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Lorikeet News Desk
Jul 1, 2025
TL;DR
Dr. Leo Carlson of Norvado discusses a customer-first approach in rural markets, prioritizing human connection over automation.
In small communities, accountability and personal interactions are crucial, with customers expecting genuine human contact.
Carlson advocates for a balanced AI adoption that enhances service without eroding trust, focusing on quality improvements rather than replacing human agents.
What the big companies can learn from us is a true customer-first mentality. They focus on profitability first, customer second. We focus on customer first, profitability second. I would rather lose a sale than lose a customer.
Dr. Leo Carlson
Chief Customer Service, Sales & Marketing Officer | Norvado
The rush to over-automate customer experience is eroding trust. Big tech sells efficiency at scale, but in rural markets, that comes at too high a cost. In these communities, ROI isn’t always measured in transactions, but in handshakes.
Dr. Leo Carlson is the Chief Customer Service, Sales & Marketing Officer at Norvado, the largest independent telecom cooperative in Wisconsin. In a region where handshakes still matter, he’s proving that the future of CX in rural America doesn’t have to sacrifice human connection for automation.
People over profits: “What the big companies can learn from us is a true customer-first mentality,” Carlson says. “They focus on profitability first, customer second. We focus on customer first, profitability second. I would rather lose a sale than lose a customer.” This mindset forges lasting loyalty, transforming satisfied customers into a company's most powerful and credible marketing force.
Small town, big expectations: Accountability is baked into small communities. “The benefit of being in a rural area is we that see our customers at the grocery store, at the football game, at church,” Carlson explains.
This reality is compounded by an aging demographic that values genuine human connection. “I want my customers to always know whether they're talking to a real human or an AI,” he says. “They need to have the ability to talk to a real person at any given time when they're ready to.”
It’s not that I don’t trust AI, or that the capabilities aren’t there. I just don’t want to remove that personal touch that’s so ingrained in our culture.
Dr. Leo Carlson
Chief Customer Service, Sales & Marketing Officer | Norvado
No keys to the kingdom: That philosophy drives his rejection of the “keys to the kingdom” approach to AI. “It’s not that I don’t trust AI, or that the capabilities aren’t there. I just don’t want to remove that personal touch that’s so ingrained in our culture.” The challenge isn’t whether to adopt AI, but how to do it in a way that preserves the human connection customers require.
“As the younger generations come up, we're going to be able to implement more and more AI tools,” he says. “But we have to do so without it eroding customer trust, making sure that we're providing the right guardrails and not trying to do it too fast. We can't lose focus on our core customer base.”
The quality assist: Carlson’s AI strategy starts small: not with agent replacement, but by giving his quality manager a superpower. “We get a lot of calls every month and there's no way to manually check every call,” he notes. “But an AI tool could pinpoint problem areas and guide us through the fix.” It’s a focused first move that keeps customer experience personal while making it more effective.