Over the course of a month, I received numerous emails from one of our vendors. These personal messages from our account manager asked if I could set up a call. With time differences on Guam – we are 15 to 18 hours ahead – scheduling calls from the states can be challenging.
While I thought it may just be a “please upgrade your account” sales pitch, I setup the call through their automated scheduling app anyway. This was only after the email pleas increased in their frequency and urgency.
Early morning worked better than late night for me. So, I removed one of the items from my schedule and got up early. Then I clicked all the links in his emails and familiarized myself with their text.
In addition to offering new products, the company wanted to inquire about how we were using their service and answer any potential questions. This sounded reasonable. While everything was going well, I was open to knowing more.
To be sure I had a quiet environment to take the call, I stayed home after the kids left for school and waited for the phone to ring. When it did, I was surprised to hear a confused voice on the other end. “Was I supposed to call you?” it said. “Yes,” I replied, explaining the emails.
I quickly checked the name on the confirmation text to make sure I was speaking with the right person. Sure enough, this was the guy. Why, then, was he not prepared to speak with me? He only asked “is everything OK?” And I assured him it was.
After just a few awkward (and unproductive) moments, the call ended.
While I already had my suspicions about why this happened, I wanted to be sure. So, I re-checked the “from” address in those emails. While they definitely came from the correct company domain, they were not sent by the account manager himself. The emails were generated by sales software.
The confusion was (apparently) not his fault.
These emails were the result of some sort of an automated process. I don’t know if boilerplate text was imported by the sales people or whether it was generated by an LLM. But I do know it changed based on my reaction. When I didn’t respond, I received one type of follow-up. When I did, I received another.
It appeared the employee was unaware of the content of these (evidently) computer-generated interactions. They were speaking on his behalf, offering to fill a slot on his calendar, and pitching products he was supposed to sell me, but he was not personally involved!
The automated right hand didn’t know what the human left hand was doing. And instead of accomplishing the goal – upselling the customer (that’s me) – it just made our vendor, our sales person, and their automation software look bad.
To be clear, we are happy with this vendor and with their support staff. Their products are good. And we will continue to use them.
With that being said, I’ve been doing some research. This type of sales email automation is common. Some of the largest companies are offering “email automation with generative AI” or “lead generation and nurturing with machine learning,” among other more sensational descriptions.
I thought the prominently placed warning on one of their websites was instructive: “This tool uses generative AI, which is known to include inaccurate or harmful responses. Before sharing externally, review the output for accuracy and safety. You assume responsibility for the output when sharing.” This is a wise reminder.
Can I also recommend that customers are informed when they are interacting with a machine? Especially when the emails have a signature with a human name, introductions have personal greetings, and there are questions about the well being of myself and my co-workers.
I’m sure the sales person actually cares, but he may not be asking. Generative AI could be asking. If I would have said I was delayed because of a recent hospitalization (as one example) this may have been used to train the system, not inform a person. A person I would otherwise feel safe telling because of our previous professional interactions.
Can I also suggest that decision makers consider questions beyond speed, time savings, efficiency, and increased sales? There may be long-term implications for your reputation with customers. And those kinds of problems cannot be solved with a prompt.