IAM2738 – Avoiding Over-Automation in Client Communication

The Automation Boundary

While automation is an incredibly powerful tool for scaling a business, there is a distinct line that entrepreneurs often cross, leading to a loss of genuine connection. When you automate too much of your client communication—such as check-ins, thank you messages, and responses to real questions—the interaction stops feeling human and starts feeling like spam. This “be everywhere” efficiency might save you time, but it simultaneously erodes the trust and loyalty that actually build a sustainable brand.

Repeatable Tasks vs. Relatable Moments

The key to a successful strategy is understanding what to offload to technology and what to keep personal. You should aim to automate the repeatable, administrative tasks like scheduling, data entry, and reminders. However, you must keep the “humane” parts of your business human—real responses to specific questions and sincere check-ins should never be templated. People can sense when a message is generic, and they value the transparency of knowing they are speaking with an actual individual.

Supporting the Relationship

Ultimately, technology should be used to support your relationships rather than replace them. A breakdown in your business occurs when the process becomes more important than the people it serves. By maintaining a “media company mentality” built on trust, you can leverage automation for your internal processes while ensuring every client interaction remains authentic and high-touch. Remember the golden rule of scaling: automate the process, but never the people.

Previous Episode: https://iamceo.co/iam2736-how-raising-your-prices-can-help-your-business-grow/

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Transcription:

Gresham Harkless 00:00
Automation is a powerful, powerful, powerful tool. And I myself automate a ton in my business. But there's a line you don't want to cross, and there are people that cross it all the time. They automate so much of their client communication, their follow ups, their engagement, it actually stops feeling human.

If you're building something meaningful, you're in the right place. This is the IMCO Podcast. I'm gresh, and for over a decade I've had the honor and the privilege of Learning directly from CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners just like you on how to build. After recording more than 1600 episodes, one thing has become clear. Success isn't about following someone else's blueprint. And as I like to say on the show, if you run your own race, you can't lose. Even when we feel the journey should be a straight and linear path, what I've come to find out is a success is a lot more like a plate of spaghetti. So in this special segment and episode, I'm starting to curate and share some CEO hacks and CEO nuggets that I've been dying to share. Drawn from thousands of episodes with phenomenal guests that have provided awesome value on the show, but also my 10 years of business experience as well too. These lessons are designed to strengthen the foundational principles that every business is built on and guided by a simple equation that we always go back to with our content. Visibility plus resources times connections equals success. This is practical wisdom you can apply almost immediately. So be sure to check out the show notes for more resources and next steps on how to level up. And of course, enjoy this special episode of the I Am CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 01:40
Automation is a powerful, powerful, powerful tool and I myself automate a ton in my business. But there's a line you don't want to cross, and there are people that cross it all the time. They automate so much of their client communication, their follow ups, their engagement, it actually stops feeling human. I know you receive these generic email sequences that don't actually acknowledge contact chatbots that can actually handle real questions and auto dms that ultimately like, feel like spam. While you might think that you're saving time and you're at the same time losing a connection. And a connection is what actually builds trust and loyalty. Now, it's always hard to kind of find that balance because you never want to lo lose an opportunity to reply to somebody or forget about those things. But at the same time, you never want to make it inhumane and not. Feel like it's an actual individual that's.Reaching out or be not transparent and say that hey, this is an AI chatbot or this is an auto follow up. What you want to try to do is automate the repeatable tasks, the reminders.The scheduling, the data entry, but keep. The humane part humane. The thank you messages, the check ins, the real responses to real questions. You don't want those to be templated. People don't want them to be templated because technology should support relationships, not replace them. And I think that's where things start to happen, or the breakdown starts to happen. Keep in mind of having that media company mentality. You're also a human being running a business built on trust. So automate the process, not the business people.