This week I had the privilege of engaging with two voice bots. Seeking a printer repair to correct smudges on the printed page, no repair shops could be found in the Cincinnati area. As a last resort, I thought of the Geek Squad that had provided good service in the past. I called to reach out to the local Best Buy store for help. It was not possible to reach a human but rather a charming sounding voice bot. Miss Bot was kind and efficient. After I explained my problem with the printer she suggested scheduling an appointment for me at the Best Buy Geek Squad in the store and did so providing an email as proof. I arrived at the store early armed with my heavy printer in tow. The Geek Squad technician checked on his computer and said no appointment had been made, however he had time and said he would look at the printer and do his best. He put the machine through a couple of diagnostic tests yet was unable to fix the problem. He went on to explain they had no one on staff able to fix a printer and in fact printers are no longer considered fixable in the Cincinnati area. The good news is that I was in the right place to purchase a new printer and dispose of the existing one. However, if I could have spoken to a human in the first place, it could have saved me time and aggravation.
Next I had to to get the new printer aligned with my computers and I put in a ticket with our highly skilled technical service partner. I missed the call from the assigned technician and tried to return his call. I got another charming Miss Bot! She took it upon herself to make up a new ticket by assigning a different technician. Since I wanted the original technician who had been a great help in the past, I called in frustration, this time insisting to speak with a live person. When this technician answered the phone, he sensed my frustration and immediately logged into my computer and took care of the problem. That part of the experience demonstrated excellent customer service!
I get it! Everyone wants to get onboard with the amazing new AI technology. Why pay a human to answer the phone when a computer can do it for far less cost, not to mention human resource issues. (Oops, I am not joking here but a bot just now popped up on my screen wanting to install the latest Dell updates!) I digress. As a business owner I have learned the value of relationships. Every positive step in the growth of our company has occurred through personal relationships.
Here is my advice: To my partner/suppliers, eliminate the noise and frustration by your client/partners forcing them to dialog with a computer; let us mortals prevail!
If you happen to compete with any of our services, by all means, use the voice bots throughout your organization. Let your employees, suppliers and especially your clients experience this wonderful new world. Let them know you are up with or even ahead of the AI curve. Surely, they will appreciate this.
Perhaps the rest of us are simply old school.
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Jim Mullaney
President/CEO
Edoc Service, Inc.
