Why automation of work with the client sometimes does not help, but hinders

Over time (or immediately), the developers of any service or software product think about how to automate utilitarian user support operations.

Why issue an invoice manually if the program can do it? Why keep a logistician if the system itself can generate acts, sign it in the form of a picture and send it to the client? Why pay salaries to call center operators if you can organize support on the site through new-fashioned tickets and give a small money to one entry-level person who will respond to these tickets?
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Usually they create systems with rigidly defined business processes, where manual control is not only not required, but is not possible in principle. Why precisely such? First, they are easier and cheaper to program (we save!). And secondly, the qualifications of low-paid attendants (have you not forgotten what we save?) Turns out to be lower than the qualifications of the program. That is, the program knows how to issue an invoice and which fields must be filled in, but the employee does not.

At first, everyone is happy, the owner praises the director for savings (now this is streamlined around cost optimization). But then the problems begin.

The rigid system is not able to adapt to the requirements of the client. Not for the whims and other "Wishlist", but for fair demands, without the implementation of which the transaction does not make sense.
Someone does not like the name of the goods or services in the account. Someone needs to split the payment into two parts. Someone does not like the format of the acts.

The support service simply does not have the necessary qualifications to meet the client. And even if she had, the system does not provide manual control.

Recently, we used the services of one of the largest freelance exchanges. There it is possible to transfer money to the exchange, which she herself will pay to the performer if the work is done. And they sent us acts. Our accounting department clutched at the head - in the act next to the legal address was the postal address, and next to it were my contacts (telephone, email).
It is clear that this information does not belong in financial documents. These are service data, which determine where it is necessary to send paper forms (mail often does not reach the legal address) and with whom to contact about financial matters. But for some reason the programmer added them to the form of an act.

I started chatting with customer support. The correspondence is very slow, because the optimized service responded very slowly (yes, they save!). It is clear that there are no phones on the site, it is also impossible to talk with their financial services.

Support answered:

Hello.
Documents generate only those data that are listed in the "Finance" section. They are all generated, the possibility to add part of the data to the documents, to remove a part - not.
Unfortunately, accounting advice is not available, by phone, too.

My patience began to dry up. I wrote:

Hello.
We asked to remove the mailing address and my contacts in general from the documents.
Of course, I can remove, for example, the mailing address, but then how do you know where to send the documents?
Since when do financial documents indicate the postal address and contacts of individuals (my mail and telephone number) ??
Once again - please remove the mailing address and my mail and telephone number from the certificate. According to the rules of registration of financial documentation THERE MUST NOT BE THEM THERE! If I delete them from my profile, then HOW will you find out what address I send mail to?

And a day later, the support said:

Hello.
We wrote you the same way. It is impossible to delete something. The mailing address, like the rest of these finance pages, is affixed to the documents.
Since the secure transaction on the site. We are sorry, but the conditions of working with the service are the same for everyone. We cannot, with all our desire, remove or add something in the documents.
Sorry, but we cannot delete this information.

A curtain! Like, sorry, but we can not remove information from the document so that it complies with the legislation of the Russian Federation ...

Well, to be objective, I’ll give one more example, but I’ll tell you about the project that I am leading. Our time tracking system also has a personal account (LK). The previous team considered LC a great advantage, since most of the competitors do not have this.

But I consider it a brake and a deterrent.

• First, in order to use LC, it is necessary to have a minimum, but training. Once in a large store, I decided not to stand in a queue of two people and walked to the self-service checkout. While I “worked as a cashier” and tried to scan all barcodes, a professional cashier served four people. That is, we shift our duties (invoicing) to the client.
• Secondly, it was very hard to work with partners. They are used to purchasing licenses from a software manufacturer and selling to end customers. And we have a license sold only through the LC. It was necessary to get out and imitate for a partner to work with a finisher.
• Third, the savings still did not work. We cannot afford to behave with clients as representatives of the freelancers exchange described above, we will remain so without clients. Therefore, our managers are still involved in the process, customers are called, after buying proactively advising, etc. Then what is the role of LC?

As a result, we had to urgently rewrite the Personal Account, adding “manual control”, functionality for partners and simplifying it radically, so that clients would not have to learn how to work with it.

Therefore, before you think about writing such a system for your product or service, then determine what the system will be useful for the client, not just for you and how you can bypass the limitations of the system that respond to specific customer requests.

Good luck to your business!

Andrey Ignatov