You can make every step of a process faster and still make the customer's experience worse.
It's the automation mistake I've seen more than any other.
Companies automate tasks.
Customers experience journeys.
Picture it from the customer's side....
The chatbot answers in 2 seconds.
The refund still takes three emails, two transfers,
and a week.
Every step got faster, but the journey got worse!!
3 things that should be noticed here:
- Map the journey before you automate the step.
- A faster step can still make the whole journey slower, colder, or more confusing.
- Measure what the customer feels, not just what the process costs.
Efficiency that customers hate is not efficiency.
It's a delayed cost.
Decide where humans belong before you decide where machines go.
The exceptions, the emotional moments, the high-stakes decisions.
Let automation handle the volume.
Let people handle the moments.
Not fewer humans. Better-placed humans.
Where has automation made your experience as a customer worse?