While AI brings benefits, it cannot offer exceptional customer service

I was reassured by Lucy Huxley’s article in the July 17 edition of Travel Weekly, which reminded us that human interaction is a priceless aspect 
of all businesses’ service proposition.  

Artificial intelligence is already crucial as we strive to become more efficient – and it’s delivering extraordinary results – but the clue is in the name: it’s artificial. If your business is focused on delivering highly personal service to sophisticated human beings, there’s a risk that the AI proposal won’t work; the client may sense that something isn’t quite right. Unfortunately, clients don’t always tell you why they didn’t like your proposal – they just book elsewhere, and become someone else’s customer.

Generally, technological developments such as AI have the most dramatic effect on larger businesses, where volume is key; these larger enterprises can become more efficient, cutting major costs quickly by reducing the number of employees. This might allow them to achieve the dream scenario: satisfying consumers by making products cheaper, while marketing on price rather than personal service.

The market is expected to become more polarised: successful businesses becoming expert at making mass-market service effective but cheaper, versus smaller, Aito‑style specialists making discerning clients more satisfied via exceptional personal service (something tricky for AI to replicate).

High-end clients are happy to pay a premium as long as their expectations are exceeded, every time they book. As ever, beware the middle ground: consumers dissatisfied with the price and disillusioned by the service. The travel graveyard is full of businesses that were neither one thing nor the other.

Changed times

As we approach Kirker’s 40th anniversary, I was reminded that, in 1986, when we started out, IT was in its infancy – there were still many typewriters in the Kirker office. Everything was a manual task: we typed out itineraries and invoices; flights were booked by telephone, direct with the airline; we collected paper tickets; and we paid by cheque. We also often hand-delivered documents to West End travel agencies, especially if we wanted to impress an agent by so doing personally.  

Technology moved on and we swapped the Telex for a fax machine, and Mr Kirker splashed out on a photocopier, saving trips to Rymans at 5p per copy. Eventually, despite a tight cost-control policy, we bought a company mobile phone; a strong arm or small trolley was needed to carry it! 

Personal service

I made visits to travel agencies on my bike or, if venturing out of town, in my Mini. I was desperate to persuade counter staff that they should give Kirker a try. My mantra? “Kirker is a new company offering very personal service, carefully chosen hotels, private transfers – and we always answer the phone within three rings!”

Most travel agents smiled, politely explaining that there were already many operators offering city breaks – Time Off, Cresta, Paris Travel Service, Magic and Simply Travel – all great businesses, with more automated processes. I was told “agents don’t need another city-break specialist” and I’d be “well-advised to seek out a less competitive sector”. Fortunately, one or two agents tried us (special thanks to Dorothy and Andry at 2001 Travel, and Tim and Peter Giles at World Market Travel in Bath – both trusted us with many bookings, and are still in business today).

The question is, of all those wonderful companies that dominated the short-break sector in the late 1980s, where are they now? I am sorry to say that, following a period of domination of the middle ground, they lost their way and slipped into the abyss. Meanwhile, thanks to great support from our agent friends, Kirker continues to thrive . . . and our AI skills aren’t bad, either. However, what we really focus on – as recommended by this magazine’s editor – are our human interaction skills and delivering exceptional personal service.