This guest blog post was written by Mohd Sohel Ather, a senior primary software engineer. He focuses on actionable and unique ideas that can be used to grow your business and make a real difference for your customers.
Irrespective of your business, the result you want to attain is to generate good revenue, and it is possible only when the customer is happy. The best way to ensure customer satisfaction is to give them a great product along with a service that will empower them with a thorough understanding and support about that particular product. Even when you have aced the product side for your business, the knowledge of the product is an essential skill for the sales team and the technical writers promoting the products. It should include the features of the products, their unique selling proposition (USP) of it, and the best practices to warrant that you are in the position to deliver an exceptional customer experience. But how do you help your customer support team to have this knowledge and that too at a neck-break speed when the competition is so stiff? The answer is giving them product knowledge training with the help of the technical materials written by ace technical writers.
In this article, we will examine why deep product knowledge is essential in technical documentation and the different aspects of product knowledge.
What Is Product Knowledge?
While product knowledge is often related to sales training, in this article, we will discuss product knowledge from the technical writing aspect when creating content for a technical product. The written content educates the consumer or the workforce about the services, products, and goods. The knowledge is written about each product or service or suite of services/products and how each can benefit the consumer. When writing about product knowledge, it should also include some frequently asked questions (FAQs), the answers on how to troubleshoot some common issues, and at times in-depth steps in rectifying common errors.
A product knowledge write-up allows the market and the consumers to see the critical selling points of the products/services and how it adds to the brand and helps establish the brand's tone and overall story. An experienced writer will be able to create this roadmap and emphasize the critical elements in the content that will allure the consumers to the product.
Why Is Product Knowledge Important In Technical Writing?
In this world, knowledge is power, and product knowledge is often seen as crucial to increasing sales and attracting prospective customers. So, when a company hires a writer to create their content, they must have the product knowledge and incorporate it into their technical writing. The product knowledge in technical writing elevates the content (which we will discuss in the later section) and benefits the company. Some of the ways that the understanding of the company's product or service helps the business are:
1. Enhances Confidence
When you have a technical writer who not only possesses product knowledge but is also capable of translating that knowledge to the customer, it boosts the confidence of the buyers interested in that product. Also, when comprehensive writing is given to the sales team, they better understand the product and how to approach the marketing that will make selling that product successful. Promoting products and services becomes easier with well-written technical content.
2. Effective Communication
One of the critical elements in retaining a customer is establishing effective communication. Content devoid of jargon seamlessly explains the products/services in the easiest way to start communicating with the customers. On the other hand, well-written content will be easier for any salesperson to understand, which they can use to encourage the customers to make the purchase.
3. Improves Customer Onboarding
For any organization, customer onboarding is crucial and helps cut the time for new customers in the time-to-value. It means the new customers can soon find the 'aha' moment with their purchase. When well-documented content is given to the customer along with their purchase or before their purchase, they can easily understand how the product works and how it meets the customer's needs. Technical content can bring down the technological barrier between the company and the customer, thus making the product/service understandable and accessible to the general public.
4. Drives Innovative Ideas
While technical writing with an in-depth understanding of the product helps gain and satisfy the customer, it also significantly affects internal employees. The individual understanding of products by the employees can be weaved in together to showcase the impact of how different products put together can be beneficial for the customer and the company. The knowledge can eventually help improve the products and services, thus giving the business an edge over its competitors.
Different Aspects Of Product Knowledge
When you are hiring a technical writer, they must have a basic understanding of product knowledge. Given that most consumers buy products that align with their values, the technical writer must know the business ethos and product information well. Hence, a technical writer must have six key areas of their product knowledge:
- Target Audience of the business
- The mission of the product
- The core features and the benefits of the products
- How the product is to be used to get the optimum benefits
- What are the pain points of using the products, and how to troubleshoot them
- Some key questions to offer the best support to the customer
How Product Knowledge Elevates Technical Writing?
Good product knowledge in technical writing helps streamline the content by offering precise and unmistakable instructions. It enables the reader to get the idea that the employees are the experts in the products and they are the best people to offer guidance. Since most readers are not aware of the technical jargon, the knowledge of the product allows the writer to convey the instructional features into a document that is easy to comprehend by everyone.
As a result, the overall productivity of the sales improves, which in turn increases the business's revenue by wooing in more customers. A technical writer can simplify the procedure and the regulations associated with the products. It becomes immensely beneficial when items are frequently changed. This eventually boosts the overall productivity when there is an easy-to-follow guideline document for the team.
Last but not least, the product knowledge amassed by a company's technical writer, in the long run, helps reduce the business's running cost. They can produce lucidly written business documents of procedures, rules, and policies which can be easily adhered to by the team. It eventually eliminated the mistakes that can happen during production or conveying a message to the consumers.
Final Words
Since we have tried to establish the benefits that a technical writer would have with product knowledge, we are sure you will find the best technical content writer for your business. Contact us if you are looking for someone who can help your business with technical writing and understand your products.
