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INTRODUCTION
If you’re looking to get your Help Scout account all set up the right way, this video is for YOU!
Discover just how quick and easy it can be to get your Help Scout account set up so you can start providing VIP level support for your customers!
Get a 15-day free trial of Help Scout (no card required), plus get a $50 credit on your account when you sign up today!
PROFILE SETTINGS
The first thing we’re going to do is update our Profile Settings.
At the top right of the page click on your Profile icon.
Click on “Your Profile” from the drop down menu.
PROFILE TIMEZONE
In the “Timezone” section, select the correct Timezone from the drop down menu.
PROFILE IMAGE
Next, we’re going to add a profile photo.
Click on the “Choose File” button.
Now you can select an image from your computer.
Click the “Save Profile” button when you’re done.
NOTE: One thing to note is that even though your Profile Settings are saved, the Profile icon at the top-right of the page may not have changed to your new image.
All you have to do is refresh your internet browser, and then you should be able to see your profile icon change to the new image that you just added.
COMPANY SETTINGS
Next we need to update our “Company Settings”.
Click on “Manage” from the top navigation menu, then select “Company” from the drop down menu.
HELP SCOUT SUBDOMAIN
The first setting that we’re going to look at is your Help Scout subdomain.
When you signed up for your free account, you created a mailbox.
The Help Scout subdomain was the first part of that mailbox, and it’s what makes up your Help Scout email address.
Here you can make sure that your subdomain is correct.
If it’s not correct, or if you would like to change it, you can click on the “Change” link.
Type in the correct subdomain, enter your password, and then click the “Change Subdomain” button.
Please make sure that after you start using your Help Scout email address, you don’t change the subdomain again.
Remember, if you change the subdomain, it changes your email address.
COMPANY TIMEZONE
The next thing to do is set your “Company Timezone” using the drop down menu.
Click the “Save” button when you’re done making changes to your Company Settings.
MANAGE MAILBOX PROPERTIES
Okay, next we’re going to take a look at our “Mailbox Properties”.
Click on “Manage” from the top navigation menu, then select “Mailbox” from the drop down menu.
You will probably only have one mailbox right now, which is the one that you created while you were setting up your free Help Scout account.
Click on the Mailbox, and now you will be in the Mailbox Properties.
MAILBOX NAME
First, let’s take a look at the “Mailbox Name”.
You can change the name of the Mailbox if you want to, but remember that this is only seen by you and your support team.
HELP SCOUT MAILBOX ADDRESS
Next, let’s look at your Help Scout Mailbox Address.
You can’t change your Mailbox Address from here.
The only way to change your Help Scout Mailbox Address is to change the subdomain from the “Company Settings” page.
On this page, the only thing that you can do with your Mailbox Address is click on the “Copy” button and save it to use later.
For example, you can use it to forward your Gmail Email Address to your Help Scout Mailbox Address.
This is how you’l be able to collect support messages from your Gmail account, and have them sent to your Help Scout Mailbox.
“FROM” NAME
The next thing we’re going to do is create a “From Name”.
This is the name that your customer will see when they receive your message replies.
Use the drop down menu and select the “Custom Name” option from the list.
A new section will appear where you can type in your “Custom Name”.
Be sure to use a name that your customer will recognize, like your business name.
This will make it more likely that your customer will open your message replies.
DEFAULT STATUS
Next, use the “Default Status” drop down menu and select the “Pending” option from the list.
When you reply to a message, this status will be set by default.
DEFAULT ASSIGNEE
Next, use the drop down menu under “Default Assignee” and select the option called “Person Replying (if unassigned)”.
What this means is that when someone replies to a support ticket, if there isn’t someone already assigned to the ticket, then the person who is sending the reply will also be the one who is assigned to it.
SIGNATURE
Here, at the end of the page, you can create a signature that will be placed at the bottom of all the outgoing emails that you send.
If you do not want to use a signature in your emails, remove all the content inside of this box so that it’s empty.
Click on the “Save” button to save all of your Mailbox Settings.
SETUP AUTO-REPLY MESSAGE
The next part of the account setup we’re going to look at is the “Auto-Reply” message.
This is a message that gets sent automatically to your customer immediately after they send you a support message.
Sending an Auto Reply message lets the customer know that you have received their support message and will reply as soon as possible.
It gives your customer confidence that you are listening, and that you are providing the best support possible.
Click on “Manage” from the top navigation menu, then select “Mailbox” from the drop down menu.
(You will probably only have one mailbox right now, which is the one that you created while you were setting up your free Help Scout account)
Click on the Mailbox.
On the left, click on “Auto Reply”.
Switch-on the Auto-Reply message by clicking on the toggle-switch.
Next, type-in your Subject.
Now, at this point you can leave the Auto-Reply message as it is, or you can create your own, personal message.
After you are done, be sure to click the “Save” button to save your changes.
CREATE AND MANAGE SAVED REPLIES
Now let’s take a look at Saved Replies.
A lot of times you will receive the same questions asked by your customers.
Using “Saved Replies” allows you to create a bank of answers to those questions, so that you can reply to them quickly, without typing out the reply over and over.
Click on “Manage” from the top navigation menu, then select “Mailbox” from the drop down menu.
(You will probably only have one mailbox right now, which is the one that you created while you were setting up your free Help Scout account)
Click on the Mailbox.
Over on the left side of the page, click on “Saved Replies”.
You will see a list of all your Saved Replies in this section.
NAMING SAVED REPLIES
Right now, let’s talk about naming your Saved Replies.
You can see here that the words “try me” are inside of brackets.
This is so that all of the messages that have that same word in brackets will be grouped together.
It’s a way to organize your saved replies for when you need to use them in a message later on.
When you name your Saved Reply, put the “keyword” or “category” in brackets first, then add the name of the Saved Reply after the brackets.
CREATE SAVED REPLY
Okay, now let’s create a new Saved Reply.
Click on the “New Saved Reply” button.
For this new Saved Reply we’re going to use the word SALES in brackets. This will be the category of the Saved Reply.
After that we’re going to type in the name of the Saved Reply, which is actually the question that’s being asked.
So for this Saved Reply the question is “How do I get a refund?”
Now the name of the Saved Reply will look like this:
“[SALES] How do I get a refund?”
Next, we need to create the message content.
Once we have the name and message content, we click “Save Reply”.
Here on the list is the Saved Reply we just created.
To minimize the box, just click on the title like this.
USE A SAVED REPLY INSIDE A MESSAGE
Now let’s see how to use a Saved Reply inside of a message.
Up at the top left in the navigation menu, click on “Mailbox”.
Inside our Mailbox, click on a message open it.
Click the “Reply” button (or you can press the “R” key on your keyboard).
Click on the “Saved Replies” button, and then choose our new Saved Reply from the list.
The content from the Saved Reply will auto-populate into the message box.
If the message is ready, all you need to do is send the message.
CREATE A SAVED REPLY OUT OF A MESSAGE REPLY
Okay, what if you want to create a Saved Reply out of a message that you already have typed up and ready to go?
Instead of sending the message right away, click on the “Saved Replies” button.
Then click “Save This Reply”.
All you have to do now is name the Saved Reply.
Remember to first put the keyword or category in brackets, then add the name after the brackets.
Click the “Save Reply” button when you’re ready.
VIEW THE NEW SAVED REPLY
Now let’s go check out the Saved Reply message that we just created.
Click on the “Mailbox Settings” button (“cog wheel”), and then click “Saved Replies”.
Here on the list is the message that we just created.
When we click on the title of the message, it will open the message and we can make changes to it.
After making the changes, click the “Save Reply” button.
DELETE SAVED REPLY
If we don’t want to keep this Saved Reply any longer, we can just click the “Delete” button and it will be gone.
This is permanent. There’s no way to get back a saved reply once you’ve deleted it.
CONCLUSION
See how easy setting up your Help Scout account can be?
And remember, when you sign up for Help Scout using our link, you will receive a $50 discount on your first bill. This makes your first year of Help Scout only $190 (or less than $16 per month).
