Thank You
Wow! This is edition #100 of The Baer Facts. I can barely believe I've been writing this newsletter 4+ years.
Sincere thanks to each of you for your support and encouragement. I appreciate it.
Made a few format changes, to keep it interesting. Let me know what you think.
The Impact of AI on Customer Experience
I'm talking a lot about this lately, as I think it's the new differentiator for most businesses.
Excellent conversation here on The CEO Project podcast.
Jay's Faves
I've never repeated a recommendation: until now.
Magai is simply the best way for you to tap into generative AI.
It includes ALL the AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Llama, Deepsink) + ALL the photo/video creation tools. All for one low price. Truly the only native AI subscription you need.
Created by my friend Dustin, and it just keeps getting better.
Book Report
My friend and former colleague Jason Keath is a sharp thinker about creativity and execution. I love his new book, The Case for More Bad Ideas.
Here's what I said on the back cover: "A quintessentially modern guide to unlocking your latent creativity. It's a rarity: equal parts inspirational, motivational, and actionable. Highly recommended."
I meant every word. Excellent read for people who make anything.
The Persuasive Power of the Personal Touch
In 2019, Yelp analyzed hundreds of thousands of restaurant reviews.
For every 5-star review that mentioned "great taste" or similar, THIRTEEN reviews mentioned "great service" or similar.
I derive two lessons from this.
Competency doesn't create conversation
You typically anticipate the food will be good at a restaurant you selected.
The food matching that expectation isn't often a catalyst for writing a review.
But excellent service in a restaurant is the exception, not the rule. Thus, when it occurs it exceeds expectations, and indeed can become the kindling that creates a word of mouth moment in the form of a review.
As I talk about in my keynote presentation about word of mouth, we discuss what is different and we ignore what is expected.
We are entering The Reality Revival
This new era will be dominated by automated digital interactions between people, and between people and companies.
In this AI-first existence, genuine human touches will STAND OUT even more than they have historically - because of their scarcity, and because of their emotional impact.
This is a huge opportunity for you.
You will embrace AI and automation. You won't have a choice, if you want to compete.
But, if you actually ADD EMPATHY alongside automation, you can outperform competitors who are simply trying to build the biggest mound of efficiency.
Mangoes Matter
I was reminded of the power of the personal touch, the empathetic gesture, the human connection when I recently interviewed S. N. Subrahmanyan, who leads a multi-billion dollar Indian industrial conglomerate.
He said that despite having massive corporate resources, sometimes the key to business is to meet customers face-to-face, share a nice meal, and actively listen to their needs.
He said his secret weapon is his delicious, rare mangoes which he brings to all key customer meetings.
Mangoes?
Billions of dollars.
More than 100,000 employees.
Massive technology and R&D budget.
And the key to making deals happen is.....mangoes.
In The Reality Revival, the impact of personal, human gestures will skyrocket as they become more scarce.
Get started now. Begin thinking about how you can ADD empathy alongside automation.
What's your version of mangoes?
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