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Customers are Human
While listening to an interview recently with the Honorable Michael Bloomberg primarily on the subject of AI, I was struck by his obvious observation that every “customer” is a human. And, while AI is taking over an increasing share of previously-human performed activities, in his opinion, human-to-human customer relationships are overwhelmingly important to the success of all businesses. Bottom line, humans want to deal with humans. He went on to say that he thinks this is especially true for B2B organizations that often consist of a relatively small group of customers or small groups of customer “clusters” that are maintained through direct, and often close/long-term human-to-human relationships.
A Wall Street pioneer, Mayor of New York City, philanthropist, Presidential candidate and multi-billionaire, Mayor Bloomberg acknowledged the advances in AI and many of its positive effects, but in general he was commenting on the negative consequences of AI, chief among them being the (attempted) replacement of the “human” factor. Bloomberg acknowledged that, while it’s true that robots work 24/7, do not need health insurance, paid medical leave and other such benefits, managing customer relationships is not a robotic process. Overall, Mayor Bloomberg seemed most concerned about whether businesses are trying to replace the vital human function of face-to-face customer care and customer service. And businesses that go too far in AI adoption will ultimately suffer the consequences.
This all made sense to me, but I also heard a potential strategic business advantage. When a business decides NOT to deploy automation (assisted by AI or not) into their customer service relationships, will that business actually begin to stand out (in a positive way) compared to their competitors who go too far in deploying automation (assisted by AI or not) to “streamline” their customer relationships? I suppose time will tell, but for now, as you evaluate the technological advances available that could “benefit” your business, be wary of any that you think could put unnecessary pressure on your current human-to-human customer relationships. Unless, of course, you are a competitor of Standard Commercial Roofing and Building Envelope Solutions, then please feel free.