Automation is often sold to SMEs now as a necessary, sensible, and grown-up business decision. It saves time, reduces costs, and keeps things moving when teams are stretched.

And sometimes, it works really well.

But sometimes, it just doesn’t. Sometimes it creates uncertainty, anxiety, and that horrible feeling customers get when something has gone wrong, and there’s no obvious human on the other side.

Recently, I experienced both ends of the automation spectrum, and the contrast couldn’t have been clearer.

I needed to amend my car insurance. Normally, I’d brace myself for a long phone call, hold music, and being passed from person to person. Instead, everything had to be done through an app. No phone number. No “speak to an advisor” option.

I’ll be honest, my expectations were low.

But the experience was excellent. The process was clear. I understood what I was changing and why. Confirmation came quickly. I felt in control and reassured throughout.

The result? When it came time to take out new insurance, I did shop around, but then thought ‘I know these guys. They’ve been great. Why am I shopping around? If they can be in the price ballpark, let’s have them!’

That’s automation working for the customer. And as a marketer, you can see the knock-on effect immediately: trust, loyalty, repeat business.

Now for the other side…

I recently placed an order for a full weekend experience, not a small purchase, and something my family and I have been really looking forward to. I paid for three places. The receipt I received confirms… one. (yes, that thud is my heart hitting the floor…).

There is no phone number. No live chat. No obvious way to speak to a human being. Just a customer service portal where you submit a message and hope for the best.

And this is where the customer experience is much less favourable.

Because now I’m not thinking about your brand, your values, or even how good the experience usually is. I’m thinking:

That last point matters more than businesses sometimes realise. This isn’t a delayed parcel or a minor admin error. This is a shared experience, time booked off, excitement building, and a very real fear of disappointment.

This is customer panic. And it is avoidable.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth; in my opinion, many automated systems are designed primarily for business efficiency, not customer reassurance.

From a marketing point of view, that’s a problem.

Because marketing doesn’t stop at the sale, it doesn’t stop at the confirmation email. It lives on in how safe, informed, and supported a customer feels when something doesn’t go to plan.

UK SMEs, in particular, often pride themselves on being more human than big corporates. But when automation is implemented with less than maximum care for the customer, it can quietly erase that advantage.

If you’re a founder, business leader, or marketer using or considering automation, here are some responsible questions worth asking:

Plus, from a sustainability pov, we often talk in terms of materials, supply chains, and emissions, and rightly so. But there’s also something deeply responsible about designing systems that don’t leave people feeling powerless.

Responsible organisations take ownership of the full customer experience, including moments of uncertainty. They recognise that emotional impact matters, that real people, families, and expectations sit behind every transaction.

Automation can absolutely support that, but only if it’s built with care, transparency, and empathy; and ideally from the start, at the design point rather than the end result.

My car insurance app made me feel confident and looked after. My recent order made me feel anxious, unheard, and worried about letting my family down.

Both were automated. Only one felt responsible to me.

And that’s the difference UK SMEs need to pay attention to, not just for better marketing, but for better business.

(** There is a caveat here, as you might say, ‘well, just don’t buy from them again, vote with your feet!’ But I know that the business that didn’t deliver the more positive experience is a small team, one that does care, and one in an industry that struggles for support, funding and recognition. So, it’s not about ditching them, it’s about highlighting what could be done better, highlighting the pain points of experience to them, sticking with them because we value them and what they deliver, and sharing these stories to educate and inform.)