If your buyers are developers, they’re likely to ignore outbound emails or LinkedIn messages from salespeople. Instead, they evaluate your product by trying your solution, reading the documentation, or exploring open-source projects. Product documentation is essential in their decision-making process, as it provides them with detailed information on the product’s capabilities, integration processes, and potential customization.

Developers prefer to contact someone directly from the company to ask quick questions. They are unlikely to fill out a form or send an email. If you provide a direct messaging option (from a real person, not a bot), there’s a high chance developers will use this route. However, any minor inconvenience or time waste can drive them away.

Most developers don’t check their mailboxes, and the likelihood they’ll fill out a form is extremely low

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Insights about Docs

🙇‍♂️ 91% of buyers would use an online documentation if it were available

📚 88% of buyers expect a company to have an online Knowledge base

💰 93% of software developers consider good documentation to be a major influence on their purchasing decisions

The Developer’s Buying Journey

There’s a common belief that developers don’t like talking to salespeople and would rather try out software on their own. But research from OpenView tells us something different:

Developers are picky and don’t want to waste time. They are not willing to try a tool out unless it made their “top 3 list”.

OpenView: Developer Running through a mental checklist before trying a product

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What’s really important to developers is being able to talk to a real person who can give them straight answers.

The buying journey of a developers usually start by looking at the product’s documentation or its open-source info to see if it fits well with their current tech and if it will actually make their work easier. What’s really important to them is being able to talk to a real person who can give them straight answers, not just automated replies from a chatbot.

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Integrating Knock with Online Docs

The integration of Knock with online docs allows you to add engagement buttons to your online documentation. This no-code solution can be implemented in less than 10 seconds.

About Knock
Knock understands today’s buyer preferences. They demand a seamless, hassle-free experience and wish to decide when and how to engage. Our solution allows you to place ‘engagement buttons’ on any platform, opening a private, secure chat channel directly in Slack. This chat is asynchronous, meaning responses don’t have to be immediate, which is convenient for everyone. Setting this up is incredibly easy — it takes just ten seconds and doesn’t require any coding.