Did you see the heartwarming tale of Patrick and Emily that was being shared on LinkedIn earlier this year? If you did, you’ll know why it’s a lovely example of genuine emotional engagement.
Patrick stopped Emily (a complete stranger many years his junior) in the street to ask how her day was going. This chance encounter resulted in the two going for coffee and continuing to do so on a weekly basis. If Patrick was a brand, he’d be a successful disrupter, because he went straight to the customer and demonstrated a high level of emotional intelligence in engaging with them.
His desire may well have been to talk to someone about the death of his wife, but he knew the value in engaging with that person by first asking about them. It worked spectacularly, and two people who wouldn’t normally cross paths socially ended up becoming the best of friends.
Business is no different, but Patrick’s approach proves that people always trump technology when it comes to emotional engagement; you simply can’t simulate the above encounter with clever software programming. Here’s why:
People can connect deeply with their own kind
Technology relies on a series of set instructions that are followed religiously. It is incapable of thinking outside of those constraints and even emerging forms of artificial intelligence don’t allow technology to connect with customers on a deeper level.
An automated email response to a customer request, for example, simply won’t be able to pick up any nuances in the question asked. The reaction to such nuances could mean the difference between a great customer experience and a lost client. People know how to connect with their own kind.
Tech is incapable of emotional intelligence
In order to emotionally engage with a customer, we need to put them first. Patrick demonstrated this beautifully when he approached Emily and proved that people do indeed care about themselves.
This is a hard pill to swallow in business, but it’s the same story; your customers don’t care about you or your products - they care about their own needs. There isn’t a piece of technology on the planet that is capable of the emotional intelligence required to connect with people on that level.
Tech forces habit
As time has drawn on, we’ve become victims of habit. Too many businesses trade on the notion of ‘I’ll give you something, if you give me something back’ through the use of coupons and loyalty schemes. Technology usually drives these models and, in turn, erodes any connectivity with customers.
One size doesn’t fit all
Technology is usually designed to do one thing very well. If that one thing relates in some way to service provision, it’ll alienate vast swathes of customers. Delivering a flatpack customer experience via technology is uninventive and devoid of emotional engagement.
People, on the other hand, are able to spot different personalities, traits and requirements amongst customer bases and tailor the customer service experience accordingly.
Tech can’t ‘find the need’
Customer experience falters when expectations are left wanting. Technology’s lack of emotional intelligence and inability to think independently means it is unable to ‘find the need’ among customers. For example, what does each interaction with a person tell you about their requirements? Can a piece of software work that out?
Only people can spot opportunities to delight and, in doing so, create that priceless emotional engagement with customers.
Tech doesn’t have a heart
If you’ve seen Terminator 2, you’ll know what’s likely to happen if we grant technology the ability to become self-aware. Jokes aside, emotional engagement simply isn’t possible without a heart - it’s that simple.
Summary
Technology is very good at doing the same thing over and over again. In sectors such as manufacturing, that may be desirable, but when it comes to emotional engagement with customers, it is destined for failure. Doing the same thing each time leads to failing consistently in the same way.
People trump technology when it comes to emotional engagement because of their ability and desire to understand individual requirements and personalities. Customers want to find businesses that offer connectivity and a sense of belonging. If you don’t give them those things via human interaction, they’ll continue searching until they find somewhere else to belong.
If you're interested in exploring how emotion can affect business results, check out our recent blog post where we investigate how emotion is key to creating a great customer experience.
