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Subject:Customers who read manuals from cover to cover From:Warren_Singer -at- vocaltec -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 6 Sep 2001 11:55:13 +0200
Believe it or not, there actually are customers out there who read manuals
from cover to cover, word for word.
The tendency in our company was to undermine the value of documentation,
by claiming that "nobody ever reads them anyway." All this changed when a
high-level delegation, led by our CEO went to visit an important customer
in Japan, and found out that they have a team of engineers, who sit with
marking pens and go through every word in the manuals, underlining parts
they don't understand or which aren't clear. If they find a single mistake
or inaccuracy in the documentation, then this apparently undermines their
entire faith in the manuals and the value of the product.
In the telecommunications industry in which we sell our products, such
attention to detail and accuracy is probably the norm. So not only are
there customers who read the manuals carefully, but any inaccuracies or
inconsistencies might suggest to them that our products are unreliable and
make our company loose out on any future deals. In today's tough
environment, particularly in the telecommunications sector, no company can
afford to generate a negative perception in the mind of the customer,
because of unreliable or poor quality documents.
A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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+++ Seybold SFO, Sept. 25-27, in the Adobe Partners Pavilion +++
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