Isolated Automated Processes are Bad for Business

In a world of automated customer-facing processes - from marketing email communication to support answering services - many companies may be hindering their ability to build real connections with customers by not taking the time to talk with and understand them. Unlike companies such as Zappos and Amazon, who understand and value consumer connection and have built their extremely successful brands around customer experiences, some companies believe that their disconnect won’t affect customer satisfaction with the overall brand. I think they are wrong. Using technology to automate an individual business process without fully understanding customer context, something that I call “isolated automation”, can be highly damaging to brands.

It is hard to measure customer lifetime value impact of this impersonal approach. It is certainly much easier to evaluate each interaction point and the immediate action to which it leads. Most of these isolated automated interactions create signals that are fairly strong, easy to track, and can be translated to business KPIs. It is easy to review time spent on the phone, optimize automated interactions, or understand whether or not a customer had their question answered. It is much harder to get a clear picture of the overall impact of the “human disconnect” caused by automated interaction between the company and their customer, and how that disconnect will affect the relationship going forward.

As a consumer, I am quite disappointed when I am confronted with a rude salesperson or an impersonal, automated attendant that gets me nowhere. Just recently, I received a cancellation letter from my insurance company, and within a few weeks, got an automated call welcoming me to a new plan (a plan I never signed up for; I never even looked at their website). I was “speaking” with a machine telling me that I should pick a PCP, while giving me no opportunity to explain that my plan has not yet been selected and providing me no opportunity to speak to a live agent. Pressing zero did no magic. There was absolutely no access to a customer service representative. I became frustrated with the company that I had always been so satisfied with in the past. This is a perfect example of a failed isolated automation. As we know, it takes 5 positive interactions to offset just 1 negative one to create satisfying customer experience. Are we risking it all by automating every process?

Being able to talk to a human is no longer the norm?

Let me be clear - the problem is not with automation, and I do not think automation is bad. In fact, I believe quite the opposite. In my roles as head of marketing for multiple startups, I have elected to automate many processes, both internal and external. I love marketing automation. Or at least, I did in the past. As more and more companies use automation poorly, my feelings about automated processes have become more mixed. The problem is that companies automate processes for the wrong reasons or incorrectly.

Those companies whose tactics are not aligned with the overall company strategy are going to suffer from a bad case of over-automation. Just look at your favorite airline: in most cases, only premier benefits now include the ability to speak to a live person when you call in. Being able to talk to a human is now a treat and not a standard!

Truly understanding your Customer is good business

If we don't truly understand what the customer needs, how can all interactions possibly be automated? Taking my insurance situation out of context was a mistake, and a disappointment. Clearly, my insurance company didn't take into consideration everything that mattered to me. There was no visibility into everything surrounding my case. Lack of proper technology and smart processes prevented them from knowing that my plan was cancelled, and that I was in fact looking for another provider.

If only they created an environment where all information and knowledge was available to all their business units, IT and R&D departments, all their customer care agents, they could then tap into this goldmine when needed. It would ensure that those automated and human processes would no longer run in isolation.

But the truth is, if instead of the automated process I had received a call from a representative, or at a minimum had been allowed an opportunity to speak to one, they would still have me as a customer. Instead, they left me with an opportunity to consider other services and shop around, and left a void of valuable information that would have helped me make a decision.

If, according to Aberdeen Group's "The Rising Financial Impact of Customer Service" report, 80% of company’s revenue is earned from their current customers, why do some companies do a better job of retaining them?