I love when customers post to the HelpSpot forums because it leaves a great history for future customers to use in researching HelpSpot and in empowering them to find their own answers to problems. However, one thing has always driven me a bit nuts about forums in general. You never really know if the person received your response.

That's why HelpSpot has the subscribe via email option, so customers don't need to return to get their answer. Remember HelpSpot's forums aren't about getting the most traffic to your site, they're 100% about providing great customer service. Until now though there's been a big missing link. HelpSpot knows if the poster is subscribed to the topic via email but the staff doesn't! Countless times I've answered a pressing issue in the forums and wondered if the customer received my response right away or not.

Well now I'll know. The small golden email icon in the graphic below lets me know that the customer is subscribed to this topic via email.