I received a call from a blogger who had written a blog post that she was convinced I needed to read and would wholeheartedly agree with. I visited her site and read a compelling argument about how consumer behaviors are begging for more automated services.

She accurately listed several factors, such as:

• Buyers are wary of being contacted and sold to over the phone.

• Buyers don’t want to be “sold” or given fluff-filled marketing materials.

• Buyers want to buy when and how they want to buy.

• Most buyers ask the same questions and seek the same information.

Her conclusion was that all of these truths led to the conclusion that automating customer contact was the perfect solution. I disagree.

We can’t evaluate what humans want based on their behaviors and logic alone. Though we are indeed busier than ever, and we do multitask constantly, we still crave interaction – especially if we’re stressed out, trying to solve a problem or dealing with something we deem very important.

Isn’t that when your customers seek you out? Don’t you help solve their problems? Isn’t what you sell them of high importance to them? That’s when they need human contact the most. That’s when you can connect at a level that creates loyalty and even love.

Don’t automate yourself out of the process at the exact moment you should be most present. Automation is great for providing information. But it’s a lousy substitute when your prospects want to be reassured or comforted, or to talk through a problem.

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2010 Drew McLellan