Decision Maker’s Guide to Customer Support and Documentation Edition

December 21st, 2010 | | Enterprise 2.0

Since I am in the business of Customer Support Communities and Social Documentation I am frequently asked to differentiate between Enterprise solution providers. While each of the companies below have superior offerings to how most companies do SocialCRM (customer support) today, there are differences that are important.

The Social Business Players

  • MindTouch is an enterprise social and collaboration platform with a focus on Social Documentation and Support Communities.
  • Atlassian Confluence is a popular wiki commonly used by software development teams that is also used for documentation by software developer workgroups.
  • Jive Software is a general purpose social business platform with many use cases. One of which is customer support communities.
  • RightNow has a customer support suite that they’ve added some social capabilities to.

Each of the solutions listed in the matrix below are high quality, enterprise ready product. But each serves a different purpose or is a general platform trying to solve multiple enterprise issues. For purposes of our matrix, our focus is on customer support documentation communities.
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The Strategic Technical Communicator: An Open Letter to the CEO

November 23rd, 2010 | | Uncategorized

You said you wanted to increase revenue and decrease costs, but you’re ignoring a key area.

Dear CEO: image

I am here to help.  I represent the customer’s best interest when using our products and services.  I am her voice.

When the company hired me as a Technical Communicator I was under the impression that my representation of the customer mattered.  That I would be given the authority along with the responsibility to act in the customer’s best interest.

That I would be able to communicate how our products solve real problems.  That I’d be given the right tools to ensure our customers receive quick and relevant answers.  That I’d be given a seat at the table prior to the product shipping. Read more…

It’s Not Your Product, Your Documentation Just Sucks

November 17th, 2010 | | content strategy, Enterprise 2.0

imageDo we really have to wade through your 400 page text-based manual you’ve posted online in order to find out why an error keeps us from using your software?  Worse, when we finally find the answer it’s incomplete.  So what do we do? A Google search and find the answer elsewhere.

Really? Aren’t we done with just dumping paper based manuals online? No one reads that way on the web.  Do you realize how much time you’re taking away from us?  We cringe when we land on a site that’s stuffed with PDF’s and lacks a search function.

image

And maybe that’s why your product isn’t selling as well as it should. Read more…

Are Content Strategists the Next Corporate Rock Stars?

October 4th, 2010 | | Awards and Press, Conferences, content strategy

Content Strategy is an emerging field with immense possibilities for business. Similar to its Marketing cousin, content strategy seeks to position the right content with the right user experience at the right time for its intended audience. The difference however, is that content strategy is less about advertising and more about revealing your product’s story. It’s also about engagement and collaboration with potential buyers of your product.

Recently, I presented the following deck at LavaCon 2010 to illustrate the similarities between the successful career of the Rolling Stones and to future Content Strategists. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from following the Stones career.

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And That’s a Wrap: LavaCon 2010

October 2nd, 2010 | | Conferences, content strategy, Enterprise 2.0, Most Influential

Thanks to Jack Molisani and the entire LavaCon team for an amazing conference this year. A quick scan of the #lavacon hashtag will give you an idea of how well the conference was received.

If you weren’t able to attend, you missed some great presentations by the leading content strategists and marketers in the industry today. You also missed MindTouch naming the 25 Most Influential Content Strategists, an impartial ranking and recognition of the people who are leading the way in content strategy.

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The Evolution of Documentation with MindTouch TCS: An interview with Steve Bjorg

August 26th, 2010 | | Uncategorized

Last week, I had a chance to interview our very own, MindTouch CTO  and co-founder Steve Bjorg, about the importance of MindTouch Technical Communications Suite.  I sat down with Steve for a Q&A session on MindTouch TCS, so that you can have his view into the importance and power of the product.

Mark Fidelman: What is MindTouch TCS and why is it so remarkable?

Steve Bjorg: MindTouch TCS is the culmination of  the most exhaustive research in the company’s history, which included several rounds of market feedback and focus groups.  We studied our current and prospective customers and asked them what they needed in a solution to be more successful.  We discovered that there is a major issue around authoring and publishing content for the web.  They desperately need a more robust and focused solution for documentation and Customer Support.  They also sorely lacked analytics and curation tools to help them create better content for their customers.

In fact, we found there needed to be a serious re-thinking of the way companies are using documentation.  I believe we achieved that with MindTouch TCS.

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London Calling, Technical Communicators

August 24th, 2010 | | Uncategorized

In just a little under 3 weeks – September 9th, to be exact  - MindTouch will be hosting our European Launch Event in London to formally bring MindTouch Technical Communications Suite across the pond.  MindTouch TCS, the Killer App for strategic content, has already been met with considerable market enthusiasm throughout North America and we’re excited to launch our newest offering to our European customers and partners.

Register Here for the Event

Already, we’re expecting a full house at the event, where we’ll be presenting the “Future of Strategic Content”.  This is a must-attend event for anyone interested in learning how documentation can become a key strategic driver for increased revenue, decreased support costs and more effective community and brand building.  In addition to our presentation, we’ll also be showcasing how the most innovative companies author, publish and curate their online documentation.

This all leads to the centerpiece of the day’s discussions – how MindTouch TCS enables our customers and partners to deliver the industry’s first “social documentation” solution to their users and communities.    Like I said, this is a must-attend event for anyone responsible for their company’s content strategy.

As an added bonus, we are pleased to announce that Ellis Pratt, from Cherryleaf will be one of our featured speakers.  As you might recall, Ellis was recently named one of the – #5 to be exact – Most Influential Technical Communicators by MindTouch.  Ellis will be presenting the “Seven Key Challenges Technical Publications Departments Face Today”.

I hope to see you there!

Register Here for the Event

Interview with Tristan Bishop

August 12th, 2010 | | content strategy, Most Influential

Earlier this week, I had a chance to interview Symantec’s Tristan Bishop (@KnowledgeBishop) about the future of the Technical Communication profession. For the past 15 years, Bishop (linkedin.com/in/tristanbishop) has been driving teams toward “efficient delivery of effective content”. His current role, unifying content strategy at the world’s leading security company, provides him with a unique vantage point on the rapidly evolving documentation landscape.

Note: Bishop agreed to this interview as a personal discussion, and emphasized that his opinions are his own, and not those of his employer.

Fidelman: Thank you for taking the time to talk with me. From reviewing your blog, I understand that you predict that technical communications will become profoundly more strategic and social in the next few years. I want to start by asking, which of your career experiences have contributed to your predictions about the profession’s future?

Bishop: I’ve been involved in Knowledge Management since the mid-1990s. Over the past decade, I’ve been privileged to help a number of brands migrate legacy enterprise documentation into topic-based XML, in order to facilitate nimble delivery. These past few years, I’ve been working on integrating Information Developer topics with Technical Support delivery channels, to increase customer Self-Service.

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Why Documentation Matters, Now More Than Ever

August 5th, 2010 | | Uncategorized

Recently I had a conversation with Keith Shaw of NetworkWorld as part of the Network World Panorama series, a NWW series of podcasts with industry experts and analysts that give you a high-level view of the technology landscape. Keith titled our podcast: “Why Documentation Still Matters”, but I would argue the title should read: “Why Documentation Matters, Now More Than Ever”. It’s short, to the point and has a lot of information. I hope you’ll give it a listen. Click here to listen to the podcast.

The 10 Step Strategic Framework for Social Content

August 3rd, 2010 | | Uncategorized

After conducting a very detailed study of the most influential technical documentation sites of 2010 we set out to determine what made them the best. As part of this research, we also reached out to MindTouch customers and partners to learn about their future needs for this increasingly requested use case. What we learned was eye opening, so much so that we’ve developed a presentation for you that encapsulates our learnings.

What you’ll find in the presentation linked to below is a comprehensive framework that can be implemented to make your content – the documentation, tutorials, knowledgebase articles and videos your customers rely on – truly strategic. This framework can and should be adopted by CMO’s for increased qualified lead gen and brand building, Technical Communicators for accelerated customer education and satisfaction and Content Strategists for more efficient content planning and governance.

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