The new customer expectation: AI as the baseline, not the exception

A new reality for revenue and retention

McKinsey’s long-running research on personalisation delivers a clear message: companies using data-driven AI to tailor their offerings achieve 10 to 15 percent revenue uplifts. That’s not a marginal gain—it’s the difference between growth and stagnation in today’s market.

But beneath those numbers lies a deeper truth. Customers and members have quietly recalibrated their expectations. They now benchmark your service speed against AI-augmented experiences everywhere else in their lives—instant answers from banking chatbots, eerily accurate streaming recommendations, predictive text that finishes their sentences.

When alternatives are only one click away, organisations that cannot match this baseline face a stark reality: churn isn’t just possible, it’s probable.

The great expectations reset

Think about your own experiences as a consumer. When did you last wait three days for an email response and think “that’s perfectly reasonable”? When was the last time you filled out the same form twice without a flicker of frustration?

Your members feel the same way. They don’t care that you’re an SME, a non-profit, or that you’ve “always done things this way.” They care that Amazon knows what they want before they do, that their banking app responds at midnight, and that Netflix seems to read their mind.

This isn’t about competing with tech giants on their terms. It’s about recognising that the baseline for “good service” has fundamentally shifted. AI hasn’t just raised the bar—it’s moved it to a different postcode entirely.

The paralysis of choice

The need for AI adoption is clear. The path forward? Less so. From sales to customer service, AI can add value everywhere. But with so many options, knowing where to begin can feel overwhelming.

Should you start with a chatbot? Invest in predictive analytics? Build a recommendation engine? Train staff on ChatGPT? Vendor pitches blur together, each promising transformation, each requiring investment.

This paralysis is understandable. You’re not just choosing a tool—you’re potentially reshaping how your organisation operates. Get it wrong, and you risk not only wasted resources but damaged relationships.

Starting where it matters most

Organisations succeeding with AI aren’t trying to “boil the ocean.” They’re starting with specific member pain points and working backwards.

• Member engagement: AI can segment membership, predict churn, and recommend next actions. Instead of broad emails ignored by most, you’re having personalised conversations members value.
• Customer service: AI assistants trained on your own knowledge base deliver instant, accurate, and consistent responses—whether it’s 9am Monday or 9pm Friday. No more “let me check and get back to you.”

These aren’t futuristic concepts—they’re practical applications already delivering measurable impact.

Making adoption manageable

This is where structured approaches like gecco’s prove their worth. Instead of leaving you to navigate endless possibilities, gecco provides a curated library of over 100 pre-built assistants, each designed for a specific business task.

The method is simple: start with clear pain points, implement proven solutions, and expand from success. Discovery sessions identify where AI can make the biggest impact. Training ensures staff are comfortable with the tools. Core Documents guarantee outputs stay on-brand and accurate.

Most importantly, it reframes the core question: not “what can AI do?” but “what should AI do for us, right now?”

The competitive reality

Every day you delay, members compare you to their AI-enhanced experiences elsewhere. They don’t see your internal debates. They just notice that their gym app understands them better than you do.

The good news? You don’t need Amazon’s AI. You just need to demonstrate that you value your members’ time, understand their needs, and commit to serving them better. Sometimes that’s as simple as answering questions instantly instead of eventually.

Ultimately, this isn’t about technology. It’s about what technology enables: stronger relationships, better service, and value delivered at the speed members now expect. The question isn’t whether to adopt AI—it’s how quickly you can reach the new baseline before your members choose someone who already has.