Why Does Your “Bot” Want To Talk To Me?

We are in a period where automation has run amuck. “Bots” and Artificial Intelligence (with the emphasis on Artificial) are running our outreach campaigns. Whether through email, phone, social platforms, in our efforts to drive volume and velocity, we have surrendered everything to our automation tools.

Often, I get an outreach, I respond—which is fantastic for the sender. I ask, “What is it that you want to talk about, why do you think it is relevant to me?” “What do you know about our business that causes you to think we should talk?”

Most of the time, I get no response. I think it’s unusual, presumably they are tracking opens and responses. Maybe they are just interested in the data, not actually talking.

I suspect “Bots” don’t like questions, they seem to be programmed to act in send mode, struggling with receive mode.

Every once in a while, I get engaged with what I think may be a human being. I ask the same questions, most of the time they struggle with responding, as well. Usually, it’s “this is what I sell.” My response is, “What is it about my company that makes you think we want to buy?”

I have that conversation going on with one of the major video conferencing vendors. Somehow they want to sell me their “Telehealth” package to use with my clients. Some of my clients aren’t very healthy fiscally or business wise, but I don’t think a Telehealth subscription helps. I even wrote the CRO a note asking this. Their bot continues to send me messages about wanting to talk to me about Telehealth.

In all but the last example, I’m expressing a possible desire to engage, but somehow we never do. They seldom respond, we never talk.

I wonder if maybe the problem is on my side. Maybe I don’t know how to communicate in “Bot.” I went to Duolingo to try to enroll in a class to learn “Bot,” unfortunately, I couldn’t find one.

Perhaps we ought to start adding “Listening/Responding Bots” to our automation. By the way, if anyone has a “Bot” that can help me with my responses, call me, perhaps I can get my Bot to talk to other people’s Bots. It may be Bots just don’t want to engage with people.