[STRATEGIC INSIGHT] A.I. Proof Your Digital Service

Dear Digital Growth Operator, 

You've probably seen the headlines and buzz around A.I. taking over jobs, including white-collar roles:

"800 million global workers could be replaced by robots by 2030" - McKinsey & Company

"AI will be a significant factor in the future work lives of relatively well-paid managers, supervisors, and analysts" - Brookings Institution

"If you’re optimizing ads as an online marketer or a radiologist interpreting medical scans, all of these things take a long time for humans to be good at them. But when it comes to algorithms, once you have the right training data, they tend to be better than humans.” - CNBC

While existing roles, as we know them, will be replaced, we also know new jobs will be created. With this change comes new opportunities for you.

There is one strategic thing in your favor that is never going to go away as long as we are alive on this planet (or any other planet, for that matter):

🎧 Premium Audio Version of the Article:

(This is my real voice)

That one strategic average point in your favor is human nature.

We are communal beings. We yearn for human connection, we need one another, we are designed for connection.

So, what does that mean for your service?

Your relationships with your clients will be a strategic factor in the revolutionized economy.

This doesn't mean that you can offer a crummy service, underperform, and just believe that relationships will save you.

However, this does mean you can leverage strategic relationship building with your clients during your journey together.

I’ll give a real example.

I've had the opportunity to build several marketing agencies and consult some of the best in the world.

One of the marketing agencies I helped was once seen as a "vendor" to the client, just another hired piece of the marketing stack to take care of ads.

**Sigh** I know makes me shiver too just thinking about that. But we identified key factors as to why clients left.

Turns out, clients don't know their numbers well enough and may turn off a lucrative marketing campaign because they "can't justify the costs". We also identified that communication was a key factor in client satisfaction. And that makes sense, in a remote world over-communication is standard communication.

So, we set up a position to work hand in hand with clients to update, communicate and review their business from a strategic lens and went as far as even developing a marketing profit and loss statements for clients.

This changed the team's positioning from a "vendor" to a "strategic partner".

Did it take significant effort? Yes.

Did we have to enhance the business model? Of course.

Was it worth it? OH YEAH!

Those that rise to the occasion of opportunity and adapt will win, while those who fear change and disruption will be negatively affected.

How you see this opportunity is a key factor in your success.

I first published this in Aug 2020 and will continue to repeat:

The future of business is human.

The World Economic Forum seems to agree:

"In 2025, analytical thinking, creativity, and flexibility are among the top skills needed" - WEF

In other words, what we think of as "soft skills," aka being a highly functioning and effective human, will make the difference as machines begin to rise in the workplace.

Even Marc Andreessen, on his latest podcast ventures, has called for a push towards the refocus and love of the humanities. As technology evolves, we must go back to our values and what it means to be humans.

Soft skills will be rebranded as essential skills:

• The ability to read another person

• The ability to understand different points of view

• Grasping different levels of awareness and consciousness

• Building real relationships

• Driving business results while also enjoying the ride...

The journey matters.

Your journey matters since it determines your destination.

If we can take some insights from content marketing:

People either want to be entertained, learn something, or waste time.

Let's double-click on "being entertained" as you work with your clients.

Now, don't read me wrong, I'm not asking you to put on a spectacular show for your client's pleasure.

What I am saying is that you will have to perform.

The 2 part performance is:

1. Getting results

2. Having your clients enjoy the journey of working with you

Both are integral parts that make the entirety of the performance.

Your client’s journey begins well before they become a client:

I remember contracting an "industry leader" in the past… and wow, what a hassle! Just to get an agreement sorted. I thought to myself, if it's THIS hard just to start working with each other, how much harder will it be when we're actually engaging in the work?

Imagine how many other businesses will lose revenue over something as silly as forgoing their client's experience.

Remember: the style of how you do business, and how you operate, magnifies your personality.

Your power comes in choosing your style.

Right now, there are multiple businesses doing the exact same thing you do.

They may even do it better than you do, however, it's how you craft your experience, your value delivery, your relationship building, the core nucleus of your purpose, your beliefs and your personal business values that set you apart.

This is the genetic makeup that makes you uniquely you.

And just how, statistically speaking, there isn't another human being alive that is identical to you down to the cell, there is also no business that exists like yours, being run like yours and building relationships by you.

Make that your advantage.

It’s an honor to be a small part of your journey. 

Do Good Work, 

Raul 

Know someone that needs to read this? Consider sharing this with them. You may be the catalyst that opens them up to a new way of operating their business and experiencing life.