How can you know what your customers really want? By starting a conversation and talking with them, of course! Sadly, and much to my disappointment (since I love to talk), documentation has been a one-sided conversation for far too long.

The process has generally been R&D>Product Management/Marketing>Technical Writing>Customer. Occasionally, technical writing departments would send out customer surveys on the documentation - and even give prizes if people answered - but you and I both know that completing a survey does not count as a conversation.

Product users hated documentation, and a bad name for technical writing ensued.

But today we have the tools and opportunity to change all of that. All that is needed is an open mind, a willingness to think outside of the box and the ability to learn and adapt some new paradigms and tools.

Google Analytics, ClickTale and web based content delivery platforms let you can see in real time which pages customers are accessing. Integrating a forum like Disqus into a help system facilitates a conversation with your users and allows them to connect with one another. You can also get valuable feedback on information – is it right? Was it helpful? Did they understand it? With web based knowledge base platforms, users can connect to video, blog, documentation and application notes. They can find and organize everything they need and capture or publish the parts they want to ePub or PDF, download onto their iPad or keep it stored for future use.

The days of pushing information towards the end user are over. Every user today is smart, connected, mobile and savvy. It is time that documentation deliveries and outputs followed suit.

Just because it is has always been done that way, or that is the only way your team knows how to do it, does not mean it should stay that way. Working smart does not have to mean it costs more. It usually means things cost less, but the ROI for your documentation investment should be a lot more. Your documentation should increase product value and your customer offering. Your documentation should be part of your marketing and sales program. Your documentation should fit into the vision of product development and product positioning. Your documentation is a critical part of the customer conversation, so make sure you are talking and have great things to contribute.

Your product sales team will thank you. Your marketing department will thank you. Best of all, they may even stop writing cartoons about technical writers. Technical writing can actually be the new customer acquisition gold.