Why You Shouldn’t Automate Your Best Customers Away

I heard this story from a respected CRM consultant, and it stuck with me. Like one of those conversations that I keep replaying in my mind, reminding myself of its value.
Not because it was about AI, but because it was about knowing when not to use AI.

This guy is smart. Ridiculously smart. He’s infused AI into nearly every aspect of his agency — processes, workflows, communications — you name it.

And then, on a Zoom call one day, he tells me:

“There’s this one task I could totally do with AI. It would save us five hours per customer. Every. Single. Time. But I don’t — because the customer needs the feels.”

The Feels?

As he put it:

• The customer needs to feel heard.

• The customer needs to feel important.

• The customer needs to feel respected.

Sure, the automation could spit out the same result faster. But that human interaction was the value. Removing it would save him time — and cost him trust.

Not Every Persona Wants “Faceless”

Here’s the trap: not all buying personas are ready for a contactless, no-human-required experience.

Some customers love it — they’ll Venmo you in their sleep and never want to talk to a rep.
But others… others want to know someone real is on the other end.

Knowing which type you’re serving is part of your job.

The Real Rule of Automation

Don’t automate for fun.
Don’t automate because it’s “possible.”

Automate to enhance the customer experience, not to hollow it out.

Sometimes, the best tech strategy is knowing where not to put the tech.

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