Humans are social beings.

No mystery there. The essence of this well-worn expression is that we all need to feel important and part of something bigger than ourselves. We need to organize ourselves in groups of like-minded people so we can find identity and avoid feeling rejected or ignored. Socialization does not just enhance us as individuals, but as a species: the human ability to socialize and communicate has helped ensure our progression ahead of other forms of life.

We, as humans, enjoy feeling that someone cares about us. We feel relevant in the world every time we receive something that was designed, created, or crafted specifically for us and not just some generic product or solution.

This is where Customization and Personalization come into play.

Customization is when we offer a series of alternatives so that Customers can choose what is best for themselves. Here, the effort lies with the Customers, but the choice gives them the feeling that they have something special, that fits them well, especially if the alternatives are curated for them.

Personalization, on the other hand, is when you offer something specifically crafted for them. Based on the understanding of what the Customer values, their preferences, and their specific needs and wants, so that the solution fits them perfectly. In this case, they don’t have a choice, as there is one single solution being offered, but it is so aligned with what they value that they feel truly special.

In both cases, most humans will want to share with others how special they are because of the “gift” they received. This is how we create promoters of our brands. If the “gift” is truly special, we create a fan.

Sounds easy, right?

Not really! How would we know what the Customer will love, enjoy, or simply like?

Technology is the answer.

Tracking customers’ transactions, what they browse, post, search, and their behaviors, gives us a lot of insight into what they like, dislike, prefer, value, antagonize, enjoy, or disregard.

A less invasive approach is to simply collect as much information as possible, as long as it is done with the Customer consent, and log it into a proper system (e.g., CRM – Customer Relationship Management software) to analyze the data and generate insights on how to make them happy. This includes complaints, purchasing behaviors, feedback, survey responses, etc.

These methods are very effective ways to get closer to Customers, so we can understand not only what they like, but also where their “taste” is heading. In other words, how their behaviors and values are evolving over time.

It is very difficult to track all these nuances without Technology. The number of variables at play today far exceeds human capabilities, not only in terms of dealing with the volume and speed required, but also in making correlations between discrete pieces of information in bulk.

In this type of situation, we can equip our people with “superpowers” using Technology. We can create Augmented Humans, empowered by Technology, freeing them from tedious and time-consuming repetitive activities, and allowing them to focus on the more noble aspects of Human Relationships, ie, delivering experiences that make others happy.

There’s another important aspect we need to consider. When humans are pushed for performance and productivity, stretching their capacity to work faster, we end up incentivizing behaviors that are exactly opposite to how we want our brands to be remembered by Customers.

A human, under pressure for performance, may cut the small talk at the start of an interaction with a Customer to save time and avoid discussions outside their expertise. However, small talk is exactly what we need to soften the interaction, build rapport, and reduce the Customer’s negative reactions to bad news.

The next step might be to remove Customers’ choices, as offering choices means having to explain them. This takes time and requires deeper knowledge of the choices to help Customers decide. However, humans crave control. We need to feel in control, and being able to decide is one of the things that define us as humans. Taking that away frustrates Customers.

Furthermore, agents might try to prevent the Customers from fully expressing themselves. This is because listening requires time and patience, and what customers have to say often exceeds the limits of service protocols and scripts. This can create embarrassing situations for the agent, which they will want to avoid. The problem is that Customers want to express their frustrations, and when they are prevented from doing so, they feel even more frustrated, trapped, ignored, and psychologically assaulted. This is a recipe for disaster.

Another problem is dehumanizing Customers by reducing them to numbers—case numbers, purchase order numbers, or rows in a spreadsheet. This represents the peak of dehumanization.

How Technology can Help?

Technology isn’t pressured by time (it’s not paid by the hour) and, if properly set up, can deliver a welcoming greeting with personal significance to the Customers. Technology can offer choices, explain the differences easily, and help Customers decide. Technology not only allows the Customers to speak, but also solicits feedback frequently, as long as the Customers are willing to provide it. Technology collects the data, analyzes it, and provides responses, making the Customers feel heard—and therefore, important. Technology can address Customers by their name, or even better, by their preferred name.

Not to mention, humans get sick, tired, take breaks, arrive late, have bad moods or bad days, and may even have bad intentions. Technology doesn’t.

Humans may sell what they want to sell (whatever benefits them the most, even if it’s not the best for the Customers), whereas Technology sells what the Customers wants to buy.

The inevitable conclusion is that we need Technology to Humanize the Service.

It’s important to note that all of the above assumes that other humans properly set up the Technology to behave accordingly.

Does this mean we have to replace all humans with Technology?

For those who don’t see Technology as a tool to enhance their ability to get work done, YES!

But for those who seize the opportunity to use Technology as a performance-enhancing tool, an ally, those will become more indispensable.

To prove my point, we can refer to research conducted by Shervin Kohdabandeh, Head of Artificial Intelligence at Boston Consulting Group, which found that only 10% of the top 500 U.S. companies that invested in Artificial Intelligence saw a reasonable return on investment. Do you know what those successful 10% had in common? None of them replaced humans with AI. Instead, they improved human output by empowering their people with AI. They achieved results that neither humans, nor technology, could achieve alone.

With that, I rest my case: It takes Technology to Humanize the Service and achieve much higher levels of employee, customer, and shareholder satisfaction.