5 Signs Your Documentation Is Costing You Customers (And How to Fix It)

kimgullion
May 15
3 min read

Technical Writing Red Flags and how to fix them using Writer Resource as a staffing agency

You’ve got a great product. Your service is stellar. Your people are top-notch. But... your documentation? If it’s clunky, confusing, or MIA (I've even seen it written on post-it notes), it could be quietly chasing customers away before you even get the chance to wow them.

In today’s world, documentation isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s part of your brand, customer experience, and your bottom line.

Let’s talk about the 5 Red Flags that your documentation might be working against you—and how to fix it.

🚩 Sign #1: Support Tickets Are Piling Up

If your help desk is flooded with “How do I…?” or “Where do I find…?” questions, it might not be your product that’s the problem—it could be your instructions.

Problem:

Confusing, incomplete, or overly technical documentation creates frustrated users, extra support costs, and unhappy customers.

Fix it:

Conduct a quick audit of your FAQs, user guides, and SOPs. Where are people getting stuck? That’s where you start to create clear, plain-language, user-friendly updates.

🚩 Sign #2: Customers Ghost You After Onboarding

You did the hard work to win the customer—but your onboarding materials were so confusing they quietly drifted away, never to be heard from again.

Problem:

First impressions count, and onboarding guides are often the first experience your customer has post-sale.

Fix it:

Give your onboarding guides and quick-start docs a makeover. Use visuals, easy steps, and checklists that make customers feel like pros, not dummies.

🚩 Sign #3: Your Sales Team is Answering the Same Questions Over and Over

When your sales and account teams spend valuable time explaining processes or filling in gaps your documentation should cover, it’s a sign your materials are missing the mark.

Problem:

Not only does this slow down the sales cycle, but it frustrates prospects and makes your company look disorganized.

Fix it:

Partner with a technical writer (hi, that’s us!) to tighten up your sales support docs, proposals, and customer-facing materials.

🚩 Sign #4: Your Product Gets Bad Reviews… for Things That Aren’t Even the Product

Ever seen a one-star review that reads something like:“Couldn’t figure it out. No instructions. Terrible experience.” Yikes...

Problem:

Sometimes the problem isn’t the product—it’s that the customer never had a fighting chance to use it properly.

Fix it:

Add bite-sized how-to guides, explainer videos, or interactive tutorials to your customer journey. Bonus: Customers love it when you make it easy for them.

🚩 Sign #5: Your Employees Are as Confused as Your Customers

If your internal teams are relying on knowledge that is in your SME's heads, Slack messages, or guessing games to get things done, chances are your external docs aren’t faring any better.

Problem:

Inconsistent or outdated documentation hurts customer experience on all fronts.

Fix it:

Clean house. Refresh your internal and customer-facing docs with clear workflows, updated processes, and easy-to-navigate resources.

Don’t Let Bad Documentation Be the Silent Customer Killer

We get it. Documentation projects often fall to the bottom of the to-do list—until they become a problem. That’s where Writer Resource comes in.

Writer Resource offers flexible, on-demand technical writing, user guide development, SOP updates, and more. Our experienced writers help you patch the gaps, polish the rough spots, and deliver documentation that makes customers stick around.