WORKING WITH DATA CONVERSION LABORATORY:

The Technical Documents Perspective...
Don Bridges rejects 'canned' presentations in favor of getting to the roots of a client's tech doc conversion needs...

FOR DON BRIDGES (pictured), account manager for technical documents at Data Conversion Laboratory, life can be hectic. A specialist in aviation, he likes to meet prospective clients face-to-face and so his job demands a fair degree of travel. Whether a company is based in up-state New York, Southern California, or anywhere in between, Don flies out to run them through the various types of document conversion services offered by DCL. But he doesn't rely on the usual laptop presentation routine, still in vogue with the majority of companies today.

"I generally dislike 'canned' presentations," he says. "The reason being, I can walk in to a meeting with a good idea of what they want. But oftentimes what I think they want and what they actually want turns out to be different. By not restricting myself with a rigid presentation, I'm better able to understand what a client's requirements are, as well as giving the prospect a more accurate picture of how DCL can meet those needs."

By doing this, the customer's time is not wasted talking about things that aren't relevant to them.

Once an interested customer has decided that DCL would be the right conversion option for them, they are asked to supply the following:

Sample incoming material (documents to be converted)
Hard copies of incoming material, to see how they look printed
DTD (Document Type Definition), or template, that the converted material will be put into

Data Analysis
These materials are sent to DCL's New York offices for analysis by the Engineering Group. Once this is completed, the client is given a proposal detailing how DCL will go about converting their materials, be they technical documents, operation or assembly manuals, or parts catalogs.

A good deal of care and attention is spent creating a proposal that meets the prospect's technical and business requirements.

"One thing I don't like to do is deliver a DOA (Dead-On-Arrival) proposal," says Don. "The way I see it is, if I deliver a proposal that doesn't meet a client's needs, I haven't done my homework."

Up to this point, the client has invested time, but not money. So if they decide not to go ahead with DCL, the investment has been minimal.

Customer Satisfaction
If they decide to go ahead, a "purchasing vehicle" is put in place. Some companies prefer this to take the form of a Purchase Order, others a Statement of Work, or contract. The process then moves into the "Project Engineering Stage" (covered in next month's DCLnews), which is the beginning of production.

Don steps out a little at this stage. "My job turns into a customer satisfaction role," explains Don. "I regularly follow-up with a client to ensure everything is going okay and that the client's requirements are being met. If they aren't, I let management know and we sort things out - the No.1 issue being customer satisfaction. But the truth is, we have a very good record when it comes to that."

DCLnews Editorial

Look out for next month's DCLnews when we cover the Project Engineering Stage of technical document conversion.

And if your company needs tech docs or manuals converted to XML, SGML, or other format, why not call Don on 505-275-2223 or e-mail him at dbridges@dclab.com? It won't cost you anything, but you'll learn a lot about the ins and outs of document conversion and how it relates to the individual needs of your company. Plus, if you end up inviting Don out to your company, you can guarantee he won't be giving you a "canned" sales presentation! He'll get to the root of your needs - without the deadwood!

Read more tech doc related articles at DCL Library

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