I want to share with you something I’ve learned that’s absolutely crucial for anyone building technical documentation. It’s about how to get the company on board, how to get that vital “buy-in.”
You know, technical documentation, it’s this funny thing. Everyone agrees it’s necessary, right? But ironically, it often gets undervalued when it comes to actually making it happen. As technical writers, we often find ourselves needing to champion not just the quality of our work, but also the resources, the time, and the strategic importance of what we do. This isn’t just about getting a project approved; it’s about embedding documentation as a fundamental piece of how we achieve product success, how engineering becomes more efficient, and how customers truly feel satisfied.
So, I’ve put together a sort of strategic playbook. It’s designed to transform our documentation efforts from something that might be seen as just another cost into a real, undeniable value driver for the business. Let’s dive in.
The Foundation: Understanding the Landscape and Your Stakeholders
Before you even think about putting together a proposal or making your pitch, you absolutely must understand the environment your documentation lives in, and even more importantly, the people who have the power to make decisions about it. Generic requests for “good documentation” are just going to fall flat. What really works are arguments that are targeted, empathetic, and backed by data.
Deconstruct the Organizational DNA
Every company has its own unique rhythm, unspoken priorities, and level of risk tolerance. A startup, for example, might be all about speed and agility, while a large enterprise is probably focused on compliance and long-term maintainability. Your initiative has to align with these core values.
Here’s what I do:
* Study the Strategic Vision: I look at recent company announcements, listen to investor calls, or read executive memos. What are the top 3-5 priorities coming from the C-suite? Is it digital transformation? Customer retention? Market penetration? My initiative HAS to clearly support these. If the company is laser-focused on seamless customer onboarding, I make sure to highlight how better docs reduce churn.
* Analyze the Resource Allocation: Where is the money going? Is it into new product development, infrastructure, or sales support? This tells you where the organization is placing its immediate bets. If a department just got a massive budget increase, I figure out how my documentation can magnify their success.
* Identify Pain Points Beyond Documentation: Don’t just stop at “our docs are bad.” Are sales cycles too long because reps can’t explain complex features? Are support tickets overflowing with basic “how-to” questions? Are engineers spending hours constantly switching tasks to answer internal queries? These are the real problems your documentation can solve.
Let me give you an example:
* Before, I might have said: “We need a new documentation platform because DITA is industry-standard.” (That’s generic, tech-focused, and lacking any business value.)
* Now, I’d say something like: “Our current legacy documentation system is causing an estimated 15% increase in support ticket resolution time due to fragmented content and poor searchability. A modern, centralized platform will empower customers to self-serve, reducing support costs by X% and freeing up engineering time for feature development, directly supporting our Q3 goal of improving customer satisfaction scores by 10 points.” (See how that connects the system to data, business value, and a strategic goal?)
Map Your Stakeholders’ Motivations
It’s not just some monolithic “management” you’re trying to convince. It’s a complex network of individuals, each with their own metrics, their own worries, and their own goals. Your job is to speak their language.
Consider these different roles and what they care about:
* VP of Engineering/CTO: They care about how fast developers can work, reducing technical debt, efficient onboarding for new engineers, and cutting down on time spent answering repetitive internal questions. They see documentation as a tool for scalable engineering.
* VP of Product: They care about user adoption, clear feature communication, competitive edge, and getting products to market faster. They see documentation as an extension of the product experience itself.
* VP of Customer Support/Success: They care about reducing the number of tickets, faster resolution times, better customer satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS), and empowering self-service. They see documentation as their first line of defense.
* VP of Sales/Marketing: They care about generating leads, conversion rates, clear messaging for potential customers, and standing out from competitors. They see documentation as a sales enablement tool.
* Legal/Compliance: They care about mitigating risk, adhering to regulations, and having auditable records. They see documentation as a foundational piece of corporate governance.
* Finance/CFO: They care about return on investment (ROI), cutting costs, operational efficiency, and sticking to the budget. They see documentation as a line item on the balance sheet, which must have demonstrable value.
Here’s how I put this into action:
* Create a Stakeholder Matrix: I list each key individual, their main responsibility, what their likely motivation concerning my initiative might be, and any potential objections they might have.
* Schedule 1:1 Informational Interviews (Pre-Pitch): I don’t go straight for the ask. I have informal conversations to “pick their brain.” I ask about their biggest challenges, their team’s bottlenecks, and how they perceive the current state of information sharing. I listen more than I speak. These insights become the bedrock of my arguments.
* Identify Your Internal Champions: Who within the organization already sees the value of documentation? It could be a senior engineer frustrated by poor internal onboarding, or a product manager who sees direct user questions stemming from unclear docs. I enlist them. Their influence within the company is invaluable.
Example of targeted messaging:
* Instead of just saying: “We need a budget for a new doc portal.”
* I’d consider these targeted messages:
* To the VP Eng: “A centralized, searchable doc portal will cut engineering’s internal knowledge sharing burden by half, freeing up X hours/week for feature development, improving our sprint velocity.”
* To the VP Support: “This portal will empower customers to find answers independently, reducing our tier-1 support tickets by Y%, significantly cutting operational costs and improving customer satisfaction.”
* To the CFO: “By reducing support overhead and accelerating sales cycles through better enablement (as demonstrated by reduced churn and improved conversion rates), this initiative offers a projected ROI of Z% within the first 18 months.”
Building the Case: From Problem to Quantifiable Solution
Once you understand the context and the audience, you move to the core of your argument: defining the problem with precision, and presenting a solution with measurable benefits.
Define the Problem with Granularity and Evidence
Avoid vague statements like “our documentation is subpar.” Instead, present a diagnosis backed by data.
What I do to get that data:
* Gather Hard Data:
* Support Ticket Analysis: Categorize support tickets. How many are “how-to” questions? What percentage could be answered by robust documentation? Track resolution times for these tickets versus others.
* User Feedback/Analytics: If you have existing docs, what are the common search terms with no results? Where do users abandon the docs? What do user surveys say about the clarity or completeness of existing information?
* Engineering Time Tracking: How much time do engineers spend answering questions internally or externally that could be documented? Surveys to engineering teams can provide this.
* Sales Cycle Metrics: Are sales reps struggling to explain complex features? Are prospects asking for more detailed technical specifications that aren’t readily available?
* Onboarding Metrics: How long does it take a new engineer or support rep to become productive? Is there a significant knowledge transfer bottleneck?
Here’s an example of a precise problem statement:
* “Over the last six months, 30% of our tier-1 support tickets (averaging 500 tickets/month) were entirely ‘how-to’ questions, consuming approximately 200 hours of support staff time per month. Our existing documentation, stored across fragmented Confluence pages, has a 65% search failure rate for common queries, leading to frustrated customers and increased support costs.”
Propose a Solution That Directly Addresses the Problem
Your solution isn’t just “better docs.” It’s a strategic intervention.
This is how I approach solutions:
* Specificity Over Generality: Instead of “improve documentation,” I propose “implement a structured content management system to centralize all user-facing documentation, enable robust search, and facilitate single-sourcing.”
* Phased Approach: I break down large initiatives into manageable phases. This reduces perceived risk and allows for early wins that build momentum. Phase 1: Core product documentation. Phase 2: API documentation. Phase 3: Internal engineering docs.
* Leverage Technology Wisely: I never lead with technology. I lead with the problem, then explain how the technology is the enabler of the solution. “We need a DITA CCMS” is less impactful than “To achieve single-source publishing and omnichannel delivery, enabling consistent messaging across our product, support portal, and sales enablement materials, we require a robust content management system capable of structured content authoring such as DITA.”
Here’s how I might frame a solution:
* “To address the high volume of support tickets and fragmented customer information, we propose implementing a new customer-facing documentation portal powered by a modern headless CMS. This portal will feature intuitive search, structured content, and clear navigation, enabling customers to self-serve effectively. Phase 1 will focus on migrating core product how-to guides and FAQs, targeting a 15% reduction in ‘how-to’ support tickets within three months of launch.”
Articulate the Benefits in Quantifiable Terms
This is where you translate your solution into what stakeholders understand: money saved, revenue generated, efficiency gained, risk mitigated.
I make sure to:
* Monetize Everything Possible:
* Reduced Support Costs: If 100 tickets/month are deflected by documentation, and a ticket costs $15 to resolve, that’s $1500/month saved. (100 tickets * $15/ticket)
* Increased Engineering Efficiency: If documentation saves engineers 5 hours/week from answering questions, at an average burdened rate of $150/hour, that’s $750/week, or $39,000/year per engineer. Aggregate this across your team.
* Faster Time to Market: Clearer internal documentation for developers, or external documentation for integrating partners, can shorten development/integration cycles.
* Improved Sales Conversion: If better documentation helps close one additional enterprise deal per quarter (worth $X), that’s a direct revenue gain.
* Reduced Onboarding Time: Calculate the cost of an engineer or support rep being unproductive for X weeks due to poor internal documentation.
* Enhanced Customer Retention/NPS/CSAT: While harder to directly monetize, these are key performance indicators (KPIs) executives understand. Frame documentation as a critical component of customer experience.
* Use Visuals: Charts, graphs, and dashboards that show trends, projected savings, or potential ROI are far more impactful than just raw numbers.
* Tie Back to Strategic Goals: I continuously reiterate how my initiative supports the broader organizational objectives identified earlier.
Here’s an example of a quantifiable benefit statement:
* “By reducing ‘how-to’ support tickets by 15% (300 tickets/month based on current volume) and improving customer self-service, we project annual savings of \$54,000 in support operational costs. Furthermore, enabling engineers to self-serve on internal APIs through comprehensive documentation is estimated to reclaim 10 hours per engineer per month, translating to an additional \$180,000 in redirected engineering productivity annually. Combined with a projected 5-point increase in CSAT and a 2% improvement in product adoption due to clearer onboarding, this initiative represents a direct ROI within 12 months, contributing significantly to our Q4 customer retention goals.”
Crafting the Compelling Narrative: The Pitch and Beyond
Data is crucial, but humans are swayed by stories. Your pitch isn’t just a presentation of facts; it’s a narrative that paints a picture of a better future.
Structure Your Proposal/Presentation Logically
I follow a classic persuasive structure: Problem -> Solution -> Benefits -> Call to Action.
Here’s how I lay it out:
* The Hook: Start with a compelling, relatable anecdote or statistic that immediately highlights the problem. “Every week, our engineers spend X hours answering questions that should be documented…”
* The Current State (The Pain): Detail the pain points with data and examples. Show the cost of inaction.
* The Vision (The Gain): Paint a vivid picture of what success looks like. How will things be better for each stakeholder?
* The Solution (The How): Briefly outline your approach, emphasizing the key components.
* The Investment & ROI (The Cost/Benefit): Present your budget request and the projected returns. Be transparent.
* The Ask (The Call to Action): Be explicit about what you need (budget, headcount, strategic alignment).
* The Next Steps: What happens immediately after this meeting?
Example of a hook and an investment slide:
* Hook: “Imagine a new customer, frustrated, abandoning our product simply because they couldn’t find a basic ‘how-to’ guide. This isn’t just a hypothetical; it’s happening daily, directly impacting our churn rates.”
* Investment & ROI slide (would be visual, perhaps a table): Clear table showing requested budget for tools, headcount, training; juxtaposed against projected savings from support, engineering hours, and estimated revenue impact from improved retention.
Master the Art of Persuasion and Communication
This isn’t about being pushy; it’s about being compelling, confident, and prepared.
What I always make sure to do:
* Know Your Audience (Again): I tailor my language and emphasis for each meeting. A CFO wants numbers; a Product VP wants user impact.
* Anticipate Objections: I brainstorm every possible “No.” “It’s too expensive.” “We don’t have time.” “Can’t engineers just write their own docs?” I prepare concise, data-backed rebuttals for each.
* Too expensive: I reframe it as an investment with clear ROI. I show the cost of not doing it.
* No time: I highlight how this initiative saves time in the long run.
* Engineers write: I explain the specialized skill of technical writing, the inconsistency, and the burden it places on engineers, drawing a parallel to how engineers wouldn’t be asked to manage HR or accounting.
* Speak Their Language: I avoid jargon. I translate technical writing concepts into business outcomes. “Information architecture” becomes “ease of finding answers.” “Single-sourcing” becomes “consistent messaging saving redundant effort.”
* Be Enthusiastic but Realistic: My conviction is infectious. But I also acknowledge potential challenges and offer mitigation strategies.
* Seek Feedback, Don’t Just Present: During my pitch, I pause, ask questions, and invite discussion. This makes stakeholders collaborators, not just recipients of information. “What are your initial thoughts on this model?”
* Follow Up Relentlessly (but Politely): After the meeting, I send a concise summary of discussions, agreed-upon next steps, and any action items. I keep the momentum going.
Example of handling an objection:
* Objection: “We’re a small team. Can’t we just use ChatGPT to write our docs?”
* My Rebuttal: “While generative AI is a powerful tool for outlining and drafting, it requires significant human oversight for accuracy, tone, and strategic content planning – especially in a highly technical domain. Relying solely on AI without a dedicated writing team could introduce factual errors, brand misalignments, and ultimately erode customer trust, leading to an increase in support queries derived from misinformation. Our expertise lies in ensuring technical accuracy and user clarity which AI cannot fully replicate unaided.”
The “Pilot Project” Strategy: Start Small, Prove Big
Sometimes, the full vision is just too daunting for people. A pilot project offers a low-risk entry point.
This is what I do:
* Identify a High-Impact, Low-Effort Area: I choose a specific product feature, a critical customer journey, or a notorious internal knowledge gap.
* Define Clear Metrics for Success: What will be different after the pilot? (e.g., 20% reduction in support tickets for that feature, 50% faster onboarding for new engineers on that specific module).
* Showcase the Results: Once the pilot is complete, I widely disseminate the success metrics, showcasing the tangible benefits. This provides undeniable proof of concept for larger investments.
Here’s how I might propose a pilot:
* “We propose a 3-month pilot project to overhaul the documentation for our ‘Payment Gateway API’ integration. This API currently generates 40% of our enterprise integration support tickets. Our goal for the pilot is to reduce these tickets by 25% and demonstrably improve developer onboarding time by 30% through comprehensive, well-structured, example-rich documentation. We’ll present the quantifiable results at quarter-end to inform our broader documentation strategy.”
Sustaining Buy-In: The Long Game
Buy-in isn’t a one-time event; it’s an ongoing process of demonstrating value and adapting to evolving needs.
Integrate Documentation into the Product Lifecycle
I shift documentation from a post-development afterthought to an integral, parallel stream.
My actionable steps for this:
* Early Involvement: I advocate for technical writers to be involved from the ideation and design phases of new features/products. This allows for proactive content planning, identifying doc gaps early, and influencing design for better usability and clarity.
* Documentation as a Definition of Done: I push for documentation to be a mandatory component of a “definition of done” in engineering sprints. No feature is truly complete until its documentation is ready.
* Regular Review Cycles: I implement formal review processes with subject matter experts (SMEs), product managers, and support teams to ensure accuracy and relevance.
Example of integrating documentation:
* “During our next sprint planning, I propose adding a ‘Documentation Ready’ checklist item to our definition of done for the new ‘User Permissions’ feature. This ensures that the user guide, API reference, and internal support FAQs are drafted and reviewed concurrently with development, preventing a last-minute scramble and ensuring Day 1 readiness for customers.”
Continuously Measure and Report Value
The work isn’t done after you get the initial approval. You must prove the ongoing value.
Here’s how I do it:
* Build a Documentation Dashboard: I track key metrics: page views, search success rates, top search queries, bounce rates, time on page, links to support tickets, user feedback scores, or even conversions (if your docs lead to sign-ups).
* Regular Reporting to Stakeholders: I share a concise monthly or quarterly report highlighting successes, lessons learned, and how documentation is performing against its KPIs. I tailor reports to the specific interests of each stakeholder group.
* Spotlight Success Stories: I share positive customer feedback, testimonials, or internal acknowledgements of how documentation saved time or solved a problem.
Example of a report statement:
* “Our Q1 documentation report shows a 20% increase in self-service answers via search, a 10% reduction in ‘how-to’ related support tickets, and an average CSAT score of 4.7 for users who interact with the documentation portal. These results directly contribute to our support cost optimization and customer satisfaction goals for the year.”
Advocate for Resources as Value Drivers
As your impact grows, so too should your team and tools. Frame these requests not as costs, but as necessary investments to scale the proven value.
My strategies for resource advocacy:
* Link Resources to Projected ROI: When asking for more headcount or a new tool, I tie it directly to scaling the benefits I’ve already demonstrated. “Adding another writer will enable us to fully document our internal APIs, saving an additional X engineering hours annually, which is impossible with our current staffing.”
* Share the Burden of Success: If documentation is critical for product launch, then the resources required to create that documentation should be seen as an essential part of the launch budget, not an afterthought.
* Educate Upwards: I continuously educate leadership on the strategic role of documentation, positioning it alongside product and engineering as a core contributor to business success.
Here’s how I might present a resource request:
* “Given the success of our initial documentation initiatives, we’re now at a critical juncture where scaling our efforts will unlock even greater value. To maintain our positive trajectory in reducing support burden and accelerating developer onboarding, and to expand our efforts to crucial areas like API documentation, we require an additional technical writer. This investment is projected to yield an additional \$X in operational savings and improved engineering velocity over the next 12 months, based on our current performance metrics.”
Getting buy-in for technical documentation initiatives is not simply asking for permission; it’s a strategic exercise in demonstrating indispensable value. It requires a deep understanding of your organization, meticulous data collection, a masterful ability to translate technical work into business outcomes, and unwavering commitment to proving your impact. By adopting these principles, technical writers can transform their function from a perceived overhead into an undeniable, strategic asset, charting a course for continuous improvement and recognition within their organizations.