Humans vs. Robots: Why the Human Touch isn't Dead

Robots and automated systems are great for vacuuming houses, data entry, and car washes, but some things are just better left to humans. Here’s why robots just can’t replace the human connection in regards to customer service and freight shipping quotes.

Customer Service

Have you ever called an automated phone service, which is meant to speed up a process, only to repeat all of your answers multiple times and be connected to a representative who asks you to repeat everything you told the robot? Frustrating, huh?

One aspect of business that a robot simply should not attempt to overtake is customer service. An automated system isn’t capable of understanding tone or emotion, or expressing empathy; all qualities that a good customer service rep should have. That robot isn’t going to understand the severity of your need, that your livelihood depends on your call being answered and solved, or the complexity of any issues you’re having.

In the battle between robots and humans, humans still win in this category. After all, who wants to call in to get help with their account or a shipment, explain the entire situation, only to have a robot say, “I didn’t get that, please press 2”?

Freight Shipping Quote

While some 3PLs boast an automated system that can spit a shipping quote back to you within just a few minutes, or even instantaneously, this might not actually be a service that’s all it’s cracked up to be. While it may be easier to communicate all of the details about the shipment including the origin and destination, weight, and commodity, it’s not as easy to establish a relationship with the actual human being that will be handling not only your quote, but your account moving forward.

Trinity is a company that still values relationships. While we don’t have an automated quote form on our website that can deliver a freight shipping quote immediately, we have dedicated sales representatives on standby to answer the phone calls and emails of anyone in need.

We believe that talking to an actual person can help us get to know our customers, their businesses, and needs better. The better we know a customer, the better we can serve them by offering other relevant services and the most cost-efficient methods of shipping their freight.

Sure, a form can ask where your business is located, but a person on the other end of the line might have grown up in the same area, know it like the back of their hand, and be able to figure out the best way to route your shipments. An online form might compute a shipping quote based off the commodity, but an account manager that’s been handling your shipments for years might be able to negotiate contracted rates based off of the volume of shipments you have throughout the year.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line here is that robots are awesome for some aspects of business, and even the transportation industry benefits from ideas like self-driving trucks and automated warehousing robots. However, some parts of the business world should be left to the human touch. At Trinity, we place high value in speaking directly with each of our customers and carriers and establishing a working relationship that can withstand the ebbs and flows of business, economy, and life.

To speak to a trusted Trinity adviser, click here.