team management. In this blog post, we break down the benefits and drawbacks of support swarming vs. tiering.
Customer ServiceProduct Support Analyst Job Description: Template and Examples
Here are five examples of great product support analyst job descriptions and suggestions you can use to write your next one.
Growth & Culture10 Practical Ways to Increase Team Productivity
Many support managers spend a ton of time trying to increase productivity. By shifting your focus from output to empowerment, you can create more efficiency at work.
Customer Service9 Helpshift Alternatives for Your Customer Communication Needs
There’s no doubt Helpshift is a useful tool, but it is limited. If you’re looking for something more robust, check out our list of nine Helpshift alternatives.
Customer ServiceThe Top 9 Help Desk Software for Small Businesses in 2023
When it comes to help desk software for small businesses, finding a good fit is key. Here are nine platforms to consider as you begin your search.
Customer ServiceThe 7 Best Zoho Desk Alternatives on the Market Today
Whether you’re a current Zoho Desk user or simply searching for other options to check out, we have a list of seven Zoho Desk alternatives for you to consider.
Customer Service9 Best Live Chat Widgets for Your Business
Live chat widgets are useful tools that can help small businesses deliver an outstanding customer experience. Learn why it’s worth the investment and consider these nine tools.
Customer ServiceHow To Write an Auto-Reply Email: 6 Examples
Auto-reply emails can acknowledge your customer and provide great follow-up information without adding additional burden to staff. Take a look at these six examples of how to write an amazing message of your own.
Customer ServiceThe 8 Best LiveAgent Alternatives For Customer Support Software
LiveAgent meets many different needs, but it may not be perfectly suited to everyone. If you’re looking for an alternative, we have 8 options to check out.
Inside Help ScoutHow RealtyNinja Supported 300% Customer Growth with Help Scout
Help Scout is a fantastic support tool, but that’s not all it is. Learn the many ways the RealtyNinja team uses Help Scout to better their business.
Customer ServiceGuiding clients to email support instead of their account managers
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, June 2022: Docs + Beacon, Videos in Messages, and more!
Release Notes is our quarterly update that highlights recent product improvements we've made so you can easily stay up to date on what's new in Help Scout.
The Help Scout Blog7 Types of Software Every Small Business Should Consider
Software is by no means a magic wand, but it can make some of the challenges your small business faces a little less challenging.
Customer Service7 Best Practices To Boost Your Team Collaboration
Learn common blockers, benefits, and the best ways to improve your team collaboration across the board.
Customer ServiceIs Google's LaMDA sentient, and if so would it like a job?
A Google engineer has been put on leave for breaching confidentiality policies. He claims to have worked with a sentient AI though professionals in the field are dubious. Whether or not this bot has truly experienced feelings it does raise some interesting questions.
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Email Support Software Solutions for Your Team
Email is everywhere, especially if you work in customer support. Here’s how to optimize it with email support software.
Customer ServiceOmnichannel Customer Service 101: Definition, Benefits, & Tips
Learn what omnichannel customer service is, how to get started building an omnichannel strategy, and best practices for getting it right.
Customer ServiceTurning support requests into customer insights
Your customers tell you what they really want, but mostly inside customer service requests. Here’s how to uncover inbox insights.
Growth & CultureCustomer Onboarding: Steps, Examples, and Best Practices
A detailed guide to creating a customer onboarding process, with best practices to help customers achieve success with your product.
Growth & Culture7 Key Customer Experience Metrics, From Basic to Advanced
Discover 7 basic, next-level, and intriguing customer experience metrics that will help you measure and improve CX at your company.
Inside Help ScoutHow George Washington University Handled a 22% Increase in Email Traffic
Learn how the team at George Washington University handled a 22% increase in email traffic using Help Scout.
Customer ServiceMuseum of Customer Support: Ancient Fast Food
This ancient Roman fast food outlet can teach us how to think clearly about our online customer service today.
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best HappyFox Alternatives on the Market in 2023
If you’re a HappyFox customer who's looking for a new tool, this list of the nine best HappyFox alternatives will help you make a decision.
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Help Desk Software for Schools and Universities
Adopting the right help desk software can help administrators at universities, colleges, and school districts reduce email volume by 30%.
Growth & CultureEcommerce Live Chat: Why You Need It + 12 Top Tools
Live chat increases customer satisfaction and conversions while decreasing cart abandonment. Browse the top 12 ecommerce live chat tools.
Inside Help ScoutMake Sure Every Customer Finds an Answer With Docs + Beacon
The Docs + Beacon integration helps your team provide personalized support so your customers can find answers how and when they need to.
Customer ServiceThe 11 Best Kayako Alternatives for Customer Support in 2023
Looking for the best customer support tool for your team? We’ve compared 11 different Kayako alternatives to help you find the best option.
Inside Help ScoutRelease Notes, March 2022: Previous conversations, user report change, and more!
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Email Collaboration Software Platforms
Want to declutter your sales and support inboxes and drive more revenue? Explore these nine email collaboration software platforms for your business.
Customer ServiceHelp Scout’s Conversation Corner on Experience This!
Links, images, and further reading related to the Conversation Corner segment on the Experience This podcast in 2022.
Customer ServiceHow to Know When It's Time to Hire For Your Support Team
It can be tricky to know exactly when to hire for your customer support team. Here are some strategies for picking the perfect moment.
Customer Service7 Outlook Shared Mailbox Alternatives for Email Collaboration
Is Outlook Shared Mailbox the right solution for your team? Learn the pros and cons, and read about seven alternatives you can consider.
Customer ServiceWriting Excellent Customer Service Emails: Tips & Templates
Here are the best tips, tricks, and templates to use to improve your team’s processes for writing exceptional customer service emails.
Customer ServiceTeaching Analytical Reading
Advice on getting your customer service staff interested in writing more help documents and creating space for them to do so.
Customer ServiceThe 19 Best Customer Service Tools for Every Support Team
Trying to figure out what tools to include in your support tech stack? Here are 19 customer service tools your team (and customers) will love.
Customer ServiceHow to Change Your Team’s Behavior
You've identified a change that would improve your support quality, but you’re having trouble persuading your team to change their behavior.
Customer ServiceThe 7 Best Crisp Alternatives for Customer Support in 2023
If you’re looking for a dedicated support tool, Crisp may not be your best option. Check out our list of seven Crisp alternatives.
Customer Service13 Best Practices for Improving Online Customer Service
Online customer service is one of the most important functions at any company. Here’s how to get started and continue improving.
Growth & CultureCustomer Success: What It Means, Why It Matters, and More
Customer success boosts lifetime customer value, creates loyal customers, and provides helpful product insights. Here’s how to do it well.
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Gmelius Alternatives for Email Collaboration
Looking for the best email collaboration tool for your team? We compared 9 different Gmelius alternatives to help you find the best option.
Customer ServiceHow to Deal with Difficult Customers
Every support person needs to know how to deal with difficult customers. Read about the types of difficult customers and how to help them.
Customer ServiceThe 13 Best Intercom Alternatives for Customer Support in 2023
If you’re looking for a better option than Intercom for your business, we’ve got you covered. Take a look at these 13 Intercom alternatives.
Customer ServiceHelp Desk Software: What To Look For and Must-Have Features
Discover the top help desk features, learn how to evaluate them, and determine which are most valuable and necessary for your team.
Customer ServiceMuseum of Customer Support: The First Shopping Cart
What can the first shopping cart teach us about implementing online self-service options today?
Growth & CultureSaaS Customer Success: Key Roles, Strategies, and Tools
One of the best steps any SaaS company can take to improve customer retention is an investment in customer success.
Customer ServiceThe 11 Best Help Desk Ticketing Systems for 2023
Keeping customers happy requires a well-functioning support strategy. The best way to get started is with a help desk ticketing system.
Customer Service11 Key Customer Service Metrics + 4 Real Example Reports
Discover 11 meaningful customer service metrics, learn how to choose the right measurements, and view four example customer service reports.
Customer ServiceMeasuring Customer Service Success More Broadly
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Growth & CultureThe 8 Best Ecommerce Help Desks On The Market Today
Learn why help desk software is essential for your ecommerce business, and consider these eight options to help you deliver great support.
Customer Service9 Guiding Principles for Doing Startup Customer Service Well
Follow these nine startup customer service tips to get started creating an excellent experience for your prospects and customers.
Customer ServiceEncouraging Support Teams To Write Help Docs
Advice on getting your customer service staff interested in writing more help documents — and creating space for them to do so.
Customer ServiceTop 11 Freshdesk Alternatives for 2023 (Ranked & Rated)
Tired of Freshdesk or looking for your first help desk? This list of Freshdesk alternatives will help you find a tool that's right for you.
Customer Service11 Best HubSpot Alternatives for Support, CRM, and Marketing
These HubSpot alternatives for customer support, sales, and marketing teams will help you streamline your work and save time and money.
Customer Service12 Predictions for Customer Service Trends in 2022
A new year means new opportunities to create customer experiences. Here are our predictions for customer service trends in 2022.
Customer ServiceDistribution List vs. Shared Mailbox vs. Shared Inbox: Which Is Best?
There are tons of options you can use when sending emails as a business, but each of them has different value depending on your needs.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, December 2021: Targeted Messages, Properties Visibility
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new.
Customer ServiceFast Food vs. Fine Dining in Customer Service
What can customer service pros learn from Geraldine DeRuiter’s 'Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever'?
Customer ServiceHow To Make the Most of Your Customer Support Data
Customer support data is the universal language that allows you to communicate the influence your team has to the rest of the company.
Growth & CultureReducing and Handling Ecommerce Shipping Cost Complaints
Shipping costs are a primary cause of ecommerce complaints. Here's what support teams can do to reduce complaints and respond effectively.
Customer ServiceCustomer Self-Service: Benefits, Tips, and 5 Great Tools
When backed by human support, customer self-service is key to delivering excellent support. Here's what you need to know to get started.
Customer ServiceDealing With Abusive Customers
Why let your human team be yelled at when you could hire a robot? Is AI the answer to customer service abuse, or is there another way?
Customer ServiceThe 9 Best Team Email Management Software for 2023
Team email management software minimizes the stress of organizing, processing, and prioritizing email, improving your team's productivity.
Inside Help ScoutHow FlexJobs Engages Customers With Proactive Messages
Learn how FlexJobs was able to double traffic and contacts during the pandemic as a result of their Beacon and Message setups in Help Scout.
Customer ServiceHow Support Teams Can Improve Customer Retention
Discover strategies support teams can use to combine high-quality, empathetic customer service with a deliberate focus on business growth.
Customer ServiceThe 8 Best Customer Service Channels (& How to Pick Them)
Customer service channels can make or break the customer experience. Here are the 8 top channels to consider, plus tips on which to offer.
Customer ServiceMuseum of Customer Support: The World's Oldest Complaint Letter
In 1750 B.C., a disgruntled customer complained about a bad batch of ingots. Hear his complaint and theoretical apology.
Customer ServiceThe 13 Best Zendesk Alternatives for 2023
Zendesk is the biggest, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best. Check out our list of 13 Zendesk alternatives to consider for your support team.
Customer ServiceThe Pros and Cons of Free Help Desks + 5 Options to Consider
We weigh the pros and cons of free vs. paid, plus list 5 tools to consider if a free help desk is right for your company's support team.
Customer ServiceWriting Your Own Customer Service Recipe Book
Understanding when to deviate from the recipe is how you develop your own style and grow your career as a customer service pro.
Customer ServiceThe 8 Best Hiver Alternatives for Team Collaboration in 2023
Hiver is a step above a shared mailbox, but it still lacks the collaboration tools many teams need. Consider these 8 Hiver alternatives.
Customer ServiceDelivering Excellent B2C Customer Service: 7 Best Practices
B2C customer service differs greatly from its B2B counterpart and many strategies need to shift to do it well. Follow these 7 tips to excel.
Customer Service19 Actionable Help Desk Metrics for Customer Support Teams
Help desk metrics allow you to make the most of your help desk and ensure your team is excelling. Here are 19 to start tracking today.
Growth & CultureDEI at Help Scout: 2021 Update
As we enter fall 2021, we’re excited to share a new post detailing our progress, efforts, and learnings when it comes to DEI at Help Scout.
Customer ServiceShared Email Account: Types, Tips, and the 9 Best Tools
Learn about the various types of shared email accounts, and discover nine tools to consider to improve your team's ability to collaborate.
Customer Service14 Actionable Live Chat Metrics to Start Tracking Today
Live chat metrics make it easy to understand how your team is performing and how your customers feel. Here are 14 to start measuring today.
Customer ServiceBuyer's Guide to Choosing the Right Customer Support Tool
Use this guide to identify your specific support software needs, understand the types of solutions to look for and get leadership buy-in.
Customer ServiceTerrifying Tales of Spooky Support
The customer with sharp teeth, the disturbing silence of an empty inbox. Support stories to scare any customer service pro this Halloween.
Customer ServiceWhat is SaaS Customer Support? Examples and Best Practices
SaaS customer support has a deeper impact on your business's key metrics than you might think. Here's why it’s important and how to do it well.
Customer ServiceAnnouncing Help Scout's 2021 Customer Service Awards
Check out the companies who are delivering exceptional customer experiences in B2B, B2C, and Ecommerce.
Customer ServiceAnnual Planning as a New Customer Support Leader
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer Service15 Customer Communication Tools to Engage Your Audience
Learn about 15 types of customer communication tools you can use to engage your audience and make the most of your customer relationships.
Customer ServiceVisit Sea Sat, the Customer Service Restaurant
Some questions are more difficult, but that additional effort goes unnoticed outside the team. What if those costs were shared on a menu?
Customer Service9 Actionable Knowledge Base Metrics to Start Tracking Today
Here are 9 actionable knowledge base metrics to start tracking today to better understand how your knowledge base is performing.
Customer ServiceWhy Customers Ask Vague Questions (and What To Do About It)
When customers don’t give you the details you need they aren’t being lazy. Here’s how to address the root cause of vague questions.
Growth & CultureThe 11 Best Ecommerce Customer Service Software Platforms
This list of 11 standout ecommerce customer service tools will help you find the perfect tool to improve your company's customer support.
Inside Help ScoutBuild Better Customer Relationships With New Targeted Messages
We’re excited to announce major updates to our Messages product. Learn how to deliver proactive support with Help Scout's targeted messages.
Customer Service10 Ways to Improve Your Customer Service Security
Customer service teams are a common point of attack in security breaches. Here's how to reduce risk and build a security-conscious team.
Customer ServiceThe 11 Best Email Management Software + Features to Look For
Email management software minimizes the stress of organizing, processing, and prioritizing email, improving your productivity and focus.
Customer ServiceHow to Scale Customer Support Without Compromising Service
It’s possible to deliver higher volumes of customer service at a consistently high level of quality — here's how.
Customer Service5 Steps Support Teams Can Take To Get Product Bugs Fixed
Getting a bug fixed in your product is easier said than done. However, there are a few tactics you can use to improve your chances.
Growth & CultureHelp Scout’s Step-By-Step Remote Hiring Process
Remote hiring is a different ball game. Follow this step-by-step remote hiring process to find the best workers for your distributed company
Customer ServiceThe Book That Changed My Customer Service Career
Why the 2010 customer service book Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profits by Micah Solomon and Leonardo Inghilerri made an impact on my career.
Customer ServiceCustomer Onboarding Specialist Job Description: Templates and Examples
Learn how to write a customer onboarding specialist job description, and get inspired by several real-world examples.
Customer ServiceThe Supportive: A Series for Service Professionals
Here’s the type of content you can expect from the series The Supportive, Mathew Patterson's column for customer service professionals.
Customer ServiceCustomer Success Specialist Job Description: Template and Examples
Draw in qualified applicants with these tips for writing and real-world examples of customer success specialist job descriptions.
Customer ServiceSmall Business Customer Service Outsourcing: 4 Pitfalls to Avoid
Discover four pitfalls common to small businesses that are new to customer service outsourcing, and learn how to avoid them at your company.
Customer ServiceThe Ultimate Guide to Small Business Customer Service
Learn everything you need to know about small business customer service with these tips and strategies from small business leaders.
Customer ServiceWhat Should I Include in My Cover Letter?
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceHow to Measure Customer Service Quality: Methods & Tools
Here's how to build an effective customer service quality assurance process.
Customer ServiceHow to Write a Tier 2 Support Job Description + 5 Examples
Here are several examples of tier 2 support job descriptions to use as guidance, along with information on how to write your own.
Customer ServiceCustomer Support Rep Job Description: Template and Examples
When hiring, it's important to nail your customer support representative job description so you get the best possible applicants.
Customer ServiceThe 12 Best Knowledge Base Software (2023)
We've looked at the 12 best knowledge base platforms on the market in 2023. Take a look and see what they can do for you and your business.
Customer ServiceTips & Templates for Writing Great Knowledge Base Articles
Here are some tips, tricks, and templates for how to write excellent knowledge base articles that help customers help themselves.
Customer Service18 Customer Service Tips for Financial Services Companies
Financial services customer service can be complicated. Here are the challenges you might face, along with some tips to overcome them.
Customer ServiceManaging Social Media Customer Service: Strategies and Tips
Develop a process for managing social media customer service that best fits your business goals, budget, resources, and customer experience.
Customer Service9 Customer Service Blogs Every Support Pro Should Follow
Here are 9 customer service blogs we love, with breakdowns of what content you can expect to find and details on why they're so amazing.
Customer ServiceHow to Recognize, Reduce, and Repair Customer Service Burnout
Learn the causes of customer service burnout, and how you can identify, reduce, and recover from it as leaders and individual contributors.
Customer ServiceHow FAQ Software Can Help Your Small Business
Learn what FAQ software is, how it can benefit your growing business, and a few key features to look for when shopping around.
Customer Service13 Tips and Best Practices for Real Estate Customer Service
Working in the real estate industry? Use these 13 tips to create a better customer experience and build stronger client relationships.
Growth & CultureBuilding a Customer-Oriented Company: Strategies & Examples
Read about five examples of great customer-oriented companies, and learn what practices you can put in place to get better yourself.
Customer Service11 Tips on Delivering Great Customer Service in Education
We chatted with support professionals working in education to learn their biggest pain points and the solutions they use to solve them.
Customer Service11 Types of Bad Customer Service (and How To Avoid Them)
Read stories of spectacularly bad customer service, plus get some tips for how to keep situations like these from happening at your company.
Customer ServiceGoogle Collaborative Inbox: Pros, Cons, and 5 Alternatives
Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of using Google Collaborative Inbox for customer support, plus discover 5 great alternatives.
Customer ServiceTelling My Boss About My True Career Goals
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceThe 12 Best Front Alternatives for Shared Email
Learn about the advantages and disadvantages of Front's shared inbox, and discover 9 Front alternatives to consider for your support needs.
Customer ServiceDelivering Great Customer Service in the Healthcare Industry
Delivering top-notch customer service is difficult in any industry, but some – like healthcare – have even more challenges than others.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, June 2021: Messages Updates, Fundraising Emails, & More
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new.
Inside Help ScoutHow to Build a Globally Remote Team That Really Works
There is a big difference between “remote, U.S. only” and globally distributed remote teams. Here’s how to build an effective team that spans the globe.
Customer Service11 Top SaaS Help Desk Software for 2023 (Ranked & Rated)
Learn why your company needs a help desk, find out what features to look for when shopping, and discover the 11 best SaaS help desks.
Customer Service107 Customer Service Statistics and Facts You Shouldn't Ignore
Check out these 107 customer service statistics and facts about new trends, and reconsider how you approach your customer experience.
Growth & Culture10 Inspirational Customer Experience Examples
Customer experience examples often err on the side of the emotional and intense, but CX also needs to be baked into your strategies.
Growth & CultureCustomer Experience vs. Customer Success: Explained
Learn the key differences between customer success and customer experience, and discover why both roles are vital for delighting customers.
Customer ServiceHelp Scout: A Team Inbox Built for Customer Support
As any support pro knows, customer service is a team sport. There’s no better way to collaborate than through a team inbox.
Customer ServiceWhy You Don’t Need an AI Support Chatbot
While the promise of using a support chatbot is compelling, there are better ways to improve team efficiency while delivering great support.
Customer ServiceWhat to Expect When Shopping for Support Software
Learn what to expect when shopping for support software, plus tips on how to set your expectations and make the process as simple as possible.
Customer ServiceWhy Help Desk Software Is a Must-Have for Small Businesses
Help Scout’s small business help desk software lets you create stronger customer relationships, save time, and increase team productivity.
Inside Help ScoutHelp Scout’s Ultimate Guide to Remote Management
A compilation of the most important remote management tips Help Scout's founder learned running a fully remote company for 10 years.
Growth & CultureCustomer Success vs. Account Management: Why Both Matter
Companies often pit customer success against account management, but they can work together to create the best customer experience possible.
Customer Service11 Shared Inbox Software Options for Improved Collaboration
Looking for a better way to manage team email? Learn about shared inbox software and find the best tool for your team.
Growth & CultureHow We Approach Employee Compensation at Help Scout
Employee compensation is complicated, and can get messy without a good plan. Here's how to create (or improve) your compensation strategy.
Growth & Culture5 Examples of Customer Success Marketing for SaaS Teams
Understand what customer success marketing is and how it can benefit your business, plus get inspired by examples from 5 top SaaS companies.
Customer ServiceBeing Pushed to Offer Service Level Agreements Too Soon
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceThe 11 Best Live Chat Tools for Customer Support in 2023
If you're considering adding chat to your support channel mix, start your search by reviewing this list of the 11 best live chat tools.
Inside Help ScoutHow Brain.fm Achieved a 95% CSAT Score With Help Scout
Learn how Brain.fm uses Help Scout to uphold its user-first mentality and achieve as much visibility into customer success as possible.
Growth & Culture4 Simple Tips for Crafting an Ideal B2B Customer Experience
Every “B” in B2B is simply a collection of humans. Build a great experience for your customers with 4 simple B2B customer experience tips.
Customer ServiceHow to Build a Strong Customer Service Culture
Discover strategies executives, support leaders, and support agents can use to build and maintain a strong company customer service culture.
Growth & Culture10 Simple Ways to Wow Your Customers Every Day
Learning how to wow your customers can have a huge impact. Here are 10 ways your company can knock people’s socks off every day.
Customer ServiceBalancing Soft-Skills With Technical Ability
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Customer ServiceThe 15 Best Customer Service Software Platforms for 2023
If it's time for your team to adopt customer service software, this guide will tell you what you need to know to make the right choice.
Growth & CultureWhat Is Customer Happiness + 11 Ways to Inspire It
Customer happiness contributes to your bottom line and other key business metrics, plus it feels good. This blog post explains how to do it well.
Growth & Culture6 User Adoption Strategies for Growing SaaS Businesses
Six user adoption strategies that SaaS companies can use to convert trial users into paying customers and improve long-term customer retention.
Inside Help ScoutGood to Grow: Help Scout Celebrates its 10th Year
Help Scout’s first 10 years have been incredibly fun and rewarding, but in many ways it feels like we’re just getting started.
Inside Help ScoutHow OnePageCRM Reduced Their Team's Workload by 50%
Since becoming a Help Scout customer, OnePageCRM has scaled its support solution without compromising a human customer experience.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Upstream Tech
Before adopting Help Scout, Upstream Tech's support was difficult to manage and evaluate. Help Scout has helped them deliver high-touch, exceptional support.
Customer ServiceThe Taming of the Queue: 14 Support Queue Management Tips
Understanding and managing the power of a support queue is critical to a sustainable customer service organization. Consider these 14 tips.
Growth & Culture6 Customer Experience Books Every Founder Should Read
This list of must-read customer experience books contains some classics, plus a few you might not see in the traditional best CX books lists
Growth & Culture5 Effective Customer Loyalty Programs for Small Businesses
All you need to know about the benefits of customer loyalty programs for small business + examples of 5 types of programs to consider.
Customer ServiceHow to Hire for Customer Service: A Step-by-Step Guide
Making the right hires for your support team is critical for the strength of your organization. Learn how to hire for customer service.
Growth & CultureCX Fitness: Conducting a Customer Experience Analysis
Consider these four questions and one call to action to conduct a customer experience analysis and get your company's CX into shape.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, March 2021: Beacon Identify Changes, Messages Editor
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new.
Growth & CultureCreating a Customer Success Journey Map in 6 Steps
A 6-step guide to creating a customer success journey map, plus how to use it to help customers achieve long-term success with your product.
Growth & Culture6 Customer Centricity Examples To Use In Your Business
Keeping customers your #1 focus isn’t always easy. These 6 companies offer real-life customer centricity examples that will show you the way.
Inside Help ScoutBehind The Scenes: How a Help Scout Article Is Made
Watch this five-minute video for a behind-the-scenes look at how a Help Scout article goes from an idea in Asana to a published piece.
Customer ServiceBreaking Into SaaS Support
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: GrabCad
See how GrabCad uses Help Scout to create a memorable customer experience and build long-term relationships with nearly 4 million designers, engineers, and manufacturers.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Springboard
Since becoming a Help Scout customer, Springboard has scaled its support solution without compromising a human and personalized customer experience.
Growth & CultureA Comprehensive Guide to Customer Satisfaction Score
Customer satisfaction score is an excellent baseline metric for customer experience. Learn why it’s important and how to use it effectively.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Influitive
“Having the ability to know exactly how we're performing and having it laid out in a straightforward, visual way makes things really simple for us.”
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Mixmax
Since becoming a Help Scout customer, Mixmax has scaled its support solution without compromising a human and personalized customer experience.
Growth & CultureHow To Use NPS to Measure Your Customer Experience
Learn more about Net Promoter Score and discover 7 best practices you can employ to use NPS as a tool for measuring your customer experience.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Panorama Education
Using the Help Scout and Jira integration helps Panorama Education's Client Success, Product, and Engineering teams stay on the same page.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Tattly
Tattly insists on delighting customers and uses Help Scout to make providing memorable support as easy and fun as it should be.
Growth & Culture7 Foundational Customer Experience Best Practices
A better customer experience leads to more loyal customers and more referrals. Here are the seven CX best practices you need to get there.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Threadless
Since becoming a Help Scout customer, Threadless has scaled its support solution without compromising a human customer experience.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: LanguaTalk
Learn how LanguaTalk, a marketplace for online language tutoring, uses Help Scout to get customers clear and prompt answers to questions.
Customer ServiceGPT-3 and AI in Customer Support
GPT-3 has been making news recently, so it’s worth taking a look to understand what it is and how it might help with customer support.
Customer ServiceThe Best Role for a Second Customer Service Hire
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Growth & CultureCreating a Customer Experience Team: 4 Questions to Ask
Answer these four questions to create a customer experience team that's poised to deliver great experiences for every customer, every time.
Growth & CultureA Founder’s Guide to Collecting and Utilizing User Feedback
An introductory guide on how to collect user feedback: tools to use, questions to ask, and how to use feedback to build your product.
Growth & Culture9 Key Aspects of a Stellar Customer Success Strategy
Learn about the nine critical components of an effective customer success strategy and how you can implement them for your own business.
Growth & CultureWhere to Start When Building a Customer Success Team
Customer success teams are the best way to ensure an excellent customer experience. Here's how and why you should build one for your company
Customer ServiceCustomer Service Training: 21+ Tips, Activities, and Courses
Use these customer service training activities, tips, and courses to continually improve your support quality, consistency, and speed.
Growth & CultureHow to Create a Customer Feedback Loop That Works
Learn about the stages of creating a customer feedback loop and discover how you can use customer feedback to improve your business.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: GrowSurf
Yun found that Help Scout allowed for the creation of tailored support experiences within the GrowSurf web app itself, leading to optimized support experiences.
Growth & CultureThe Role of Customer Stickiness in Building Enduring Loyalty
Learn what customer stickiness is and how SaaS businesses can both improve stickiness and transform it into enduring customer loyalty.
Customer ServiceAvoiding Cherry-Picking in the Support Queue
Get answers to your most challenging career or leadership questions in Help Scout's customer service advice column by Mat Patterson.
Growth & CultureCustomer Satisfaction: What It Is and 6 Ways to Boost It
Customer satisfaction is the pulse beneath most key business metrics. Learn its importance, how to measure it, and six ways to improve it.
Growth & Culture8 Key SaaS Customer Success Metrics & How to Measure Them
Measure and improve your customers' ability to be successful with your product by tracking these 8 key SaaS customer success metrics.
Customer ServiceHow to Get Started Delivering Proactive Customer Service
What proactive customer service is and why it's important. Learn the steps to take to deliver the proactive support your customers want.
Customer Service101 Inspirational Customer Service Quotes
Delight and motivate your team with Help Scout's collection of inspirational customer service quotes from industry thought leaders.
Growth & CultureHow a Great Customer Experience Can Grow Your Bottom Line
Customer experience is a key brand differentiator for SaaS and ecommerce businesses. Here’s how to create a CX strategy and profit from it.
Growth & CultureCustomer Perception and How to Manage It Effectively
The way customers perceive your company is key to revenue growth. Learn more about customer perception and how to manage it in this detailed guide.
Growth & CultureCustomer Story: Materialesdefabrica.com
Materialesdefabrica.com has become one of the best ecommerce businesses in our sector by using Help Scout as the nexus of our operations. Here's how.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, November 2020: Advanced Permissions, Message Reports
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new.
Growth & CultureHow to Improve Customer Loyalty With Customer Effort Score
Use Customer Effort Score to see where you’re making things difficult for customers and learn how to improve your customer’s experience.
Growth & Culture10 Techniques for Collecting Voice of the Customer Data
Today’s most successful businesses understand their customers on a deeper level. How? Voice of the Customer data. Here are 10 ways to collect it.
Growth & CultureHow to Inspire, Measure, and Improve Customer Loyalty
Customer loyalty is key to reducing churn and increasing revenue for your online business. Here's everything you need to build loyalty.
Customer ServiceHoliday Customer Service: 6 Tips for Scaling Support Spikes
Gear your team up for this year's seasonal spike with these six holiday customer service tips, plus a few inspiring holiday support stories.
Growth & CultureA Founder’s Guide to Building a Customer-Focused Company
Customer focus results in loyal customers, strategic decision making, & company growth. Learn how to foster customer focus in your business.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: TeamSnap
Since becoming a Help Scout customer, TeamSnap has scaled its support solution without compromising a human and personalized customer experience.
Inside Help ScoutHow to Manage Changing Team Needs with Advanced Permissions
Advanced permissions are coming to Help Scout Plus and Company plan customers. Learn more about how to use this new feature.
Growth & CultureHow to Identify and Optimize Customer Experience Touchpoints
Learn how to identify all of your customer touchpoints and optimize each of them for an improved overall customer experience.
Customer ServiceQuick Start Guide to Creating a Knowledge Base in 6 Steps
Creating a knowledge base doesn't have to be a long, arduous, complex process. Launch a new help center quickly by following these 6 steps.
Customer Service10 Live Chat Examples for the Entire Customer Journey
We've pulled together 10 creative live chat examples so you can see how useful chat can be in helping you meet a variety of company goals.
Customer Service5 Ways to Automate Support Without Degrading Service
Customer support automation can leave customers feeling underappreciated. Here are 5 ways to automate without degrading service quality.
Customer Service5 Simple Knowledge Base SEO Tips Anyone Can Follow
You don't need to be a professional marketer to get started with knowledge base SEO. Just follow the instructions in this step-by-step guide.
Growth & CultureA Complete Guide to Customer Acquisition for Startups
Learn how to define your audience, goals, and channels to build a customer acquisition strategy for your startup that gets results.
Customer ServiceHow to Implement Live Chat With a Small Support Team
Implementing live chat doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice support quality or hire a ton more agents. Just follow these best practices.
Customer ServiceHow to Set Customer Service Goals (+ 9 Example Goals)
Setting customer service goals improves your team. Here are 7 examples of SMART support goals to help you achieve greatness.
Growth & Culture4 Meaningful Customer Satisfaction Metrics, Compared
Discover and compare four customer satisfaction metrics you can use to measure customer satisfaction in a meaningful way.
Customer ServiceAnnouncing Help Scout's 2020 Customer Service Awards
We decided to take a data-driven approach to identifying the top companies in B2B, B2C, and ecommerce that are delivering memorable support.
Customer ServiceTips for Finding Your Perfect Customer Service Career Path
Learn how to build a great, personalized career in customer service, see some example career paths, and discover the skills you need to thrive.
Inside Help ScoutThe Non-Coder’s Guide to Using the Help Scout API
Learn the basics of APIs and get started using Help Scout's API to create, update, and delete conversations in your Help Scout account.
Growth & CultureUnderstanding Consumer Behavior to Convert More Customers
Learn how customers buy with these 10 consumer behavior studies to help enhance your persuasion, influence, and marketing efforts.
Growth & CultureThe List Building Strategies That Grew 251,000 Subscribers
Discover list-building techniques to build a massive list of engaged subscribers and turn your newsletter into a conversation machine.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, September 2020: Article Ratings, New Messages Editor
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new.
Customer Service21 Key Customer Service Skills (and How to Develop Them)
Learn what customer service is and why it's important. Discover the 21 customer service skills every support professional needs to thrive.
Customer ServiceCustomer Support: Definition, Importance, and 8 Essential Tips
Learn what modern customer support is, why it's important, and how it's changed, plus discover 8 tips for delivering great customer support.
Customer ServiceWriting an Effective Apology Letter to Customers (+ 5 Examples)
Need to write a great apology letter to your customers? Follow these 5 tips and gather inspiration from 5 unique examples to win back your customers’ trust.
Growth & CultureHow Help Scout Mitigates Unconscious Bias in Hiring
If it’s human nature to look for clues, patterns, and data to make decisions, how can we recognize unconscious bias to mitigate it when hiring?
Customer ServiceCustomer Service Experience: Definition, Tips, & Examples
A great service experience can save the day when things go wrong. Use these 5 steps to treat your customers to a 5-star experience.
Customer Service7 Steps to Build a Thriving Customer Service Team
Follow these 7 foundational steps to build a brand new customer support department or maximize the success of your existing team.
Growth & Culture6 Proven Strategies for Building a Customer-Centric Company
Customer centricity is a catalyst for growth and a competitive differentiator. Adopt these 6 strategies to build a customer-centric business
Customer Service7 Tips for Becoming a SaaS Support Professional
How do you prepare to switch careers and become a support pro? We have a few tips to share, along with stories about our own career changes.
Customer ServiceHow to Create an Inspiring Customer Service Philosophy
Learn what a customer service philosophy is and why it's important, see examples from other companies, and find out how to create your own.
Growth & CultureHow to Build a Winning Customer-Centric Marketing Strategy
Customer-centric marketing helps you grow by giving customers exactly what they want. Here are the steps to take to get started on your strategy.
Customer ServiceStep-By-Step Guide: How to Handle Customer Complaints
Use this simple process for handling customer complaints to turn one-time complainers into lifelong customers.
Growth & Culture5 Practical Ways to Automate Ecommerce Customer Service
Discover 5 practical ways ecommerce companies can consistently deliver a better customer experience using simple help desk automations.
Growth & CultureGuide to Customer Relations: Definition, Benefits, and Tips
A strong customer relations strategy underpins sustainable growth. Once you know the facts, it’s hard not to put these relationships first
Growth & CultureCustomer Appreciation Ideas: 17 Ways to Thank Customers
Learn what customer appreciation is, why it's important, and discover 17 memorable and inexpensive ways to appreciate your customers.
Growth & CultureWhat Is Customer Retention + 16 Proven Retention Strategies
Improve customer loyalty with this list of 16 customer retention strategies that are backed by academic research and case studies on consumer behavior.
Customer Service10 Ways to Deliver Consistently Great Customer Service
Investing in customer service is key to long-term business success. Here are the 10 best ways to deliver great customer service.
Growth & Culture7 Retention Marketing Strategies for Ecommerce Merchants
Looking to improve the customer retention rates for your online store? Adopt these seven simple ecommerce retention marketing strategies.
Customer ServiceTime To Resolution: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Reduce It
How to measure Time To Resolution, why it's important, and our top tips for reducing resolution time for a better customer experience.
Inside Help ScoutHow to Advocate for Colleagues in a Remote Work Environment
Being an ally is even more important in a remote work environment. Here are some tips for ensuring all of your team members feel included.
Growth & CultureAn Overview of NPS for Customer Service Teams
Learn the basics of NPS for customer service teams: How to measure it, how to use it, and tips on how support teams can increase NPS.
Customer ServiceEmail Response Times: Benchmarks and Tips for Support
Comprehensive guide with all of the details you need to measure, benchmark, and reduce email response times for your customer service team.
Inside Help ScoutBlack Lives Matter
Merely not being racist is insufficient. We must commit to being actively anti-racist — to listen, to learn, and to act.
Customer Service10 Unforgettable Customer Service Stories
These 10 unforgettable customer service stories will inspire your team and demonstrate the case for going above + beyond for your customers.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, May 2020: Product Live, iOS Forwarding, Slack & More
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new.
Growth & Culture8 Strategies to Skyrocket Ecommerce Customer Loyalty
If you’re serious about keeping customers for the long haul, use these eight proven strategies to build customer loyalty for your ecommerce store.
Customer Service12 Customer Service Phrases to Use (+ 8 You Should Avoid)
Discover the 12 most useful customer service phrases for improving your support conversations, and learn which 8 common phrases you should avoid.
Customer ServiceThe 6 Best Remote Collaboration Tools for Customer Service Teams
Learn more about the six remote collaboration tools that Help Scout's Customers team uses to communicate asynchronous and collaborate across teams.
Customer ServiceCOVID-19's Impact on Customer Service Volumes
See which industries have had the biggest shifts in customer service volumes due to COVID-19, plus tips on managing surging and diminishing workloads.
Growth & CultureRemote Employees Shouldn’t Be Paid Less Based on Geography
A best practice has emerged among remote companies: variable pay based on the employee’s geographic location. But I believe it’s the wrong approach.
Customer ServiceKPIs and Business Practices in the Time of Coronavirus
Learn how to be more human in the midst and aftermath of a global pandemic and how to shift your strategies and tactics to accommodate the new normal.
Customer ServiceStep-By-Step Guide: Measuring Customer Service ROI
Measuring customer service ROI is key to ensuring your team gets the budget you need to deliver high-quality support. Here's how to do it.
Inside Help Scout10 Tips for Knocking Your Virtual Interview Out of the Park
Follow these 10 virtual interview tips to set yourself up for success and ensure you're putting your best foot forward when interviewing for a remote job.
Growth & CultureHow to Write a Value Proposition (+ 6 Modern Examples)
We’ve demystified how to write a value proposition so you can ensure that your hard work manifests in value for your customers.
Customer Service9 Knowledge Base Tips for a Better Customer Experience
Improve your customer experience by providing customers with the info they need at the moment they need it. Follow these 9 knowledge base tips.
Growth & CultureWeathering the Economic Storm of COVID-19
Join us for a live discussion with Help Scout’s CFO and leadership team about getting your business through the turbulent economic times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Growth & CultureCustomer Satisfaction Surveys: A Comprehensive Guide
Done right, customer satisfaction surveys can increase revenue, boost loyalty, and lower churn. We share everything you need to know to get it right.
Inside Help ScoutHow to Stay Productive While Working from Home With Kids
Working from home with kids in the house is not easy, but we’ve collected some advice, practical tips, and useful resources to help you make it through.
Growth & Culture7 Best Practices for Effective Ecommerce Customer Service
Implementing these seven highly efficient ecommerce customer service best practices can help you retain customers and grow LTV.
Customer Service18 Knowledge Base Examples That Get It Right
These 18 inspirational knowledge base examples will help you create a great knowledge base and improve your self-service support in 2022.
Growth & CultureA Retreat Apart: Planning Help Scout’s First Ever Remote Retreat
In the midst of a pandemic, we had to cancel our in-person company retreat. Here's what we did to quickly transition to having a remote retreat instead.
Growth & CultureBuilding Exceptional Teams and Culture in a Pandemic: Live Q&A
Join us for a live discussion with Help Scout’s People Operations leadership about getting your team through the turbulent times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Inside Help ScoutQuarterly Release Notes, March 2020: COVID-19 Resources, Chat Ratings, and More
Release Notes is our bimonthly update that highlights recent product improvements we’ve made so you can easily stay up to date on what’s new.
Inside Help ScoutWorking Remotely: Tips from 100+ Remote Workers & Leaders
Use these tips and resources to stay productive when working from home, adjust to remote work, and lead a team of remote workers.
Customer ServiceCrisis Communication Tips for Customer Service Teams
These crisis communication tips will help your team deliver the best service possible during a crisis without burning out or lowering standards.
Customer ServiceCreating Knowledge Base Videos: Tips, Tools, and Examples
Learn why and how to make effective use of video in your knowledge base to help your customers get better answers to their questions more quickly.
Customer ServiceLive Chat Support 101: Definition, Benefits, and Best Practices
Discover the benefits of live chat and learn how to effectively deliver live chat support to create better customer experiences.
Customer Service21 Key Live Chat Statistics for Customer Service Teams
Live chat creates satisfied customers, delivers faster service, and enables better conversation. Discover its benefits with these 21 live chat statistics.
Customer Service6 Important Live Chat Tips for Email Support Pros
Delivering quality live chat support requires a specific set of skills. Build on the email support experience you already have with these 6 live chat tips.
Customer Service8 Live Chat Best Practices and Common Mistakes
If you're finding that live chat is your most challenging support channel, consider adopting these best practices (and avoiding these common mistakes).
Customer ServiceThe 9 Big Benefits of Live Chat for Customer Service Teams
Learn how adding live chat as a customer service channel can help you improve the customer experience, increase agent productivity, and much more.
Growth & CultureDEI at Help Scout: Fall 2019 Update
A look at the progress we've made since reporting on D&I efforts at Help Scout six months ago.
Growth & CultureThe Secret Art of Delegation
Learning how to delegate effectively — whether you’re delegating tasks, responsibilities, or decisions — is an important skill set at work.
Growth & CultureDelivering Personalized, Human-Centered Customer Support
Customer ServiceCommunicating With Customers During a System Outage
Follow these tips and use this customizable outage notification template to delight customers with exceptional service even when your system is down.
Growth & CultureA Detailed Guide to Remote Employee Onboarding
Employee onboarding affects new hires and your team, so getting it right the first time pays dividends for your company right from the start.
Growth & CultureWriting the Perfect Customer Thank-You Note (+ Examples)
Sending handwritten thank-you notes is a great way to establish a personal connection with your customers. Here’s everything to get started.
Customer ServiceThe Ultimate Guide to Knowledge Base Management
Learn what a knowledge base is and discover how to plan, create, and deliver effective help center content to create better customer experiences.
Customer ServiceGo-To Scripts for 16 Tricky Customer Service Scenarios
Use this guide to train new team members, engage in role-playing exercises, or just refine your own approach to customer service scenarios.
Customer Service23 Customer Service Interview Questions (+ Interview Tips)
Divide these 23 customer service interview questions among your hiring team, and you’ll get the information you need to hire top talent.
Customer ServiceWhat is a Support Ticket (& Why We Don’t Use That Term)
A support ticket system treats customers like numbers, not people. That’s why our help desk calls customer interactions “conversations,” not “tickets.”
Growth & CultureCustomer Feedback: Why It’s Important + 7 Ways to Collect It
Customer feedback helps companies understand the experiences and needs of their community. Here are ways to collect your customers’ insights
Inside Help ScoutInside Help Scout: How We Implement Whole Company Support
Discover why Whole Company Support matters and how Help Scout has built a customer-centric culture where everyone works with customers.
Growth & CultureColor Psychology in Marketing and Branding is All About Context
Color psychology in marketing and branding is more complex than “green conveys calm.” Consider these studies to make better decisions.
Growth & CultureThe 5 Key Principles of Customer-Centric Selling
Building a successful customer centric selling approach means incorporating key principles to ensure your sales team is aligned and set up for success.
Customer Service7 Shared Mailbox Best Practices You Can Put Into Action
If your team operates from a shared mailbox, you’ll appreciate these 7 shared mailbox best practices to streamline your communications.
Customer ServiceCreating Customer Flow
Join Nick Francis and Justine Jordan for this webinar to learn why customer flow is critical to growing your business, and how to create it through the thoughtful use of messaging.
Customer ServiceHow to Handle Customer Support During Company-Wide Events
When your company is enjoying some downtime during a retreat or holiday, how should you manage customer support?
Growth & Culture27 Company Retreat Ideas Your Team Will Actually Enjoy
Make your team time inspirational, energizing and fun with these 27 company retreat ideas your team will be sure to talk about all year.
Customer ServiceShould I Let My Staff Complain About Customers?
Practical, research backed advice on how and when to manage situations where your team are complaining about your customers.
Growth & CultureHow to Plan a Fun and Productive Company Retreat
Planning a company retreat takes more work than you’d think. From choosing a location to putting together an agenda, here’s what the process looks like.
Customer Service13 Productivity Hacks to Maximize Your Time
Help Scout team members share their favorite time management tips and tools for work.
Inside Help ScoutHow Beacon Helps You Deliver Great Customer Service
Help Scout’s Beacon gives your customers access to email and live chat support, help documentation, and proactive messaging—all right where they need it.
Inside Help ScoutInside Help Scout: How We Triage Our Support Queue
How Help Scout’s support team delivers high-quality service for the trickiest cases using a new triage process.
Customer ServiceThe HIPAA-Compliant Help Desk Software You Can Trust
Finding a HIPAA-compliant email help desk isn’t easy — we try to make it as simple as possible.
Inside Help ScoutKeep Customers In the Flow With Messages
Introducing Messages, a new way to convert more customers, reduce support requests, and build a better business proactively.
Growth & CultureARPA: A Framework Alternative to the RACI Model
The RACI Matrix makes sense, but it has a few fundamental flaws. ARPA is Help Scout’s alternative to the RACI model.
Inside Help ScoutHelp Scout’s Brand Animation Process
See how a brand comes to life by incorporating animation with brand elements.
Growth & Culture9 Principles For Starting a Successful Side Hustle
Discover the uniting principles that helped these 12 customer support pros launch and run their side projects.
Inside Help ScoutIllustrating the Help Scout Brand
Illustrations are a critical component of a brand’s storytelling process. Here’s how we approached illustrating the Help Scout Brand Handbook.
Growth & CultureHow to Support Working Parents
Creating a safe space for working parents to be successful in the workplace leads to undeniable benefits for families, and for your business.
Inside Help ScoutIntroducing Help Scout for Good
Help Scout for Good is the program that houses our initiatives emphasizing our commitment to B Corp values.
Inside Help ScoutAnnouncing the Help Scout Brand Handbook
Our brand handbook is both an internal and external toolkit for creating and communicating things in the Help Scout way.
Customer ServiceRolling Out Weekend Support
Use these indicators and tips to help you understand when you might want to extend to 7-day support coverage and how to roll it out effectively.
Customer Service27 Funny Customer Service Quotes
Brighten up your day and entertain your team with these 28 funny customer service quotes that are sure to make you laugh out loud.
Growth & CultureHow to Communicate Ideas Effectively
Learn how to communicate ideas effectively in both professional and personal settings to avoid miscommunications, save time, and bring the best ideas to life as a team.
Growth & CultureDEI at Help Scout: Spring 2019 Update
Our third annual employee survey shows where we’re starting to see positive change take place, as well as the challenges we still face.
Customer Service5 Boring Customer Service Stories
Great customer service isn’t all about wow moments or heroic interventions. Here are 5 dull tales of excellent service delivered with flash through well-built systems.
Customer ServiceHumanize Your Support With Data
Giving support teams easy access to relevant contextual data creates better, more human customer service. Here’s how to make it happen.
Growth & CultureThe Impact and Value of Taking a Sabbatical from Work
I decided to take a sabbatical from work — here’s what I learned, along with the impact it had on our company.
Inside Help ScoutThe Technical Debt Myth
The term “technical debt” tries to encapsulate many, often conflicting concepts. Here we unravel several myths surrounding tech debt and offer a practical approach to addressing it.
Growth & Culture8 Internal Communication Tools to Boost Collaboration
Communication in the workplace is one of the most important factors in the development, growth, and success of companies. Learn about 8 internal communication tools to boost your team’s collaboration.
Inside Help ScoutMaking (and Breaking) the Help Scout Brand
A behind-the-scenes look at what went into Help Scout’s new illustration style and overarching brand.
Customer ServiceHow to Turn Off a Support Channel Gracefully
Practical guidance on when to consider turning off a particular support channel, and how to do it with the least impact on your customers and your team.
Inside Help ScoutBehind the Scenes: The Design of Beacon
A peek behind the curtain at what went into the making of Help Scout’s Beacon product
Customer ServiceWhy Analytical Reading Is a Must-Have Skill
Today’s support professionals need a specific type of reading skill to comprehend customers’ incoming emails in the high-pressure
Customer ServiceHelp Scout's Annual Customer Support Salary Study
These customer support salary reports reveals what customer support professionals earn by location, industry, gender and more.
Growth & CultureThe Skills You Need for a Support-Driven Growth Role
Customer ServiceCommunicating Support Successes to the Wider Company
Inside Help ScoutFive Tools for Writing High Quality PHP
In this post, I’ll share some of my own favorite tools that you can use to help ensure that you’re shipping high quality and maintainable code.
Customer ServiceHow To Write a Good Internal Note
Make better use of the private or internal notes feature of your help desk more effectively by following these guidelines for effective, helpful notes.
Customer ServiceWhy Investing in Help Desk Software Increases Your ROI
Learn why investing in software for help desk increases your ROI for customer support.
Customer ServiceSupport Teams and Technical Writers: A Powerful Partnership
Reliable, well-maintained documentation is vital to good service, but it is a huge job. Here’s how support teams can help technical writers produce better knowledge bases.
Growth & CultureWhat Remote Companies Can Teach About Asynchronous Communication
Asynchronous communication is something remote teams have had to solve for in ways that traditional, co-located companies are still learning.
Growth & CultureSales as a Service
‘Sales as a service’ doesn’t stop with being consultative — it means acting as a trusted advisor throughout the buyer’s journey.
Customer Service3 Strategies for Scaling Up to 24-Hour Customer Service
Offering 24-hour customer service is a fantastic customer benefit. Here are three approaches for successfully expanding your support to 24/7 coverage.
Inside Help ScoutMaking Content More Inclusive
Using inclusive language is often a matter of auditing your vocabulary for ableist and other problematic terminology.
Customer ServiceCustomer Support Operations: Description, Responsibilities, and Skills
Understand the role of Customer Support Operations in scaling up a customer service team, and learn the responsibilities and skills required to succeed in the role.
Growth & Culture6 Steps to Recruiting Like a Human
Recruiting is broken. It’s time for a refresher course in humanity.
Growth & CultureThe Business Case for Support-Driven Growth
Support-Driven Growth can make serious financial sense for businesses who value their customers and customer service teams.
Customer ServiceThe Art of Troubleshooting for Customer Support Professionals
Increase your support speed and build a more effective team by teaching the skill and art of troubleshooting for customer service
Customer ServiceWhat Is Contextual Support, and Why Is It Critical to Live Chat?
Contextual support means meeting customers where they are with relevant answers — and modern live chat software isn’t complete without it.
Inside Help ScoutCreating Team Ownership with Better Language
I believe that with a fundamental shift towards thinking and communicating about it as our code we can create a more open and constructive working environment.
Growth & Culture6 Tips for How to Collaborate on Remote Design Teams
Remote designers face unique challenges and rewards. Here’s what we’ve found works for our distributed design team.
Customer ServiceHelp Your New Hires Rock: 30/60/90-Day Reviews for Support
How to structure reviews at the first 30, 60, and 90 days of an employee’s tenure to provide them useful feedback and the opportunity to tell you what is going well and where they need help.
Customer ServiceHow to Write Support Emails Your Customers Will Love
Learn how to write a better email to get faster at answering support emails and, more importantly, send responses your customers will love.
Growth & CultureGetting Started with Support-Driven Growth
Support-driven growth is a new and exciting business approach aimed at driving revenue and elevating customer support teams for more impactful work.
Customer ServiceWhat to Call Your Customer Service and Support Teams
Naming a new team or considering renaming your existing one? Here are plenty of customer service team names and role titles to consider.
Customer Service47 Pro Tips on How to Talk to Customers
Have better conversations and improve your customer support with 47 of Help Scout's all-time best tips on how to talk to customers.
Customer ServiceHow to Fire a Customer (The Right Way) in 5 Steps
Firing a customer is a significant business decision that involves a great deal of thoughtfulness and tact
Growth & CultureDEI at Help Scout: 2018 Update
A look at the progress we’ve made since first reporting on Diversity and Inclusion efforts at Help Scout one year ago
Growth & CultureEverything You Need to Know About Implementing a Price Increase
Price increases need to be handled with care. Here’s how (and how not!) to communicate with customers when you need to raise your prices.
Growth & CultureHow to Stand Out in a Crowded Market
The way to stand out from the competition in a crowded market is to tailor your offerings to an underserved segment — here’s how.
Customer ServiceHow to Hire for Chat and Email Writing Skills
Can you hire people who are great email writers *and* live chat writers? E-Write’s Leslie O’Flahavan shares her tips for spotting great writers of email and chat support.
Customer ServiceThe Right Way to Consolidate Your Customer Support Tools
A guide to thoughtfully reducing the number of separate tools your company uses to create and manage the customer service experience, and why it matters.
Growth & CultureCustomer Service vs. Customer Experience: Explained
The terms customer service and customer experience are often confused or used interchangeably. They’re not the same thing, but they are related.
Customer ServiceCustomer Service vs. Customer Support: Explained
Customer support is a specific type of customer service involving skills such as documentation, product feedback, and technical problem solving.
Growth & CultureCustomer Support vs. Customer Success: Explained
Customer Support and Customer Success teams share similar skill sets and goals, but they use different approaches.
Growth & Culture9 Ways to Foster Diversity and Inclusion at Work
You can help foster diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the workplace — no matter what your role is.
Growth & CultureHow to Deal With Cheap Customers
Cheap customers aren’t sale-chasers; they just feel more buying pain. Here’s how to get “cheap” customers to spend more by minimizing that buying pain.
Customer ServiceAI, Curiosity, and the Future of Human Customer Service
When AI can answer (some) customer questions, what is the role of humans in support? The answer is bringing human curiosity back into service.
Growth & CultureLearn How to Negotiate with these 12 Tactics for Successful Negotiations
Negotiation is fundamentally about human interaction.
Growth & CultureHow to Build a Great Remote Company Culture
Choosing a remote company culture gives us a considerable advantage that you can’t buy: We have access to people most companies don’t.
Customer ServiceA Customer Support Leader’s Guide to One-on-Ones
Effective one-on-one meetings are a powerful tool for building strong, effective support teams. Here’s how to do it right.
Growth & Culture11 Strategies to Maintain Customer Intimacy at Scale
Customer intimacy is a two-way connection, and these days you can’t scale your business without fostering it.
Customer ServiceScaling Support With Personality at Cards Against Humanity
Cards Against Humanity is a small company with a strong personality and a lot of passionate customers. Discover how their support team scales up while maintaining quality and a clear voice.
Customer ServiceHow to Rebuild Customer Loyalty After a Data Security Breach
Customer loyalty can suffer after a data security breach. Make sure your company is prepared with a (helpful, human) response plan.
Inside Help ScoutBeacon 2.0 Preview: The User Interface
A preview of the user interface in the new version of Help Scout’s Beacon product.
Customer ServiceMigrating a Customer Query Between Support Channels
How to smoothly move a conversation from one channel to another without upsetting your customer.
Customer ServiceNeed a CRM? Consider These Tips First
CRM software, customer relationship management, and customer support are different but related — how do businesses know which they need, and when?
Customer Service4 Ways to Determine What Your Customer Really Needs
Take the right steps to reach solutions that solve your customers’ core problems.
Inside Help ScoutBeacon 2.0 Preview: Introducing Chat
A preview of how the live chat function will work in the new version of Help Scout’s Beacon product.
Customer ServiceReduce Your Support Load Through Better Product Writing
Join Sara Culver from Slack, Carlee Potter of Campaign Monitor, and Mathew Patterson of Help Scout, as they chat on the value of product writing and how to make every word count.
Customer ServiceWriting Support Emails: A Style Guide
When writing customer service emails, you want to be sure you’re communicating clearly. Here’s the playbook.
Customer ServiceTurn Support Hunches into Usable Data for Product Teams
Support teams are a treasure trove of customer stories. Here’s how small teams can make those stories actionable for the rest of the company.
Customer ServiceInbox Zero: The Fast, Empathetic Way to Get Your Team There
Inbox Zero for customer service teams isn’t a myth. Here’s the best way to get to an empty email inbox.
Customer Service9 Tips for Delivering Time-Sensitive Customer Service Fast
Fast customer service is key in time-sensitive industries like travel — here’s how train booking service Loco2 optimizes for speedy support.
Customer ServiceWorking Successfully in a Collaborative Support Model
Abigail Phillips, Head of Support at Help Scout, and Nancy Baron, Customer Success Coach at Help Scout, discuss the best way to successfully help customers in a collaborative support model.
Growth & Culture9 Experiential Marketing Examples from Highly Creative Companies
What is experiential marketing? Check out these 9 examples from highly creative companies.
Inside Help ScoutBeacon 2.0 Preview: What’s New
A preview of the big improvements we’re making to Beacon, our embeddable, on-site support widget.
Customer ServiceHow to Determine Your Company’s Multichannel Customer Support Strategy
Which is better, an omnichannel support solution or a custom, multichannel stack? There’s a better middle ground.
Customer ServiceHow Mailchimp Bridges the Gap Between Support and Product
As teams grow, the gap between product and customer widens. Find out how Mailchimp’s Support Product Analysts bridge that gap.
Customer ServiceTaking Customer Service Beyond Satisfaction
Antonio King, Michael Labrecque-Jessen, and Mat Patterson discuss creating customer connections that go beyond good enough.
Customer ServiceThe Future of Self-Service
How will our customers help themselves in 2018 and beyond? A review of the near future of customer self-service technologies and trends.
Inside Help ScoutSelf-Service is the Next Frontier in Customer Support
Self-service is the new competitive differentiator. Learn how Help Scout's addressing that and redefining self-service customer support.
Growth & CultureThe Art of Customer Loyalty in a Subscription Business
Krista Atwell, Senior Customer Engagement Manager at Dollar Shave Club, and Mat Patterson, Customer Service Evangelist at Help Scout, discuss customer loyalty tactics and best practices for creating return customers.
Growth & Culture5 Ways Your Small Business Can Impress First-Time Customers
Is your small business providing an exceptional experience to new customers? If not, it should be. Here’s how.
Growth & CultureCustomer Service + Marketing = Improved Customer Experience
Marketing and customer service teams can improve the customer experience (CX) by rejecting the silo mentality and working together. Here’s how.
Customer ServiceChoosing Your Perfect Help Desk
Growth & CultureFlexible Working is a Win-Win for Employees and Companies Alike
Flexible working arrangements benefit companies and their employees. So why isn’t everyone doing it yet?
Customer ServiceHow to Snag (and Succeed at) a Remote Customer Service Job
Customer service jobs from home are increasingly common — here’s what you need to know to acquire and excel at a home-based customer service job.
Growth & Culture6 Tips to Keeping Your Remote Team Connected
For co-located companies, closeness happens almost organically over lunch, coffee breaks or a cheeky beer after work. But how does this translate to a remote team? Here are 6 tips to keeping your remote team connected.
Customer ServiceWhy Support Teams Must Stake a Claim to Revenue
Customer support isn’t a cost center, it’s a vital bridge between the initial sale and creating long-term value for your customers. Simon Ouderkirk from Automattic challenges customer support teams to fight for the revenue they generate.
Growth & CultureHow (and Why) to Respond to Positive Online Reviews
Responding to online customer reviews on sites like Yelp isn’t just the nice thing to do — it’s a solid business practice. Here’s why (and how).
Growth & CultureHow to Write Conclusions That Don’t Suck
Conclusions are tricky, and there’s a lot of conflicting advice about how to write them. Here’s how to write a powerful conclusion that resonates with the reader.
Growth & Culture6 Steps to Creating a Customer-Centric Culture
Having highly skilled customer service staff is not enough to succeed. Here's how to build a company wide culture of service.
Growth & CultureHow to Use Customer Service to Stand Out from the Competition
Learn how to build a successful support-driven business.
Inside Help Scout9 Tips for Working While You Travel
Remote work allows you to bring your work with you when you travel. Keep these tips in mind to maximize your productivity and time for exploration.
Growth & CultureHow to Turn Negative Yelp Reviews Into New Customers
Use negative Yelp reviews for customer acquisition by responding with sincerity, honesty and warmth.
Customer ServiceHow to Revamp Your Knowledge Base Architecture
This guide to redesigning your existing knowledge base architecture will help your team and customers get the most out of your help docs.
Inside Help ScoutThe Digital Nomad’s Toolkit for Staying Productive
The essential list of hardware and software for digital nomads to stay productive on the move.
Customer ServiceListen While You Lead: 3 Unexpected Lessons for New Managers
One of the most important management skills to learn when becoming a manager for the first time is how to listen to your team.
Growth & CultureEcommerce Companies Use Multiple Instances to Manage Different Customer Groups
These 4 ecommerce companies use Help Scout’s multiple instance feature to provide a personalized experience for different groups of customers.
Customer ServiceWhy You Should Set Big Goals (Even If You Might Not Hit Them)
The benefits of setting big goals go beyond what happens when you achieve them.
Customer Service8 Tips for How to Approach Cross-Cultural Customer Support
How can you best support customers whose first language isn’t English?
Inside Help ScoutHow to Maintain Your Health as a Digital Nomad
Remote workers don’t have to compromise their health. Here’s how to stay in shape and feeling great as a digital nomad.
Customer Service6 Ways to Get More Mileage out of Your Help Content
As you add value to your product, continue adding value to your help docs. These tips will ensure your customer support content is helpful and useful.
Customer ServiceThe Right (and Wrong) Way to Outsource Customer Support
It's possible to outsource customer support without degrading service quality. Here's what you need to know to outsource the right way.
Customer Service8 Best Practices for Designing a Helpful Contact Page
Your contact us page is the first place customers go for answers on your website. See contact us page examples from top companies for ideas on how to design yours right.
Customer ServiceEmpower Your Customers With Self-Service, Chat and Help Desk Support
Stop being the gatekeeper to your clients’ success. Use self-service, chat and your help desk to help your customers succeed.
Customer ServiceKnowledge Base Design Tips for Better Self-Service Support
Create better help docs that enable your customers to get answers 24/7 even when your support team is offline.
Customer Service3 Simple Automations That Free Your Support Team From Tedious Tasks
Use these simple automations to tick off tedious tasks and free up your time for more strategic work.
Customer Service8 Slack Hacks for Reducing Information Anxiety
Slack doesn’t have to give your team anxiety. Use these tips to move from using group chat as a communication medium to using it as a productivity tool.
Growth & Culture10 Lessons We Learned About Telling Customer Stories
Your company may be sharing case studies, testimonials, and customer success stories — but are you doing it in a way that’s actually engaging?
Customer ServiceWhy Your Customer Service Sucks
Is it that people who work in customer service are lazy? That they just don’t care? Or have repeated telephone cord near-strangulations damaged some critical part of their brain? Perhaps.
Growth & CultureHow Building a Community Can Supercharge Your Customer Service
Brand communities are helping companies supercharge their customer service with insights into customer needs, expectations and desires.
Growth & CultureHow to Handle Conflict on Remote Teams
Conflict resolution is an important skill, especially on remote teams when in-person context isn’t possible.
Customer ServiceWhat I Learned About Customer Service While Working at A Bookstore
Andrew is a high school student in Darwin, in the far north of Australia. He dreams of one day becoming an author.
Inside Help ScoutHow I Stay Productive Working Remotely
Working remotely and having the freedom to choose my working hours gave me the opportunity to write code when I’m at my best.
Growth & CultureDEI at Help Scout: 2017 Update
The steps Help Scout has taken to climb out of diversity debt, and the goals we’re setting to reflect a more representative balance across multiple axes of diversity
Inside Help Scout5 Benefits of Integrating HubSpot + Help Scout
Help Scout’s integration with HubSpot puts customer information where you need it most and adds important lifecycle events to the customer timeline.
Growth & CultureCustomer Acquisition vs. Customer Satisfaction
Customer acquisition versus customer satisfaction: What’s the more important goal? Turns out, they’re two sides of the same coin.
Customer ServiceHow To Succeed as a Customer Support Manager
You’ve just landed a new role as a support manager. Congratulations! Here are all the strategies you’ll need to succeed in your new role.
Inside Help ScoutTesting Code That Talks to the Database
For the purpose of this post I’d like to focus on what is common — database access via a high level repository-like component. How do we test a component like this?
Inside Help ScoutFunctional vs. Unit Testing for the Browser
There are ten thousand blog posts out there extolling the virtues of TDD/BDD, so I’m going to focus here on what I’ve learned from my functional testing misadventures.
Customer ServiceHow Customer Support Teams Can Maximize Seasonal Downtime
Every industry is subject to seasonal downtime — use it to set yourself up for success before your team gets swamped again.
Growth & CultureHow Our Remote Team Stays Aligned With Town Hall Meetings
Remote team meetings keep virtual teams aligned. Here’s how our whole-company virtual meetings keep our team rowing in the same direction.
Customer ServiceTake It or Leave It: What Help Desk Data Should You Migrate?
Switching help desks can be a real pain, but it’s also an opportunity to improve your support team’s processes, get rid of clutter, and create new habits that make your life easier.
Customer Service200,000 Customer Conversations Later: What I Wish I’d Known From Day One
After having 200,000 conversations with customers, you learn a few lessons.
Customer ServiceHow to Organize With Tags
Help desk tags let you categorize conversations, monitor trends, and trigger automated actions. But what are the questions to ask before you designate your tags?
Customer ServiceThe Future of Customer Service: 10 Trends to Watch
Industry leaders weigh in on the future of customer service with 10 emerging industry trends, including self-service, chatbots, and the role of humans.
Inside Help ScoutReducing Complexity with Guard Clauses in PHP and JavaScript
A guard clause is a snippet of code at the top of a function or method that returns early when some precondition is met.
Customer Service7 Ways to Maintain Team Culture During Stressful Times
Practice these 7 tips for keeping your team’s spirits up when times get tough.
Customer ServiceThe Art and Science of Getting into the Flow
Cutting-edge psychological research can help us cultivate flow when we’re elbow-deep in work we don’t want to do.
Growth & Culture6 Questions to Ask Before You Email Your Customers
Don’t send another customer email without reading these 6 questions that’ll help you write emails customers love.
Inside Help ScoutBecoming a Digital Nomad: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
The ins and outs of launching and maintaining a career as a digital nomad.
Inside Help ScoutThe Database Is Not an Implementation Detail
Databases are critical functions of most systems that are in use today. Both proper database selection and good performance tuning and monitoring are critical processes.
Customer ServiceHow to Master Difficult Customer Service Conversations
Communicating bad news to customers can be complicated, but following a few basic guidelines will ensure you say it right the first time and every time.
Growth & Culture4 Easy and Effective Ways to Invest in Your Customers
Fostering an environment where customers feel loyal to you and your business is a wise investment in the future of your company.
Customer ServiceHow to Write the Perfect Customer Service Resume
Getting your customer service resume in order and avoiding the most common mistakes isn’t hard, but it does require some planning and effort.
Customer ServiceHow to Break Up With Abusive Customers
When an abusive customer is making life miserable for your support team, it’s time to let them go. Here’s the playbook.
Growth & CultureThe Psychology Behind the Perfect Customer Interview
Customer interviews are the fastest, most effective way to understand what your customers really need. Here’s your roadmap.
Customer ServiceHow to Write the Perfect Interview Thank-You Email
Mastering the thank-you email after an interview is both a science and an art, but there is a formula you can follow.
Customer ServiceWhat My Mechanic Taught Me About Customer Service
4 customer service lessons from a pro who treats people right, and keeps them coming back for decades.
Growth & CultureHow to Work a 40-Hour Week
Does a 40-hour work week feel out of reach? It doesn’t have to be, when you develop a system and hold yourself accountable.
Customer ServiceThe Value of Doing Things That Scare You
Facing your fears isn’t easy, but doing things that scare you is the best way to grow.
Growth & CultureHow to Build a Great Business
5 things your company needs to be great, plus a sneaky sixth tactic that will make your company last from Help Scout CEO, Nick Francis.
Customer Service9 Customer Champions Who Received Great Customer Service
Heartwarming stories from customer service professionals about times they received great customer service.
Customer ServiceTaking the Right Tone With Customers
Communicating tone online is hard, especially in customer support. Follow a few best practices and you'll say it right the first time and every time.
Growth & CultureBuilding a Community Around Your Business
What is the value of community and what separates it from social, support, and other roles? Interview with Sarah Judd Welch of Loyal.
Customer ServiceHow 3 Nonprofits Approach Customer Service
Customer service at nonprofits is often a function rather than a department, so success depends on keeping their tools and processes simple.
Customer Service5 People You Need On Your Customer Support Team
Providing the best customer service starts with the people you hire. These five personality types are essential on every customer support team.
Growth & CultureThe Surprising Reality of Side Hustles: They're Good for Business
Side hustles don't distract employees; they actually make them happier and better at their jobs.
Growth & CultureHow to Use Storytelling to Connect with Your Customers
Bring storytelling into your customer service and marketing to create stronger, more genuine connections with your customers
Growth & CultureGreat Content Is Still the Biggest Hurdle
These creative writing techniques will help you solve one of publishing’s biggest hurdles — consistent quality.
Customer ServiceHow to Build and Optimize Your Customer Support Funnel
Learn the 4 stages of the customer support funnel, and you can use it to retain customers.
Growth & CultureAligning Sales and Support for Long-Term Growth
When sales and customer service work together, they succeed by giving the customer a better experience.
Customer Service9-Step Guide to Switching Help Desks
Switching to a new help desk can be tricky, but it’s a chance to organize your support department and step up your customer service game.
Customer ServiceSetting Up a Help Desk: A Step-By-Step Guide and Checklist
If you’re setting up a new help desk, follow this step-by-step guide and checklist to ensure it goes smoothly for your customers and team.
Inside Help ScoutThe Evolution of the Help Scout Brand
Building a brand that lasts requires maintenance and design principles as concrete as your company values.
Growth & CultureHow to Make the Most of Your Customer Testimonials
Bland customer testimonials always go bust. Here's how to get great quotes from your customers.
Growth & CultureHow We Use Video to Build Remote Culture
Team building activities can often feel forced, but video is a surprisingly easy way to strengthen company culture and have fun.
Customer Service4 Ways to Find Meaningful Opportunities in Customer Support
To spot high-upside opportunities in customer service, be sure to use these 4 practical frameworks.
Customer ServiceImproving Employee Retention in Customer Support
Customer support is fighting a negative public perception, and high turnover rates, but there is a solution and it takes less work than you think.
Customer ServiceDon't Let Your Professional Shortcomings Hold You Back at Work
Identify your professional shortcomings and learn how to overcome them at work.
Customer ServiceSupport Teams Should Have a Seat at the ‘Adult' Table
Support teams are a critical part of any organization that serves customers, yet they’re not always treated that way. Mireille Pilloud, Community Support Manager at TED, shares her thoughts on how to get support a “seat at the adult table.”
Growth & CultureRelationship Marketing: The Value of Marketing to Current Customers
Relationship marketing is customer marketing strategy that emphasizes retention, loyalty, satisfaction, and lifetime customer value.
Growth & CultureIllustrations Are More Than Digital Eye Candy
Best practices for creating digital illustrations that reflect your brand identity.
Growth & CultureA Brief Guide to Better 1:1’s—For Makers and Managers Alike
One on one meetings are key to getting feedback, sharing concerns, and connecting with your colleagues. Here's how to run a great one on one meeting.
Growth & CultureThe 25 Best Entrepreneur Books on Marketing, Sales, and Support
We compiled the 25 best books for entrepreneurs on marketing, sales, and customer service. Each book is a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Customer Service9 Tips to Improve Your Customer Support Game
Tips on providing better customer support from experienced customer support professionals
Growth & CultureHave the 4P's of Marketing Become Outdated?
The 4P's of marketing have been used by marketers around the world for decades. But for B2B businesses, they may now be outdated.
Growth & CultureSupport, Sales, and Marketing Need to Work in Harmony
Three ways to get your support, sales, and marketing teams working together effectively.
Customer Service6 Tips for Delivering Effective International Customer Service
Providing international customer service can be a challenge if you don't offer multilingual customer support. Follow these 6 best practices.
Customer ServiceThe Best Advice We Ever Received
The best advice ever for your career and life.
Customer ServiceThese 13 Stories of Remarkable Customer Service Will Put a Smile on Your Face
In a world where support is often thought of as a cost center, these remarkable customer service stories will remind you of its true potential.
Customer ServiceHow to Break Your Worst Work Habits
The psychology of breaking bad habits is really about changing your routine.
Growth & CultureOrganizing Teams With Players and Coaches
Effective teams are built upon two types of leadership, domain leadership (players) and people leadership (coaches).
Customer Service16 Customer Service Tips to Never Forget
The best customer service tips can only come from world-class teams. Here are 16 tips for delighting your customers.
Customer ServiceBoost Customer Happiness with Exclamations and Emoticons
Should you use exclamation points, emoticons, and GIFs in your customer emails? The answer is yes, and there’s some interesting data that explains why.
Customer ServiceThe 27 Best Customer Service Books
The top 27 customer service books about providing better customer service and creating a customer-centered culture in your company.
Growth & CultureUpselling in a Customer-First Company
When you optimize for customer success, upselling is ethical and revenue is a byproduct. Here’s how we approach sales at Help Scout.
Growth & Culture10 Timeless Pricing Strategies to Increase Sales
Learn about 10 pricing strategies based on the science of consumer behavior for inspiration and insight on how to effectively set your prices.
Customer ServiceHow We Transitioned to 24-Hour Support
Round-the-clock support is a huge win for customers, but it doesn’t come easily. Here’s how we made the transition.
Growth & CultureOrg Structure Is All in the Execution
Is it better to be flat and manager-free, or traditional and hierarchical? Instead, ask which organizational structure works best for your particular company.
Growth & CultureHow Remote Teams Are Becoming the Future of Work
In many ways, virtual teams are an ongoing experiment. But they could soon eliminate the need for offices and become the standard.
Customer ServiceTrack Requests to Keep Customers Coming Back
Telling customers to “keep an eye out” for updates puts the onus on them—not cool. Instead, be proactive and follow up after you’ve fixed a bug they reported or built a feature they wanted.
Growth & CultureThe Psychological Benefits of Writing
What are the psychological benefits of making writing a regular habit? We took a look at the research.
Growth & CultureWhen Being Nice Isn’t Being Kind
“Just be nice” is emotionally resonant but nutritionally shallow advice. The reality is much more complicated.
Customer ServiceSolving Problems Outside Your Domain
Sometimes, due to forces beyond your control, you have to solve customer problems that your product or site didn't create.
Customer Service3 Approaches to Getting Unstuck
Once you realize you’re stuck, the hard part is over—now you can take tried-and-true measures to unstick yourself.
Growth & CultureWhat Really Matters Can’t Be Measured
Many traits that make a business great can’t be traced to a dollar, and that’s okay. What really matters can’t always be measured.
Growth & Culture7 Ways to Engage Far-Flung Team Members
Don't let long-distance remote workers in different time zones feel like anything less than full members of the team.
Growth & CultureHow We Replaced Our Weekly All-Hands Meeting with Video
Weekly videos are a fun, easier-than-you-think alternative to all-hands meetings and boring email updates. Here’s how Help Scout does it.
Customer Service5 Big Lessons Support Managers Wish They’d Learned Sooner
What the best support leaders wish they’d known when they first took the helm.
Growth & CultureHow to Sabotage Any Meeting
Here are the telltale signs of a meeting that has gone completely off the rails.
Customer Service7 Tips on How to Say No to Customers
Keep customers happy even when you can’t give them everything they want.
Customer Service3 Steps to Making Better Decisions
Understand how your mind creates frames, uses comparisons, and is influenced by intuition.
Customer ServiceWhy a Visual Really is Worth 1,000 Words
Skill in visual communication has become nearly as indispensable as clear, compelling writing. Here’s why.
Customer ServiceThe Importance of Finishing What You Start
Completing projects might be the most nerve-racking part of your work, but it can also be the most rewarding.
Customer ServiceGiving Great GIFs for Better Support
GIFs are good for more than a quick laugh — they’re also an effective tool to deliver great support.
Customer ServiceWhy All Hands Support Didn’t Work for Our Company
Anna Brozek, former CEO at Big Cartel, explains why the company tried and eventually ended the practice of all hands support.
Customer ServiceThe Science of Setting and Achieving Goals
Understanding the psychology behind setting and meeting goals will help you focus on what matters and improve productivity.
Growth & CultureWhy Water Cooler Talk Matters More Than You Think
When you invest in ways to build social capital within your team, you can generate momentum and boost productivity throughout the entire company.
Customer ServiceMastering the Art of ‘Just Start’
Understanding the psychology of what holds you back from getting started will make you more productive.
Customer ServiceWhat Psychology Teaches Us About Structuring the Workday
Understanding your brain's natural rhythms can help you make the most of your day.
Growth & CultureWhat We Learned Telling Customers’ Stories
An inside look into our Customer Spotlight project.
Customer ServiceWhy Better Sleep Equals Better Work
Simple yet often overlooked steps to improve your sleep, relationships, and productivity.
Customer Service7 Ways to Nurture Creativity
Enduring wisdom to push creative types to do better work.
Customer ServiceThe Hidden Beauty of Constraints
You can make constraints and limitations work to your advantage; all it takes is the right frame of mind.
Customer ServiceRoutine Disruption: How to Change Your Habits for the Better
Breaking out of everyday behaviors can help you discover new ideas and positive habit changes.
Customer ServiceHow Practicing Mindfulness Can Lead to Better Decision Making
Here’s a look into why mindfulness is a desired workplace trait and how you can practice it daily.
Customer ServiceIf You Aren’t Cringing, You Aren’t Improving
Creating is something you can never do as well as it can be done. Here’s why you should make things anyway.
Growth & CultureHow Writing Regularly Can Improve Your Creativity and Clarity
A habit of writing often can help enrich your life personally and professionally.
Inside Help ScoutLessons Learned from 6 Years of Working in My Pajamas
Six years of working remotely has given me some firm opinions on the topic. If I’ve learned anything, it’s this…
Customer ServiceEasy Reading Is Damn Hard Writing
Writing that reads effortlessly takes great pain to create. Here’s how to make each word count.
Customer ServiceHow Music Affects Your Productivity
Music can positively or negatively affect your productivity at work. Here's what the research says.
Growth & CultureBuilding a Newsletter Welcome Series from Scratch
Here's how we built our blog email nurture track welcome series.
Growth & CultureImprove Free Trial Conversion Rates by Getting to Know Your Customers
Improve your company's conversion rates by offering new users a free trial.
Customer ServiceThe Benefits of Learning as a Team
When a team comes together to openly share experiences with the ultimate goal of learning together and lifting each other up, everyone benefits.
Customer ServiceAvoiding the Silo of Team Communication
A communication silo occurs when teams talk exclusively amongst themselves at the expense of big picture company goals. Here's how to avoid that.
Customer ServiceHow to Be a Good Customer
How can customers change their approach to how they interact with customer support, so they get better and faster solutions to their problems?
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Tuft and Needle
Tuft and Needle's unflinching focus on customer experience is what helped them become an exceptional company.
Inside Help ScoutCustomer Story: Senneca
Since becoming a Help Scout customer, Senneca Holdings has scaled its support solution without compromising a human customer experience.
Customer Service25 Insights for Creating and Sustaining Workplace Happiness
Why is happiness at work viewed as a distant outcome rather than an enduring prerequisite? It shouldn't be.
Growth & CultureSilence Is a Noxious Gas
Make communication a priority, especially when you're on a remote team.
Growth & CultureLetting Your Customers Speak for You
Here's how to tell compelling customer stories.
Inside Help Scout18 Ideas That Will Change The Way Your Remote Team Works
We've gathered 18 useful remote work resources on better communication, tools, and productivity.
Growth & CultureHow to Write with Substance
Clarity is the goal when writing to convey meaning to your reader.
Growth & CultureKeeping Our Overachiever Culture
All successful businesses start with overachieving founders. As a team grows, roles become more specialized and redundant. Learn how we keep our overachiever culture as the company grows.
Growth & CultureWhat You Gain With a Growth Team
A growth team helps optimize this curve. Indeed, “helps” may be too weak of a word as hiring for growth continues to solve increasingly ubiquitous problems.
Customer ServiceThe Customer Always Remembers
Directing your tone and language to create positive, lasting memories for your customers is a staple in support. Not only should the whole experience be good, but most importantly, how that experience ends ought to be good.
Growth & CultureWhy Businesses Have a Hard Time Fixing What’s Broken
Businesses that thrive are able to honor and understand the need to adapt when feedback exposes their flaws.
Growth & CultureOvercoming Common Customer Objections
Customer objections are best overcome by creating an Objections Doc, which lists the most common reasons customers push back.
Customer ServiceHow Ritz-Carlton’s Support Lexicon Created Unity through Clarity
Here's how Ritz-Carlton's employee language handbook unifies the team and properly introduces the culture to new hires.
Growth & CultureMust Reads for Leaders: 10 Invaluable Books for Moving Hearts and Minds
Books are training weights for the mind. Here are 10 timeless and helpful leadership books to buy.
Customer ServiceHow Better Customer Service Attracts and Retains Better Clients
Concierge customer treatment (not price or even skill) is the way to land quality contracts.
Customer ServiceTone and Language Are Building Blocks to Customer Expectations
Every day, businesses are turning their customers away with the wrong tone and language. Don't let that be you.
Customer ServiceThe Business Case for Loving Customers
Free resource outlining the business reasons for great customer service, why it works, best practices and ways to measure success.
Growth & CultureHow the American Red Cross Redesigned the Experience of Donating Blood
Figuring out what others truly need is what leads to the most significant innovations.
Growth & CultureThe Lost Art of Candor in the Workplace
Cultivating candor requires a delicate balance. Teams must carefully tread the line between “brutally honest” and “necessarily honest.”
Growth & CultureHow Backcountry Creates an Exceptional Customer Experience
Backcountry concentrates on 5 fundamental markers to drive their incredible customer experience. Here's how to apply them to your own business.
Growth & Culture25 Underrated Books on Persuasion, Influence, and Understanding Human Behavior
Looking for some new reads you haven't already seen on every list? Here are 25 underrated suggestions you should know about.
Growth & Culture10 Must-See Videos from Stanford Business School
Every entrepreneur can benefit from these 10 videos of leaders doling out straightforward advice.
Customer ServiceEveryone Should Be Feeling the Customer’s Pain
Getting the whole team to answer support questions is the fastest way to ensure your company truly understand the customer experience.
Customer Service100+ Famous Business Quotes About Customer Service
Explore some of the most famous business quotes about customer service from leaders and CEOs like Walt Disney, Henry Ford, Sam Walton, and more.
Customer ServiceDon’t Let Tone Ruin Your Support Interactions
Take a look at a few examples of how tone can impede your customer support interactions.
Growth & CultureHow Disney Creates Magical Experiences (and a 70% Return Rate)
How Disney's customer experience inspires so many of its customers to come back
Growth & CultureWhy Chipotle’s Customer Experience is Trouncing the Competition
Chipotle owes much of its growth to the dedication they place on having a superior customer experience.
Customer ServiceCustomers Are Tired of Insincere Support
Customers don't like the insincere and often strangely affectionate tone that some companies force their support teams to use.
Growth & CultureDon't Let Growth Hacking Ruin the Customer Experience
Growth hacking, the term we all have come to know in the past few years, has made this an issue that needs discussing. Juking the stats at the expense of the customer experience will sabotage long term growth in any business.
Customer ServiceCustomer Support is More Than Saying I'm Sorry
Apologies are necessary, but if there isn’t a system in place to learn from customer feedback, you're putting your support team on the receiving end of complaints with no means to fix the root of the problem.
Customer ServiceSupport Teams: Stop Being Distracted by Faster Response Times
Faster response times aren't the number one metric your support team should be optimizing for.
Growth & CultureFeatures Tell, But Benefits Sell
Founders and marketers must go beyond selling products, and instead sell what their product will allow customers to do.
Customer ServiceHarsh Truths That Will Make You a Better Support Rep
Customer support isn’t all gifs and happiness. Greg shares a more realistic perspective on the difficult, important work of the customer service team.
Growth & CultureGiving Your Customers a Peek Behind the Curtain
Learn about the essence of “behind the scenes” marketing, and how peeking behind the curtains can be so enticing to prospective customers.
Customer ServiceUsing the Customer Service Tone
Conversation is rarely back or white. Your tone, both written and spoken, creates many shades of gray.
Inside Help ScoutSix Ways Remote Teams Can Crush Their To-Do Lists
When you work remotely, you need to manage not only your own time, but respect the time of those you’re working with.
Growth & CultureHow to Build a Brand that Wins Over Customers’ Hearts and Wallets
Advice and examples for how to build a brand people love, one customer at a time.
Customer ServiceThe Right (and Wrong) Way to Handle a Company Crisis
What to do, and what NOT to do when things go wrong Learn with practical examples from Buffer, HMV and Adobe.
Inside Help ScoutFront-end Testing for the Lazy Developer with CasperJS
CasperJS is the answer to help you achieve your testing goals.
Growth & CultureA Scientific Take on Viral Marketing
Take a look at these examples of viral marketing to see what lessons can be had from campaigns that managed to spread far and wide.
Growth & CultureThe Happy Warrior: Research Reveals What Makes a Successful Leader
Here's what established research says about what it takes to inspire, motivate, and manage an exceptional team.
Growth & Culture10 Academic Insights on Building and Managing an Exceptional Team
Look at 10 of the best studies available to learn what practical things you can do to ensure your team is set up for success.
Growth & CultureCreating a Unique Selling Proposition that Stands Out
A strong unique selling proposition helps you to stand apart from competitors and attract attention the right way.
Growth & Culture10 Proven Ways to Build a Website that Customers Will Love
Read about these 10 proven strategies for building a website that customers will love to use ... and buy from.
Growth & CultureCustomer Profiles: A Smarter Way to Reach Your Customers
Personas give you a structured look at your customer's goals in trying your product and the messaging that will help them find you.
Growth & CultureWhy Steve Jobs Didn't Listen to His Customers
Compare the merits of focusing on internal innovation to the insights to be gained from customer feedback.
Customer ServiceStop Being a Customer Support Dictator
Quality customer service cannot be maintained with an iron fist. Learn the the right medium to engage customers in, so that you can use and scale consistently to provide outstanding online support.
Growth & CultureHow to Take Charge of Your Churn Rate
Your churn rate, or proportion of customers who leave during a given time period, tells you a lot about retention and customer loyalty.
Growth & Culture5 Things Your Customers Can Do Better than You
Check out these 5 things that your customers can often do much better than you.