“Personal Touch”?

Automation is great. It is. It’s a wonderful time saver, but it can also keep you away from your customers. And then your customers might stay away from you.

Two similar organizations had two different approaches to their customers. One thought in terms of volume and automated as much as it could. Customers would never receive an email from a real person, only the automated system.

The other organization took the time to personally call each customer. Their staff was able to get to know their customers on a much deeper level. They also used automation and had digital records of everything, but they felt that having a more personal touch with their customers allowed them to provide a better service. They couldn’t serve as many customers, but they believed that they could serve the ones they had much better.

There isn’t one way to go about it. Both companies are successful and appear satisfied with their choices. But customers of both organizations do notice a difference. Customers are people with different perspectives, so some may prefer one to another, but each organization has made a deliberate choice of who they want to be and what their customers should expect of them.

It’s up to their customers to decide which they want.