It's officially November — which means it's time to get ready for holiday shopping season!

Over the coming weeks, we'll be improving your Olark navigation menus. Product Designer Taylor LeCroy talks about the decisions behind the new look: 

At Olark, we believe human connections are essential to business growth. But to really connect with someone, you need to understand their context. What problem are they trying to solve with your product? How did they hear about your company? Are they considering switching away from one of your competitors, and if so, why?

You’ve probably heard that Olark is a 100% remote company, and that we have some cool ways to connect virtually. Once a year, we get the whole crew (and families) together for an annual retreat. Retreat 2018 starts tomorrow, Saturday August 25.

Every time you interact with a lead or customer on chat, you learn something new about their goals, preferences, and priorities. From the seemingly minor (e.g., shipping preferences) to the sales and marketing “jackpot” (e.g., a detailed summary of a customer’s motivations for using your product), quick access to customer information can be a game-changer for growing your business…

Does the very mention of the “GDPR” — General Data Privacy Regulation — make you want to run screaming for the hills? We hear you!

Running a small business is just like running any other business, right?

Er, well, not always. We get it — Olark is a small, bootstrapped company, so we know that while working with a small team can be incredibly rewarding, it’s also quite challenging at times.

One of the best things about selling online is the opportunity to reach prospective customers anywhere in the world. But if you’re attracting a global audience (yay!), you’ll likely find yourself fielding questions and requests in multiple languages, many of which your chat team doesn’t speak (hrrm).  

Want to chat with your customers directly from Slack? The Olark Live Chat Slack App makes that possible! You can also share conversations with teammates in Slack, ask for help when things get busy, and celebrate together when one of your team members gets a 5-star customer rating. 

And how to reach Olark during the last week of the year

Happy holidays everyone! Wherever you are, the entire Olark family wishes you all the best as we close out 2017 and get ready to flip calendars over to 2018.