I was reading an article recently about businesses using AI to improve customer experience and scale their marketing activity. One company was explaining how it’s transforming customer service. Another was talking about how it’s helping them grow faster.
Now, before anyone jumps on me, I’m not anti-AI.
I use it. I like it. It’s helped me save time, improve productivity and remove some of the repetitive tasks that quite frankly don’t need a human being sat there doing them all day. Lately though, I’ve found myself becoming increasingly frustrated with what feels like a growing mountain of AI-generated dross. Maybe it’s just me, I honestly don’t think it is though.
Every day we’re surrounded by content, emails, phone calls, messages, sales approaches and social media posts that have clearly been created, written or automated by technology. Some of it’s good. Much of it forgettable. A lot of it absolute rubbish. The sheer volume of crap is exhausting.
I can barely open LinkedIn without reading another post that sounds exactly like the ten posts before it. My inbox is full of generic approaches promising leads, sales, visibility and business growth. The phone rings and within seconds I know I’m talking to a bot or some automated system that’s pretending to be human. The pauses are strange. The language sounds polished in all the wrong ways. Everything feels scripted. And I find myself wondering who thought this was a better experience when it really isn’t.
Technology is supposed to save time
Try contacting some utility or insurance companies. Try phoning a doctor’s surgery. Try getting help from a large organisation when something has gone wrong. What should be a quick conversation often turns into an obstacle course of automated menus, recorded messages, chatbots and queues before you finally reach someone who can actually help. You’re an hour in every flaming time. Then, just when you think you’ve got somewhere, you find yourself explaining everything all over again.
Tech is supposed to make things easier, faster, yet somehow everything takes longer and feels less human – I think that’s the bit that bothers me most.
We’re drowning in noise
What’s becoming increasingly obvious is that we’re creating more content, more communication and more automation than ever before. Are we creating true value though?
Every day I receive emails promising qualified leads. LinkedIn messages offering guaranteed appointments. Cold calls telling me they can help me scale faster. They don’t even know me as a person, they don’t know my business and the fact that it is not and will not ever be a marketing agency. They have no idea what I actually do. As my gorgeous Gran would say, “I wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole.” And, I will not be doing. I;ve never been sucked into all of this stuff, many are though.
So much of it feels lazy. Instead of taking time to understand people, build relationships and communicate properly, we’re using technology to throw more noise into an already noisy world. Then act surprised when nobody responds – dah!
The businesses people remember are different
The businesses I remember aren’t the ones with the cleverest technology, they’re the ones where somebody picked up the phone or spoke with me directly, and genuinely wanted to help. They’re the ones where an issue was sorted without me having to jump through hoops. They listened, took ownership and made life easier. We all want to make life easier, so if we can’t see that happening, well, forget it.
When you do the right thing and make life easier for poeple they’ll remeber you and your business, they won’t forget you. That’s what creates loyalty, trust and gets people talking about you. How you deal with a customer or a problem makes the world of difference.
I’ve worked in business and marketing for thirty years and one thing has remained remarkably consistent. People buy from people and businesses they trust. They recommend businesses that make life easier. They stay with businesses that look after them. Technology doesn’t change that, if anything, I think it’s making it more important. Whilst everyone else seems to be rushing towards more automation, more content, more emails, more messages and more noise, customers are becoming increasingly desperate for something that feels real and genuine.
A real conversation.
A real recommendation.
A real relationship.
A real person.
The real opportunity
The irony is that many businesses are spending huge amounts of time and money trying to generate demand through technology whilst quietly eroding the very things that create demand in the first place – trust, relationships, reputation, customer experience.
The businesses that stand out over the next few years won’t necessarily be the ones with the most AI. Most businesses will have access to the same tools, they’ll be able to automate processes and create content at speed. The difference will be in how they use it.
The winners will be the businesses that use tech to support people. They’ll use AI to remove admin and improve efficiency whilst maintaining genuine relationships with customers. Behind every enquiry, every complaint, every sale and every interaction is a real person. So amongst all the AI-generated noise, genuine human connection is is now one of the most valuable things a business can offer.
Final thoughts
Maybe I’m having one of those days where you just need a good rant. Though judging by the conversations I’m having with business owners, customers, friends and family, I am not alone. We’re all being asked to deal with more noise than ever before and it’s exhausting.
Perhaps the biggest opportunity right now isn’t in creating more noise, it’s in being brave enough to cut through it to be really clear, helpful and human – that’s what people remember, and that’s what creates demand.
And as AI would put it or the overseas call centre, I’ll end there with a “thank you Ma’m is there anything else I can help you with today.
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