What Finally Convinced Me AI is Real
A funny little excerpt from a recent keynote speech about AI strategy for business.
My new AI presentation is rocking. Details are here.
How to Build a Personal Brand That Actually Works
Brian and Brad from The Success Happy Hour talked to me about how I weave my tequila brand into my speaking and consulting business. Hopefully, you'll find that useful!
Jay's Faves
I just started using Beeper, and I think I love it.
I get lots of messages on WhatsApp, Linkedin, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. Having to check all those inboxes is a hassle.
Beeper takes ALL of those messages and puts them into one interface. Desktop and mobile. And it's free. (eventually, they'll have a paid upgrade to add multiple accounts per network, etc)
Now, I can check email, text messages, and Beeper and have all inboxes covered. It also works with Discord, Signal, Telegraph, X, Google Chat, and a few others.
Book Report
Tired of your people not jelling? THIS is the book you need. My pal Rachel DeAlto's new work is The Relatable Leader: Create a Culture of Connection. It comes out Tuesday, but a pre-order today would be a big help.
It's not the typical leadership book, and that's why I love it. Funny. Insightful. Modern. Thoughtful. Super helpful and lots of feels. Grab it if you manage people in any capacity.
Why You Need to Keep it Real For Your Customers
A voice mail.
An honest-to-goodness real voice mail from an actual human being.
I don't get many of those these days, do you?
In New York last week, I stayed at the Hotel Giraffe for the first time.
Nice, boutique property near Madison Square Park. Reasonable price (which is not a given, because NYC hotels are as pricey as a lock of Taylor Swift's hair these days).
Three days before check-in, Amber from the hotel called. (I sent it to voice mail, obviously. I'm not a sociopath who actually ANSWERS their phone when it's an unknown caller!)
Amber just wanted to confirm the reservation, and see if there was anything I needed before arrival.
WOW!
Not a text. Not an email. (although she did send one afterwards). Not a robot using its computer brain to send an automated message on a triggered schedule.
As we enter this AI era, perhaps kicking and screaming along the way, something important is happening. And it's an opportunity for you. And for me.
The opportunity is to KEEP IT REAL
The more AI, efficiency, and automation are embraced (and they will be, the financial benefits are too enormous to ignore), the rare instances of human touch will stand OUT like never before.
Imagine you're in an aviary. Nothing but birds all around. And then you see a rabbit hop by. Instantly you'll think "Hey, that's weird. What's that rabbit doing around here?"
This is the way genuine, human contact will work in the near future. AI and automation are the birds. Human kindness and empathy - keeping it real, not robotic - is the rabbit.
Not long ago I was delivering a presentation to a large, Canadian bank. Until recently, when customers finished paying off a home loan, the bank would send an email and then deduct $250 for a loan disposition fee.
That's a real kick in the nuts, eh?
Now, to Keep it Real, the chief loan officer calls the customer personally to congratulate her on paying off the note, and then gives her a $250 Visa gift card.
Does the bank "lose" $500 because they made that switch? Mathematically, yes. But the goodwill and word of mouth gained is worth a LOT more than $500, I'd wager.
Of course, this approach would work two years ago. Or 10 years ago. Or a generation ago.
But it works BETTER today and will work EVEN BETTER next year, because all of us are going to be enveloped by AI and automation to the degree that actual human contact can become a meaningful business differentiator.
In a flock of birds, how can you be the rabbit?
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