“We tried automation and the bots kept breaking”

Finance Director · Integration and automation

A Finance Director whose bots broke every time a screen changed has a real reason to be sceptical: the automation promised savings and delivered maintenance instead. Don't say "ours is different" straight away. Find out what broke, and what it cost, then answer that specifically.

What the buyer says

We tried automation before. The bots broke every time a screen changed, and we never saw the savings.

How to handle it

Listen

Hear both halves: "the bots broke" and "we never saw the savings". The first is about how fragile the automation was. The second is about trust in the business case.

Acknowledge

Agree that automation that breaks whenever a system changes costs more than it saves, and that it's fair to be wary of trying again.

Explore

Ask which processes the bots ran, how they worked (by copying what a person does on screen, or by connecting to the systems directly), how often they broke, and who fixed them. Ask how the savings were measured, and what they expected to see.

Respond

Answer the specific failure. If the bots broke because they depended on screens, explain how your approach handles change differently, and be honest about what still needs maintenance. Agree how success would be measured before anything starts.

Say this
“That's a fair reason to be wary. Automation that keeps breaking costs more than it saves.”

Say this
“Which processes were the bots running, and what made them break?”

Say this
“How were you measuring the savings, and what would you need to see this time?”

Variations

Head of Shared Services: “We spent more time fixing the bots than doing the work.”
CFO: “The last automation business case never paid back.”

Questions people ask

How do you respond when a buyer says their last automation project failed?

Ask what broke and what it cost before you say anything about your product. Find out which processes were automated, why the automation failed and how savings were measured, then answer that specific failure and agree how success will be measured this time.

Why does screen-based automation break?

Automation that works by copying what a person does on screen depends on those screens staying the same. When a system is updated or a layout changes, the automation can stop working until someone fixes it.