Technology has change into the backbone of modern enterprises, and organizations of all types use tech applications to manage almost every aspect of their business, from customer support to worker engagement. Whether they use smart technologies to enable communications, support security and privacy, increase productivity, assist employees or support operations, it’s no wonder startups rely on these solutions to increase productivity and improve overall efficiency.
And while technology is crucial to so many business processes, many experienced business leaders understand that it is also necessary to strike a balance. This balance between using technology to support your business and knowing when to leverage human touchpoints and find ways to make things personal for each customers and employees may be a challenge.
For example, Emerald-Jane Hunter, founder MyWhy agency, captures this struggle by stating, “Technology is a reality of our world, and the ability to use it to schedule meetings and manage workflow is a huge improvement for smaller businesses. However, technology is not always smart enough to replace the human touch when it comes to customer service, human resources or new business development. In all of these areas, relationships are paramount, so you need to know when to turn off technology and when to turn on human interaction.”
“A phone call, a face-to-face meeting, a personal note or a gift in the mail are still key to maintaining customer relationships and developing new ones. For HR departments, personal contact with employees is a must to ensure that company culture is moving forward for everyone.”
And while we call most automated technology smart technology, the reality is that it will possibly sometimes lead to stupid decisions if we rely on it too much. By incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning into technology, it relies on good data and solid programming. But sometimes the concept is higher than the execution. There are treasure troves of stories where the technology has not performed as expected and in some cases the result may be disastrous for the company involved. For example, one misspelled sentence led to the company losing $1 billion in 2012. Misconfigurations and misunderstandings that are not captured by technology itself can lead to serious business failures, often accompanied by loss of consumer trust and goodwill. The bottom line is that smart technology has no positive impact on your business.
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Interestingly, Stormy Simon, former CEO of Overstock.com and latest founder of Mother Rugger, understands that firms can make mistakes, but she doesn’t like to use the word “stupid”:
“In my opinion, I don’t love the term ‘dumb decisions’, especially in the startup world, because if you are a leader you have to accept that sometimes you are mistaken. Just remember not to fail, which implies that a bad decision doesn’t hold you back, but pushes you forward. You own it. Move on. You make changes as needed.
Simon said she faced a challenge when she began in customer support at Overstock before becoming president. It launched automated voice technology to respond to customer inquiries, but the latest technology frustrated customers who ran into challenges because it didn’t allow them to connect with a live customer support representative quickly enough. Faced with the business risk of frustrated customers, she made the decision to turn off the technology so that customers could actually talk to a live person. This human touchpoint had a huge impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty. Of course, nowadays these automated solutions are more sophisticated to higher manage customer needs, but there is at all times a risk of technical failures that discourage customers.
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This example shows why effective leaders shouldn’t leave all elements of operations to technology solutions. While these solutions can improve many elements of business performance, it is still necessary for leaders to trust their gut and intuition to make smart decisions that may improve the performance of their organizations.
And while this idea is quite easy, it becomes a little more murky when trying to determine when to use a personal point of contact and when smart technology solutions are useful. There are several suggestions that will help business leaders determine the best path forward, including:
- Take market dynamics into account. Consumer preferences are consistently evolving. It’s necessary to keep your finger on the pulse of your customers and know how their expectations may change in certain circumstances. For example, during the pandemic, every little thing hurried virtually, leading to high levels of uncertainty. In turn, customers and employees wanted a more personal touch. In this case, your company could have done higher by taking a more personal approach.
- Look for ways to mix each. AND recent research examined whether customers benefited more from interacting with technology or with customer support representatives. The results showed that usually the best approach was a combination of each methods. This strategy takes into account cases where one method is higher than the other. For example, smart technology could also be preferred for standard orders, but personal touchpoints are higher for dissatisfied customers. If you mix your approaches, you could have the ability to find a higher solution than following one or the other.
- Know your goals. In today’s highly digital climate, it is simple to get caught up in wondering what smart technology can potentially achieve. However, far too often, leaders implement technology without taking the time to learn about the specific application that may profit the company. Understanding your goals up front is essential to determining whether a technology application will probably be sufficient or whether human interaction will probably be needed. If you would like to provide a personalized experience, you could need each approaches. However, if you are strictly looking for performance, you could want to consider technology solutions (don’t overlook the value of other performance metrics).
There is no denying that technology is here to stay. Its role in business will proceed to grow as more and more functions may be supported by intelligent technology platforms. However, this is no substitute for human interaction – and this aspect of leadership decision-making mustn’t be underestimated. Sometimes customers just want to see the human face of your company. They need to feel heard and appreciated. At the moment, smart technologies is not going to achieve this goal. It’s price reflecting on any decisions you make as a leader and ensuring they support the goals you are trying to achieve.