Last week I received an email from my dental group: that I should come in for a checkup. At the bottom, a QR code to schedule an appointment via WhatsApp. No login, no new app download. Just making an appointment through the application where my entire work and personal life have already merged. My dental group understands how to use technology to remove friction. It works: less than a minute later I already had the conversation open.
But they should already know that, right? They contacted me, not the other way around. What's more, after all these years they should certainly remember that I always ask for the same dentist, that I always go to the same practice, and that I prefer to schedule my appointments as early in the day as possible. That information exists, it's sitting in their mailbox. I was too enthusiastic: had they used that data, a whole lot of friction would have been eliminated right away.
For years, companies invested in digital portals with promises of 24/7 customer service and the goal of reducing their overhead costs. In reality, many portals created more work than friction they removed: a double cost. WhatsApp is a good first step: it removes friction. But the problem was never the portal itself. The real bottleneck was that data didn't flow properly or wasn't being interpreted. After all, how does your digital portal handle written text asking to only schedule an appointment in the morning?
It shouldn't come as a surprise that these classic portals are losing their value right now. We've been spoiled by the speed at which we book an Uber or make a bank transfer. If an experience doesn't run that smoothly, it quickly feels like friction. And we're not used to that. A portal where you have to log in every time, manually search for information, or wait for a status update that isn't real-time, frustrates. So you just pick up the phone.
The latest language models understand context from heaps of unstructured data, can identify patterns, and autonomously determine actions. All without those actions needing to be pre-programmed according to fixed rules. They're changing the way we can use customer data and improve customer experience. Where classical automation until recently required fixed rules, AI can now handle the chaos of reality.
That allows my dental practice to infer from historical communication that I'm a morning person, always request the same regular dentist, and never switch practices. "Here are three available slots with your dentist in the early morning". That's all it would have taken to make even a dentist visit pleasant.
If you're not a dentist, you can follow that same thread. Even without astronomical investments, customers today can be made to feel unique and understood. That level of care is where loyalty is born. Let's be honest: how would you feel about your accountant if they proactively emailed you that a legislative change takes effect next month, impacts your situation, and what you can already do about it? Or your real estate agent emails you: "I know that during previous viewings you were put off by poor natural light. This property has a south-facing terrace and large windows. Want to take a look?"
It can now be automated. Because the easier it becomes for me to schedule my checkup appointment, the less often I'll skip it. And that pays off. Those who don't invest in this will sooner or later lose customers to those who do.
