A photograph can show what the earth looks like, but what if you need to reveal its core? Or want to demonstrate how an internal surgical device threads through an artery? Or clarify how an electrostatic field emanates above, below and through a dielectric substrate?

In situations like these, photographic images have their limitations. But that doesn’t mean you can’t give a clear picture of what needs to be understood.

Draw attention to details and save millions of dollars

Whirlpool Corporation once used professional studio photography to illustrate how to properly install its appliances. These were no glamour kitchen and laundry room images. They required close-up photos of specific wiring connections, lighting narrow crevices of the product and trying to distinguish one gray part from another.

Several of these images were extremely important. As the cautions and warnings said, improper procedure could seriously injure or kill you.

An evaluation of Whirlpool call center logs showed that customers and installers were asking the same installation questions over and over. So PBI recommended replacing the photographs with large overview line drawings to orient installers and detail drawings to clarify small steps. The “language” of the drawings was universally understood in every country in which Whirlpool marketed its products.

Initial redesign of the instructions saved Whirlpool Corporation over $1 million in customer-instruct costs the first year and cut the per-part cost of millions of instructions by 25 cents each.

Whirlpool switched from using photographs to line art over a decade ago. While they have continuously improved their instructions, one thing has not changed even with recent advances in photographic technology. Line drawings remain the clearest way to communicate worldwide the proper way to install Whirlpool appliances.  

Know when to go back to the drawing board

Drawings have been used to communicate ideas since the days of cave dwellers, but that does not mean they are antiquated.

Today, technical illustrations:

• Let you see at a glance all the planets in our solar system, the geologic layers of the earth, the topography of the ocean floor, cutaways of the world’s tallest buildings or the structure of an atom.
• Distinguish the exterior or internal workings of a monochromatic product, using ink colors or shading to differentiate parts.
• Trace pathways of surgical equipment or drug delivery in the human body or within cells.
• Create step-by-step visual reference for assembling, packaging, installing, operating, maintaining or repairing products, equipment or procedures.
• Emphasize or minimize specific sections or systems in manufacturing facilities.
• Obscure proprietary information.
• Pinpoint very small parts hidden behind larger components.
• Diagram new technologies when no physical prototype exists.
• Demonstrate energy flow, mechanical movement, interaction and other engineering processes.
• Combine two or three steps that may not occur simultaneously or may occur instantly thousands of miles apart.

All the above are too expensive, if not impossible, to communicate with film or video.

Prevent lost sales

In almost every company storage room, consumer garage, basement or attic there are under-used and unused products collecting dust. The reason: reading the instructions takes the owners or operators too much time and effort trying to figure out how to assemble, operate, adjust, maintain or repair them. That frustration rarely leads to repeat sales and often generates negative remarks in the marketplace.

Many companies have no idea what this poor communication is costing them in lost revenue. The first step to recovering money from lost sales is to determine what questions are most frequently asked of customer service, sales or technical assistance representatives. Next, see whether any questions can be traced to unclear graphics or wording used in marketing or technical materials. By clarifying even one or two points, companies can paint a much brighter future in sales and customer loyalty.

Need better results? Technical illustrations are just one business communications solution we’ve provided over the past 25 years. To explore some innovative ways to reach your specific sales communications goals, e-mail Matt Harlow or call 800-800-9547.

Ideas are our product. We work to analyze your markets, isolate your key brand benefits and send clear, focused messages right to your target audience. Messages that build your brand image and achieve what you’re really looking for … measurable results. We call it Communication with insight.^sm