Does your business struggle to translate the technical details from your engineering team into helpful customer service messaging? If so, you're not alone.
When delivery issues or supply chain problems arise, account management and customer service teams must share the news with clients.
Equally, as new equipment comes online or R&D teams deliver new innovation, client-facing teams are tasked with informing existing customers.
Not delivering the right technical messages in the right way at the right time can lead to client confusion.
Not communicating the commercial implications of engineering changes for customers can also cost your company.
Source: SIS International Research
Contract manufacturers must be careful how technical information is shared with customers and by whom.
After all, engineering teams excel at technical detail. But they're not always great at diplomacy or grasping the bigger commercial picture. On the other hand, customer service and marketing teams excel at communication but don't always have the skills to interpret highly technical information.
This disconnect between engineering and customer-facing teams is sometimes called the 'technical translation gap'. It can create serious problems for a business attempting to manage customer expectations as it delivers and upsells services.
Finding ways to keep technical information accurate and understandable for different stakeholders in a client's business can be challenging.
Contract manufacturers must explain service challenges and communicate new opportunities in different ways to a range of client business functions, from the C-suite to logistics and operations teams.
But getting customer service right is becoming increasingly important in the manufacturing world as companies realise how it can affect retention, revenue and sales growth:
Source: Revolutionising Customer Service in Manufacturing, Salesforce
In our everyday lives, we've all become used to super-fast, ultra-personalised customer service. Just think about how logistics companies alert us to a package's delivery status in real time or how Amazon anticipates and supports our every query or requirement. We expect these standards to be applied to our business lives, too.
It is vital to ensure our teams can operate as one seamless entity to serve our customers through AI-powered automation and crystal-clear messaging.
Here's how you can deliver this in your business:
Implement regular cross-functional meetings, joint training sessions, and collaborative projects to bridge the customer service gap between technical and customer-facing teams. Help team members gain exposure to different aspects of the business and appreciate the needs of various business roles.
Together, these teams should agree and map out the different customer journeys that clients take:
Controlling the flow of information to customers through templated emails and self-serve tools (developed in collaboration with account management, marketing and technical specialists) can help ensure standardised messaging to manage client expectations and experiences.
Example: A CRM system can automatically send clients notifications when their custom order enters each production stage, informing them of progress without manual intervention.
Example: A chatbot could guide clients through uploading CAD files for a new project, providing step-by-step assistance and confirming successful submissions.
Example: Analytics could identify a recurring component order pattern, prompting pre-emptive restocking recommendations for clients.
HubSpot's Knowledge Base feature is a powerful tool for managing and distributing technical documentation:
This allows OEM clients to access technical documentation easily through self-service, reducing the need for direct support and freeing up your team's time for more complex issues.
The HubSpot Customer Portal feature enhances transparency and accessibility:
This gives OEM clients a centralised location to access all relevant technical documentation and support resources.
HubSpot's reporting tools provide insights into how OEM clients interact with your technical documentation:
These insights help refine and improve your technical documentation and distribution processes.
Instead of creating separate, tailored technical documents for each job role from scratch, your team can work with AI to help build and distribute materials to the right audience in the most efficient way:
In tandem with engineering and commercial teams, create a template for each service offering:
Using AI tools, you can transform this detail into product information designed for different stakeholders:
Let's say you're introducing a new advanced welding capability. Here's how the same information could be presented to different audiences:
With different kinds of technical documentation stored for distribution via your knowledge base and service workflows - you can be sure the right people are constantly being served the most relevant content.
To read more about how extraordinary account experiences can change the nature of your client relationships - read our blog: Account Based Experience: Giving your ABM strategy the 'X Factor'
Contract manufacturers can bridge the technical translation gap by aligning teams, automating processes, and tailoring communication. This improves customer experiences and can drive retention, revenue growth, and long-term success.