It's quite the week for major dealer news stories today!

Firstly there's the development that Henton & Chattel are moving into ag machinery alongside their groundcare business, with the taking on of the Kubota range. Elsewhere PSD say they now have the opportunity to expand their dealer network for Canycom following a visit by senor management from Japan and finally GreenMech are shuffling their dealer pack following changes to their network.

As well as these dealer-centric stories, on the manufacturer side you may have also already read the news about the Small Robot Company turning to crowdfunding following their lead investor pulling out at the 11th hour.

After what I guess must have been quite shock for all involved, it seems that through the enthusiasm of their community of investors, following the call for financial help being put out last week, they are almost at the point of safety for the time being. As of this morning (Friday May 12th 2023) they were at just over £1.4m raised, which is apparently 93% of the £1.5m total required to give them some breathing space to secure another lead investor on reasonable terms.

They say if this funding failed to have been generated, the alternative would have been that all investors would have lost everything and what they describe as the "revolutionary tech we’ve created from scratch" would have ended up not benefiting farmers or the planet.

I suppose what this crowd-raising of quite considerable funds in a such short period of time does prove, is that those amongst the company's supporters who know the world of agriculture intimately, clearly see a definite (and profitable) future for A.I powered technology in the sector - otherwise they wouldn't have stumped up the cash.

A.I in the dealership

Dealers will also know only too well just how much advanced, A.I-led developments are used in all manor of the equipment they sell these days. And not just agricultural machinery dealers either, who are well versed in the leaps and bounds being made in precision agriculture - commercial and domestic specialists alike will be seeing more and more instances in the tools they deal in where automation or data processing for example, is aided by artificial intelligence.

We've heard already this year as an example, from garden machinery dealers who are excited by the prospects that boundaryless robotic lawnmowers could offer to their customers and to their businesses. Also commercial dealers will be seeing more and more of their professional users putting automated equipment to use in settings where previously they would've had to enlist a human member of staff.

So A.I usage is clearly growing quickly in the brains of the machinery sold by our dealer readers. But where else might it eventually impact on their working lives?

Well, to potentially give an indication, I went straight to the robot's mouth and asked an A.I. Into ChatGPT I typed 'How might A.I help independent dealers of outdoor powered machinery?'

Instantly, the system reeled off a list, along with brief explanations of each point, of ways in which it suggested dealers could benefit. These included concepts such as demand forecasting; pricing optimisation; personalised recommendations; predictive maintenance; and process automation amongst others.

One that stood out to me though, as potentially either super helpful or super worrisome, depending on your point of view, was the following:

Virtual assistants and chatbots: AI-powered virtual assistants and chatbots can handle customer inquiries, provide information about products and services, and assist in the sales process. This automation reduces the dealer's workload, improves customer service, and ensures round-the-clock support for potential buyers.

So how does that sound to you, our dealer readers? Would that be a technological advancement that could help you with the smooth running of your business and enhance your customer service offering?

Or does it perhaps diminish your standing as a specialist expert in your field? If an algorithm can offer advice to end users and help sell machines, where does that leave your year's of experience?!

What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you fear The Terminator is on a mission to make you redundant or do you welcome any assistance that has the potential to lighten your workload?

Let us know in the comments below.