The business case for better tech comm

background image ﬂickr: spierzchalaThe business case for better tech comm Sarah O’Keefe (@sarahokeefe) Scriptorium Publishing (@scriptorium)

Sarah O’Keefe @sarahokeefe❖ Founder and president, Scriptorium Publishing, www.scriptorium.com❖ Based in North Carolina❖ Coauthor with Alan Pringle of Content Strategy 101 (September 2012!)❖ Interested in collision of content, publishing, and technology

Before we begin…❖ Everyone is muted except for the presenter❖ Please ask your questions through the Questions area in the webcast interface❖ The presentation is being recorded; attendees do not appear in the recording

Agenda❖ Business case components❖ Typical tech comm business cases ❖ Address legal and regulatory issues ❖ Control cost of tech comm ❖ Improve marketing and product visibility

“They’ll never pay for that.” ﬂickr: johnloo

They don’t see the value. ﬂickr: jamescronin

Justify your approach. ﬂickr: bagsup

Business case components❖ Current situation❖ Recommendation❖ Costs❖ Beneﬁts❖ Risk assessment

Business case patterns❖ Address legal and regulatory issues❖ Control cost of tech comm❖ Improve marketing and product visibility

Legal and regulatory ﬂickr: jdickert

Legal and regulatory❖ More efﬁcient compliance❖ Avoid legal complications

Control the cost of tech comm❖ Efﬁcient content development❖ Reduce the cost of technical support❖ Content collaboration

Myth: Cheap documentation ﬂickr: mjryall

Typical problems❖ Content is available only in a single output format (usually PDF)❖ Content is useless: ❖ “In the Name ﬁeld, type the person’s name.”❖ Content is hard to understand, not available in right languages

Cost of bad content❖ High call volume to technical support❖ Product returns; lost sales❖ Regulatory submission delayed or rejected❖ Contradicts marketing❖ Huge globalization costs❖ Content duplication

Efﬁcient content development❖ Reuse❖ Formatting and production❖ Localization

Reuse ﬂickr: mikecogh

Formatting and production ﬂickr: a_cooper

Localization ﬂickr: ezioman

Scaling your content workﬂow

Reducing the cost of technical support ﬂickr: vitorcastillo

Call deﬂection ﬂickr: billrice

Some statistics on technical support❖ 6–20% of revenue (higher number for smaller companies)❖ $6–36 per transaction (lower number if outsourced) Source: Softletter and the Association of Support Professionals, www.asponline.com/tscr.pdf

$150,000 $112,500Cost savings (per year) 1% call deﬂection 2% call deﬂection $75,000 $37,500 $0 under $5M $5–$10M $10M+ $100M+ Company revenues

Obstacles to efﬁcient phone support

A troubling pattern ﬂickr: pasukaru76

Conﬂict between tech comm and tech support ﬂickr: jdhancock

Content collaboration ﬂickr: smemon

Tech comm plus…❖ Technical support❖ Product design and development❖ Training and education❖ Software❖ Online help❖ Product interface labels

Collaboration workﬂow

Marketing and product visibility❖ Supporting marketing with technical content❖ Increasing product visibility❖ Building user community

ﬂickr: shoppeolinaReinforce the marketing message

ﬂickr: bokchoi-snowpea

http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/wordpress-estore-plugin-complete-solution-to- sell-digital-products-from-your-wordpress-blog-securely-1059

Increase product visibility ﬂickr: frikitiki

Content requirements for product visibility❖ Searchable❖ Findable❖ Discoverable

Building user community ﬂickr: roberto8080

ﬂickr: tadsonbussey

Align tech comm with business ﬂickr: mulmatsherm

Business cases❖ The organization’s business goal is A.❖ Tech comm needs to do B to support/ accomplish/improve A.❖ Doing B will cost X and increase revenue/save Y over n years.❖ Y > X.

Sample business cases❖ http://www.contentstrategy101.com/❖ 8 case studies❖ Sample cost calculations

Content Strategy 101 Transform Technical Content into a Business Asset ❖ Available September 2012 ❖ Currently in ﬁnal proofreading/production/ panic stages Sarah S. O’Keefe and Alan S. Pringle Foreword by Ann Rockley ❖ Print, EPUB, and Kindle ❖ Or FREE on www.contentstrategy101.com

Upcoming events❖ Content strategy for tech comm webcast with Alan Pringle❖ To DITA or not to DITA webcast with Alyssa Fox and Toni Mantych❖ Lavacon conference (Portland, OR)❖ tekom/tcworld (Germany)❖ Register/more information at www.scriptorium.com/events

Questions?

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The business case for better tech comm

by Scriptorium Publishing on Aug 16, 2012

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