6 Things You Should NOT Automate in Your Business

A few years ago, my mom bought my dad a Blackstone Griddle for Christmas. He immediately fell in love with his new toy, and for about a year and a half, almost every meal we had when we visited at home was made on that griddle. I’m talking hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, pancakes, smashburgers, egg rolls-in-a-bowl, stir fry, and anything else that could feasibly be made on a waffle-house-sized griddle. And while many of these meals were delicious, it hit a point where me and my siblings started having conversations along the lines of:

“Not… everything needs to be cooked on the Blackstone…”

“Yeah but who’s going to tell dad that?”

I mean there are some great meals that just aren’t griddle material, like homemade chili or chicken pot pie. Some stuff just has to be cooked a different way, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth cooking. Sometimes, when we business owners start automating our processes with a “shiny new toy”, it can be tempting to go overboard and automate everything. But there are some processes that really shouldn’t be automated. So here’s our short list of what NOT to automate in your business, and why you’ll thank me later if you don’t automate them.

The Dirty Half Dozen: What Processes Should Stay Manual?

1. High-Stakes Client Interactions

When nurturing important client relationships, knowing when to automate and when to add a personal touch is crucial. Consider this scenario: A promising prospect sends a detailed email requesting specifics about how you’d handle their project. While automation can help manage your communication flow, responding with a generic automated message (or that leads to continuing to receive a series of templated follow-ups) could quickly derail your chances of securing that contract.

Similarly, think about finishing up a significant project with a high-value client – one you’ve built a strong relationship with over months of working together. Even if your work has been exceptional, ending the relationship with an automated final invoice and a templated “thank you” message can leave a sour taste, potentially undermining all the rapport you’ve built.

The key is strategic communication. While automation tools can handle routine tasks like appointment reminders or basic updates, critical client touchpoints deserve personal attention. Your clients need to feel valued beyond their financial contribution. This means:

• Responding personally to detailed project inquiries
• Providing customized updates at key project milestones
• Adding personal notes to important documents like proposals and final invoices
• Taking time for real conversations during significant transitions

Remember, efficiency shouldn’t come at the expense of meaningful client relationships. While automation can streamline many aspects of your business, certain interactions require the nuance, empathy, and understanding that only human communication can provide. The goal is to find the sweet spot: using automation to handle routine tasks while preserving authentic human connection for moments that matter.

2. Complex Decision-Making Processes

Automations can streamline many business processes, from scheduling to data entry to basic inventory management. However, not everything should be automated, even in our increasingly digital world. While AI tools can enhance automations, it’s crucial to understand where human judgment remains irreplaceable.

Consider inventory management: Automating reorder points for existing stock based on historical data and current levels makes perfect sense. But critical business decisions that shape your company’s future shouldn’t be left to automated systems. For instance, while automation can flag potential opportunities, decisions about expanding into new product lines, setting strategic pricing, or fundamentally changing your inventory strategy require human insight, market understanding, and business acumen that can’t be automated.

The key is recognizing that automation works best with predictable, repeatable processes that follow clear rules. Complex decisions that require weighing multiple factors, understanding nuanced market conditions, or considering the human impact on your business and customers should remain in human hands. Don’t fall into the trap of automating simply because you can – especially when dealing with decisions that typically prompt the response “It depends.” Your experience, intuition, and ability to consider context are valuable assets that no automated system, even one enhanced by AI, can fully replace. And, more crucially, don’t overvalue the judgment of a computer – even a really smart one. 

3. Creative and Strategic Work

Creativity and strategic planning require nuanced human judgment that can’t be fully automated. While AI and automation tools can be valuable assistants in the creative process, they shouldn’t drive strategic decision-making or replace human creativity. The key is understanding where automation can support – rather than replace – creative work.

For example, imagine you’re developing a marketing campaign for a new product launch. Automation can streamline your workflow by:

• Automatically creating project folders and organizing assets
• Setting up recurring team check-ins
• Tracking deadlines and sending reminders
• Managing version control of creative files

However, the core creative elements – developing the campaign’s message, designing its visual identity, and crafting the strategic approach – need that human touch. You understand your audience’s emotions, cultural context, and unspoken needs in ways that automated systems cannot. Your team’s ability to connect seemingly unrelated concepts, draw from diverse experiences, and adapt to subtle market shifts is what drives truly innovative solutions.

Use automation to handle the routine tasks that support your creative process, freeing up more time for strategic thinking and creative development that only humans can provide. Let technology be the foundation that enables your creativity to flourish, rather than attempting to replace it.

4. Evolving Processes

Automating an evolving business process is like building a house on shifting sand. When your workflows are still being refined and adjusted frequently, rushing to automate them can create more problems than solutions. First, consider the immediate costs: you’ll need to invest significant time designing and implementing automations for processes that aren’t yet stable, spend resources training your staff on systems that will soon change, and potentially waste money on automation tools or development that may become obsolete soon.

As your processes mature, you’ll likely need to redesign and rebuild those automations from the ground up. This means dealing with complex data migration challenges when switching to new systems, putting your team through additional training cycles, and potentially disrupting your business operations during transitions.

Instead, wait until your process has proven itself stable and scalable. The right time to automate is when you can confidently say that your process has remained consistent for several months, when you thoroughly understand all unique cases and exceptions, and when your workflow can handle increased volume without major changes. Most importantly, you need to be certain that your team members are following the same steps consistently.

Remember, the goal of automation is to make your business more efficient – not to create additional work for future you.

5. Client-Specific Customizations

If you offer customized services, creating automation to bring clients a cookie-cutter solution is counterintuitive. Automating these highly customized services can undermine the very value you’re promising to deliver. When clients seek tailored solutions, they expect your service to adapt to their unique business needs – not conform to rigid, automated processes. While you shouldn’t avoid automation entirely, it should be reserved for supporting elements like payment processing or document management, not your core service delivery.

The key is balance: use automation to handle routine administrative tasks while preserving your ability to craft truly customized solutions. Remember, clients choose you for your expertise in understanding and adapting to their unique situations, not for delivering standardized solutions efficiently.

6. Crisis Management and Sensitive Situations

These situations require a personal touch. When clients face unexpected personal challenges or business emergencies that affect your work together, automated responses can damage relationships. Picture sending an automated “late fee notice” to a client who just lost a family member, or a cheerful templated “looking forward to our meeting!” message to someone whose business is facing a crisis. In these moments, it’s crucial to show empathy and emphasize human connection in your client interactions. Which means a one-size-fits-all automated reply will either make you seem like a robot or a tone-deaf scrooge who’s only interested in their money.

These delicate moments demand genuine human empathy and understanding – qualities that can’t be automated. Whether it’s rescheduling due to personal emergencies or adapting to sudden business challenges, your personal response shows clients you value them beyond just business metrics and timelines. Pay attention to client communications and make sure to show up as a person during crisis management and sensitive situations.

How to Learn More

Overall, this is only a general overview of what not to automate. If you’re looking for a more comprehensive conversation on what should not be automated in your business (and guidance on what to automate), watch Business Automation Secrets: Balancing Tech & Human Connection on our YouTube channel.