1. Click to enter presentation Title
Documentation: It’s Not a Business
Expense, It’s a Revenue Generation Tool

2. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Also known as…
 Building a Return on Investment through your
Table of Contents
 How to Build Profitability into Your Process
 Technical Documentation as a Revenue Generator
 Assessing Your Corporate Value
AND
$$$ SHOW ME THE MONEY $$$

3. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Content Creation
becomes the most
pivotal process
for a company’s
continued success.

4. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation

5. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
What this presentation isn’t about
 It’s not about cutting cost – This presentation discusses why and
how you can show your value through demonstrating increased
profitability.
 It’s not about spreadsheets or formulas – Since every company
has a financial or cost center, we’ll focus more on the how and why
a company’s investment in TechPubs leads to improved internal and
external customer experience which directly influences increased
profitability.
 It’s not about the procedures you use – It’s about why you use
them. Check that your procedures align with a strategy that
communicates your value.

6. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
What this presentation is about
 It’s a mindset – This presentation is designed to build a mindset.
ROI’s can be show through spreadsheets and metrics, but you have
to understand the concept of revenue first to set up your
environment.
 It’s informative – Part of a revenue mindset is to look and discover
value. How valuable is the information you work with and does it
extend beyond process?
 It’s educational – How do you incorporate a business strategy into
a work flow? How do you execute this?
 It’s challenging – You have to move out of your comfort zone to
make it happen. The rewards can be great!
 It’s an evolution – Technical Writers move into Knowledge Brokers.

7. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
So, why listen to this guy?
Christopher Ward
Director of Sales, WebWorks
WebWorks - A company dedicated to helping our clients
maximize the potential of documentation through
custom outputs which help content to foster customer
loyalty and promote product value.
4 years of military service in Army Intelligence
 Taught to separate procedure from strategy and to look
at both differently
3 Years with Dell Computers
 Applied analysis experience to business world

8. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Why Technical Writers need to
evolve into Knowledge Brokers
8
- Clay Spinuzzi's blogpost about post capitalistic society
http://spinuzzi.blogspot.com/search?q=knowledge+workers
…knowledge is now, and will be,
the basic economic resource;
value is created via productivity and innovation. The leading
social groups will be knowledge workers, "who know how to
allocate knowledge to productive use," and "practically all of
these knowledge people will be employed in organizations"
(p.8). So
"the economic challenge of the post-capitalist
society will therefore be the productivity of
knowledge work and
the knowledge worker.”

9. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Consider this…
The integrity of the content you provide as well as the accessibility
and searchability of that content sits at the core value of your
business model. These three factors positively impact a company’s
profitability.
– White paper "Gaining the Data Edge:
How ongoing data maintenance spurs growth" August 2012
 “According to The Gartner Group, poor data quality negatively impacts a company’s bottom
line by an average of $8.2 million annually in operational inefficiencies, lost sales and
unrealized new opportunities.
 In addition, a Forrester research study reveals that only 12 percent of companies actually
use customer intelligence to drive key business functions and corporate strategy. That
means that 88 percent are putting up with the waste, inefficiencies and lost opportunities
that dirty data creates. Companies that commit to data quality use their knowledge of
customers and prospects to maximize top-line and bottom-line results.”

10. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Why Start with Business Strategy?

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Why Procedures must align with Strategy
Before
Procedure

12. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Why Procedures must align with Strategy
After
Procedure

13. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Porter’s General Strategies – apply to any company
in any industry
Strategy
 Cost Leadership
– Can you maintain number
one?
– Continuously find ways of
reducing Cost
– Too focused on cutting cost
and can't react to customer's
changing needs
Examples

14. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Porter’s General Strategies – apply to any company
in any industry
Strategy
 Differentiation Strategy
– Have to always be different
from the competition
(ecosystem)
– Have to be able to clearly
deliver your value message
– Focusing efforts on a feature
that does not provide value to
the market
Examples

15. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Porter’s General Strategies – apply to any company
in any industry
Strategy
 Focus Strategy
– Company focuses on a niche
market and develops products
for that market only
– Can be either Differentiation,
or Cost Leadership with focus
on that niche market
– Same pitfalls of other strategy
as well as missing the
changes in the market
Examples

16. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Content can increase
profitability
no matter what strategy
a company decides on!
16

17. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Total Customer Experience
Marketing – Addresses a specific audience, but not a specific problem.
Just flashy enough to get someone’s attention and get out in front of
someone. Total Customer Experience.
Sales – Drill down to needs specific to the customer’s environment and
provide a solution to those needs.
Usage – 90% of the customer’s experience and responsible for
promoting product value and customer loyalty to increase repeat
business. During this phase of the process Help Documentation is the
first opportunity a business will have to influence the customer and try
to increase loyalty, product value and cut down on Customer Defection.

18. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
YOUR CUSTOMERS
What kind of problem is customer
defection?
18
YOUR COMPETITORS’
CUSTOMERS
OTHER BUSINESSES50% loss
every 5
years

19. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
YOUR CUSTOMERS
What kind of problem is customer
defection?
19
YOUR COMPETITORS’
CUSTOMERS
OTHER BUSINESSES50% loss
every 5
years

20. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation 20
What are the benefits of retaining
customers?
COST TO ACQUIRE NEW CUSTOMERS:
5X MORE
YOUR CUSTOMERS YOUR COMPETITORS’
CUSTOMERS
OTHER BUSINESSES5% less
defection =
25-125%
more profit

21. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation 21
COST TO
RETAIN
CURRENT
CUSTOMERS
COST TO ACQUIRE NEW CUSTOMERS:
5X MORE
What are the benefits of retaining
customers?

22. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Do you follow me so far?
 Content becomes pivotal to a company’s success through
supporting the overall business strategy and retaining customers
 You have to have the proper workflow to do this
 The proper workflow will allow for analysis of information,
continuous improvement and customer involvement

23. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation

24. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Measure your Success!
 A successful system will always have a way to measure success.
SMART Goals: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_criteria#Developing_SMART_goals
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-bound
 Historical data wins it for the long haul, so keep records!
Quantify and Qualify.
 Brag, Brag, Brag and when you are done brag some more.
 Measure yourself through feedback mechanisms
Example: Software Advice.

25. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
How to Measure
ROI through
Social Channels
“The Death of SEO: The Rise of
Social, PR, and Real Content”
– Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenk
rogue/2012/07/20/the-death-of-
seo-the-rise-of-social-pr-and-
real-content/
Likes
• Comments
• Shares
• Clicks
Follows
• Retweets
• Mentions
• Favorites
Views
• Comments
• Shares/Likes
• Connections
Views
• Subscribe
• Comments
• Favorites
• Promoted
Blog Views
• Comments
• Link Love
• Shares
• RSS Feed Subscriptions

26. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Example of Increased End User Experience
Through Analytics
Impact graph showing online help system deployed using WebWorks Reverb Help Format
showing a nearly 100% increase in page views over company’s Wiki documentation and
nearly 400% increase over traditional online html help system over six week period.
Reverb Help included Google Search integration and consideration for search engine
performance, including page specific parameters.

27. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
In Closing
 Today, content becomes the most pivotal process in a company’s
success
 Content can increase
profitability no matter what
strategy the company
decides on, with the proper
workflow and the mindset of
a KNOWLEDGE BROKER.
 Measure your success.

28. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Question & Answer

29. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Follow Me
Email address:
christopher@webworks.com
Twitter: @WebWorksChris
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/WebWorks
Chris
Company Facebook:
www.facebook.com/WebWorksePublis
her.
My Blog:
http://blogs.webworks.com/christopher/
Christopher Ward

30. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Appendix

31. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Posted the results and asked Why
Posted the results to Technical Writing World and here were some
comments:
 “I think that it takes time for new technical writers to understand how their day-to-day work
impacts business goals, and to make the connections necessary to be in the loop
regarding those goals. Veterans are more likely to be in management positions where they
must focus directly on budgets, politics, and the interests of the corporation as a whole. If
we flip this on its head, perhaps the data indicates that technical writers can further their
careers by focusing more on strategic goals.”
 What your results perhaps show is the more experienced tech writers are more likely to get
that, but the fact that that number is only 13% is actually pretty terrifying for the future of the
profession. If it wants to stay relevant, tech pubs has to start thinking of itself as a business
process.
http://technicalwritingworld.com/forum/topics/the-true-objective-of-a-technical-writer-does-
strategy-even

32. © 2012 – Quadralay Corporation
Reference Page:
[1] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/06/28iPhone-Premieres-This-Friday-Night-at-Apple-Retail-
Stores.html
[2] http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/04/05Apple-Sells-Over-300-000-iPads-First-Day.html
[3] http://www.pewinternet.org/Static-Pages/Trend-Data-%28Adults%29/Online-Activites-Total.aspx
[4] http://www.forbes.com/sites/markfidelman/2012/05/02/the-latest-infographics-mobile-business-statistics-
for-2012/2/
[5] http://www.checkpoint.com/downloads/products/check-point-mobile-security-survey-report.pdf
[6] http://www.webworks.com/Info/CABB/1/The_Evolution_of_Online_Help/#page/Topics/1.1_.html
[7] http://blogs.webworks.com/guest/2011/10/05/whitepaper-series-completed-let-us-know-what-you-think/
[8] -White paper "Gaining the Data Edge: How ongoing data maintenance spurs growth" August 2012
[9] www.mycorporation.com MyCorporation, MyCorporation Focuses on Encouraging Small Businesses to
Grow Businesses With Great Customer Service in 2013
[10] Michael Lowenstein, “Model modelers in predictive churn”
[11] 1000ventures.com. Data source: American Society for Quality
[12], [13] Daniel Alcorn, “Improving Customer Retention during a Slowdown”
[14] Harvard Business Review, Frederick F. Reichheld and W. Earl Sasser, Jr. “Zero Defections: Quality
Comes to Services”