This isn't a Lebron James press conference, so we're not going to waste any time keeping the world waiting (and we know the world is waiting for this ... ha); we'll just tell you what we chose as the name. The new name for our customer service app is HelpScout.

Why we chose HelpScout

The Branding Possibilities are Awesome

We were immediately excited about branding this name. It's the perfect name for us to create a mascot of some sort. For all that MailChimp (logo here) has done for monkeys, we could have the same sort of impact from a branding perspective with HelpScout. We think this is a HUGE plus.

We Like the Connotation

While none of us have ever been boy scouts, we like what they stand for: teamwork, honor, helping others and hard work. There's enough here for us to market the app to customers without having to explain the name every time.

It Works for SEO Reasons

In the last post we mentioned that it would be a nice boost if "help" were in the name. Considering what a competitive field "help desks" are (even though we're the anti-help desk), we instantly helped ourselves by getting a domain with one of the main keywords.

It's Short, Easy to Spell and Easy to Remember

Enough said! It passes these three tests with flying colors.

So far we have two domains, HelpScout.net and HelpScoutApp.com. HelpScout.com is a squatter of some sort. We're hopeful that maybe we can grab the domain at some point, but it's not a big deal either way. We don't have any actual competition with the HelpScout name, so we're moving forward.

Don't Forget to Make Sure You Can Use the Name

Before you register or publicize a name for anything, make sure you can legally use it. All you have to do is a Trademark search on USPTO.gov (in the USA) for the name. Go through any existing trademarks with the same name and triple-check that they are not in the same or a related business. Consult your lawyer for specifics, but if there are any web services with the same name as you, it's better off not to use it.

You don't have to register the trademark officially right off the bat, but you do need to make sure it is available and be the first one to use it publicly. We'll be registering the HelpScout trademark upon launching the site, but since we're actively talking about it on this blog we will have legal rights to it, even prior to registering it.

37signals made this mistake rather recently, with an application they released called Haystack. Due to trademark issues, they had to change the name to Sortfolio and update all the branding. It's worth doing a little homework upfront in order to avoid these kinds of problems.