When to Automate and When Not (or, How to Fail in Business)

A story about the Bot.

Funny little story. I shared something yesterday about elevator pitches. It led me (today) to increase my frequency of asking people what they or their businesses do. Makes sense right? Don’t you love it when someone asks what you do? I do, because I get to tell them! It also means someone cares, and in this day and age, that’s kind of a big deal.

“… it means someone cares, and in this day and age, that’s kind of a big deal.”

Well, the elevator pitch story turned out to be very popular on several media platforms. I made some new connections with people who enjoyed or shared my story. (Thank you, new friends!) I found some people and companies that proved to be very interesting, and may be a really good fit for a series of large events that I am involved in planning. I reached out to one of these folks through one of their personal social media profiles.

Me: Hi Jon. Tell me what your business does. I’m curious.

Assumed it was Jon: Hi Shawn, I’m Mary, Mr. Doe’s assistant. What would you like to know regarding our company?

(Me thinking: Didn’t I just ask what this business does? They clearly don’t have an elevator pitch when they just celebrated the elevator pitch story. I would have answered that one as soon as possible and with a kabam!)

Me: Hi Mary, thanks for the response. I was just curious to know what your company does. :)

(Notice I ended it with a smiley face, because already I was put on the defensive, for asking a question! And by the way, I’m a kitten, not a stalker, sheesh.)

Crickets.

Guess what just happened? By Mr. Doe, as CEO of his small company not reading his emails or choosing to delegate (automate?) a response on his personal account to an assistant, he just lost the opportunity I had for him to be showcased at some major events in some major cities that would have been perfect for his line of business. Opportunities that would have help his young business get new clients. Get new investors. Make new partnerships. Grow.

Yes, giving your email communications and social media personal responses is ESSENTIAL in using digital technology to your advantage. Are you too busy? Are your people calling their people and you’ve lost your hunger? When you loose your hunger, you’re also losing control of your business.

“When you loose your hunger, you’re also losing control of your business.”

That said, I do operate some of my clients social media business platforms, but never their personal feeds. Never. Having your own personal brand and the ability to communicate with the general public is a skill you have to have in order to succeed. You can be extrovert or introvert, it does not matter behind the screen. I take that a step further in that my own personal branding is not tied to any one genre or field of business. My branding is based on my personality. (Did you read my story: “What does your branding say about you?” I shared it again this morning.)

If you look at the stats, a company brand is more greatly promoted through its employee’s online visibility and promotion, than through company social media feeds. YES! It’s true! It’s because we as humans have many more followers and interactions than non-human corporations or company pages. I’ll have to grab those stats and share them with you soon. I preach this in just about every client report I write.

Back to the bot issue.

Maybe you use a bot to generate followers. Maybe you are a bot. All you need to do is be on Twitter for 15 minutes and you will have connected with half a dozen bots. They’re bots, it’s their job to draw you in. Zing!

All this being said, I have clients come to me asking for me to automate their social media. To share predetermined posts and content at a certain time on a schedule. Rinse and Repeat. The majority of the time I refuse to do this, (but if they are paying me and insisting, then yes, I do it) and share the philosophy that… and you have heard this many times before… people chose to do business with people.

Bottom Line: People chose to do business with people.

We do business with people we know and like. We will even pay more to do business with someone we like and trust.

I have a lot of individuals and companies in my social network feeds that automate their shared content. To me it is SO OBVIOUS and it earns the person or company a seat on my “mute” list. Social media is about being social in media. Be social. Be you, and stay humble my friends.