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Re: Technical Writing and the Business Perspective
Subject:Re: Technical Writing and the Business Perspective From:Goober Writer <gooberwriter -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 24 Oct 2003 12:13:17 -0700 (PDT)
Goober Writer wrote:
> > Business first. Advocate profit. Then advocate
> > additional things
Chuck Martin wrote:
> Aren't satisfied customers (who don't return shoddy,
> rushed-to-market
> products or call technical support to resolve
> problems--unless tech support
> is used as a profit center, and then it's a whole
> new ball game) going to do
> more to increase profit that anything else?
It depends on your business model. That is why you
should primarily satisfy business objectives and then
look to address others as a subset. Your customers may
personally benefit from rock-solid documentation, but
your business might benefit from training and support
contracts. Not to say you should write crap and make
it up in other ways, but sometimes it makes sense to
omit certain types of info so your customers do get
info from docs, but can benefit from additional info
provided by fee-based training and consultation. If
this is your business model, and you disagree, you
certainly do NOT want to literally write yourself out
of a job.
> But isn't making the customer happy one of the
> fundamental tenets of good bbusiness?
It certainly is. But, you're assuming that this can
all fall on docs' shoulders, where in reality, it is
not uncommon to supplement good docs (not
all-encompassing docs) with good training and support.
And, many companies do shell out for the extra help.
=====
Goober Writer
(because life is too short to be inept)
"As soon as you hear the phrase "studies show",
immediately put a hand on your wallet and cover your groin."
-- Geoff Hart
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