This article comes from Alex Turkovic’ insightful talk at our Austin 2024 Customer Success Festival. Check out his full presentation and the wealth of other OnDemand resources.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think about digital customer success? Is it automation? AI? Or maybe a fear that machines will eventually replace human connection?
If so, you wouldn’t be the first. These are some of the most common reactions I encounter when talking about this topic, and it’s time we address them head-on.
I’m Alex Turkovic, and over the past few years, I’ve been immersed in the world of digital customer success (CS). As the host of The Digital Customer Success Podcast and Senior Director of Customer Experience at Belfry, I’ve seen firsthand how digital tools can transform the way we engage customers—not by replacing the human touch, but by enhancing it.
Today, I want to share my perspective on what it means to balance human and machine efforts in digital CS, dispel some common myths, and provide actionable insights you can take back to your teams.
Let’s dive in!
Why over-automation hurts more than it helps
Let’s start with a quick story about Elon Musk. Whether you love him or loathe him—probably the latter—one thing you can’t deny is that he’s a relentless optimizer.
During Tesla’s push to ramp up Model 3 production, Musk camped out in the Fremont factory to overhaul their manufacturing processes. What’s fascinating is that instead of adding more automation, he removed it. Musk realized that too much automation was actually slowing them down.
This resonates with me because we often default to automating everything in customer success. Automation is fantastic for repetitive tasks, but over-automation can lead to complexity, inefficiencies, and ultimately, a poorer customer experience.
Jennifer Ryan
