Customers expect instant answers and seamless experiences. When they hit a snag, a quick resolution is essential. For businesses, this can mean a constant influx of support tickets – and pressure to resolve them quickly. A high volume of support tickets strains resources, increases costs, and can negatively impact customer satisfaction.
Help authoring tools (HATs) empower technical writers to create documentation and deliver high-quality technical content that allows users to find solutions independently. Think of them as your secret weapon in the fight against overflowing inboxes and frustrated customers. By streamlining the content creation process and making it easier to deliver exceptional self-service resources in multiple formats, HATs can significantly reduce the number of support tickets your organization has to handle. In this blog post, we'll explore exactly how these tools achieve this and how you can leverage them to create a knowledge base that truly serves your users.
What Are Help Authoring Tools?
Help authoring tools (HATs) are specialized software applications designed to streamline the entire documentation process, making it easier to create documents in multiple output formats. This could include anything from traditional user manuals and online help systems to more modern formats like knowledge bases, support websites, in-app guides, and even interactive tutorials.
Think of HATs as a powerful command center for technical writers, offering a centralized hub for all your documentation needs. Instead of juggling disparate tools and processes, like relying solely on Microsoft Word, HATs bring everything together in one place, making it easier to produce high-quality materials that truly help users. This not only streamlines workflows but also ensures consistency and accuracy across all your technical content outputs.
Common Features of Help Authoring Tools
- Topic-based authoring: Create content once and reuse it across multiple platforms and formats (e.g., online help, PDFs, knowledge bases). This ensures consistency and saves you valuable time.
- Content reuse: Easily manage and update content with features like version control and collaborative editing.
- Component Content management system (CCMS): HATs often include robust CCMS functionality, allowing you to organize, categorize, and manage your content effectively.
- Streamlined content creation process: HATs simplify the content creation process with features like templates, style guides, and automated formatting.
- User interface (UI): Most HATs offer an intuitive user interface that is easy to learn and use, even for those unfamiliar with help authoring tools.
- Powerful formatting: Create visually appealing and easy-to-navigate documentation with built-in templates and formatting tools.
- Multi-channel publishing: Publish your content across various platforms, including web, mobile, and print, with ease.
How Support Tickets Impact Businesses
Every support ticket represents a customer who couldn't find the information they needed. While some support requests are inevitable, a high volume of tickets often points to deeper issues with your documentation and knowledge base. For example, users might be flooding your support channels because essential information is missing altogether. Or perhaps the information exists, but it's buried in a labyrinth of confusing menus and outdated articles. Even worse, inaccurate or outdated information can mislead users, creating new problems and generating even more support requests.
This isn't just about frustrated customers. Managing a high volume of support tickets can be a significant drain on your resources. Think about the costs associated with staffing a support team, investing in support infrastructure, and dealing with lost productivity as your team spends valuable time answering basic questions. Not to mention, poor customer support can damage your reputation and lead to negative reviews. Ultimately, reducing support tickets is about more than just saving money; it's about creating a better customer experience and freeing up your team to focus on higher-value tasks.
The Role of HATs in Reducing Support Tickets
Help authoring tools play a crucial role in reducing support tickets by empowering users to find answers independently and efficiently. Here's how:
Centralized Content Management
HATs act as a single source of truth for all your documentation. This means you can ensure consistency across different platforms and formats, making it easier for users to find what they need. With built-in version control and streamlined workflows, updating your content is a breeze, ensuring accuracy and minimizing confusion.
Improved User Experience
Forget clunky PDFs and endless scrolling. HATs help you create searchable, well-organized help centers that are easy to navigate. With support for multimedia content like videos and images, you can create engaging resources that cater to different learning styles.
Personalized Content Delivery
Not all users are created equal. HATs allow you to segment your audience and deliver targeted help resources based on their needs and preferences. This could include anything from localized language support to customized content based on user roles or subscription levels.
Self-Serve Knowledge Bases
By empowering users to solve problems on their own, you can significantly reduce the burden on your support team. A well-structured knowledge base, powered by a robust HAT, minimizes repetitive inquiries and allows your support staff to focus on more complex issues.
Challenges and Best Practices
While help authoring tools (HATs) offer significant potential in reducing support tickets, some challenges may arise during their adoption and implementation. Let's explore these challenges and best practices to overcome them:
Potential Challenges
- Cost: Implementing a HAT involves upfront costs for licensing, training, and potential customization.
- Learning Curve: Technical writers may need time to adapt to new software and workflows.
- Integration: Integrating a HAT with existing systems and content repositories might require technical expertise and effort.
Best Practices for Technical Writers
To maximize the effectiveness of HATs in reducing support tickets, technical writers can adopt the following practices:
- Regular Updates: Keep your documentation current and accurate. Regularly review and update content to reflect product changes, new features, and user feedback.
- User Feedback: Actively seek and incorporate user feedback. Conduct surveys, usability testing, and feedback sessions to understand user needs and pain points.
- Collaboration with Support Teams: Establish a strong collaboration with support teams. Regularly analyze support tickets to identify recurring issues and knowledge gaps. Use this information to improve documentation and address common user challenges proactively.
Measuring the Impact: Proving the Value of HATs
Investing in help authoring tools is a smart move, but how do you demonstrate their tangible impact on support ticket reduction? Here's how to measure the effectiveness of your HAT implementation:
1. Time Saved in Content Creation:
- Track Content Development Time: Before using a HAT, track the time spent on creating and updating documentation. After implementing a HAT, compare the time spent on similar tasks. This will reveal efficiency gains achieved through features like single-sourcing, content reuse, and automated publishing.
- Measure Content Output: Monitor the volume of content produced after implementing a HAT. Are you able to create more documentation in the same amount of time? This indicates increased productivity and potentially more comprehensive resources for users.
2. Improved Content Quality and Findability:
- Reduced Content Errors: Track the number of support tickets related to errors or inconsistencies in documentation. With features like version control and centralized content management, HATs can help minimize errors, leading to fewer support requests.
- Improved Search Functionality: If your HAT includes enhanced search capabilities, monitor search success rates within your documentation. A higher percentage of successful searches indicates users are finding the information they need more easily, reducing the need for support.
3. Enhanced Content Maintenance and Updates:
- Faster Content Updates: Track the time it takes to update documentation after implementing a HAT. Features like single-sourcing and automated workflows can significantly reduce the time required for content revisions.
- Frequency of Updates: Monitor how often documentation is updated after implementing a HAT. With streamlined processes, it's easier to keep content current, leading to more accurate information and fewer support requests due to outdated content.
4. Impact on Support Team Efficiency:
- Reduced Time per Ticket: Track the average time support agents spend resolving tickets. With improved documentation, users may come to support better informed, leading to quicker resolution times.
- Shift in Ticket Complexity: Monitor the types of support tickets received. Are agents handling fewer basic inquiries and more complex issues? This could indicate that users are successfully self-serving for simpler problems thanks to effective documentation.
Heretto: Your Partner in Ticket Deflection
Heretto is more than just a help authoring tool; it's a comprehensive platform that streamlines your entire content operation, making it easier to create excellent technical documentation that actually helps users. This means fewer support tickets and happier customers.
With Heretto, your content is always up-to-date and easy to find, so users can quickly get the answers they need without contacting support. Heretto also makes it simple for your team to create, manage, and update content, ensuring accuracy and consistency across all your documentation.
Because Heretto integrates seamlessly with your knowledge base and provides insights into user needs, you can proactively address common issues and fill content gaps. This leads to a better user experience and a significant reduction in support requests.
The Future of Technical Writing: HATs for User Success
Help authoring tools (HATs) empower technical writers to create effective, user-friendly content that directly contributes to a reduction in support tickets. By streamlining content creation, facilitating collaboration, and enabling consistent updates, HATs play a pivotal role in enhancing the user experience.
Remember, there's a direct correlation between high-quality documentation and a decrease in support requests. When users can easily find answers to their questions and effectively utilize products through comprehensive documentation, they are less likely to need assistance from support teams. This translates to increased user satisfaction, improved product adoption, and reduced support costs.
Heretto is a powerful HAT that can help you achieve these results. With its comprehensive features and user-friendly interface, Heretto makes it easy to create, manage, and deliver exceptional documentation that empowers your users.
Ready to experience the impact of Heretto firsthand? Request a demo today and discover how it can transform your documentation workflow and reduce support tickets.
