We feature an interesting story today, that I think clearly illustrates what is becoming an increasingly important sector for many of our dealer readers.

Barrus recently held a series of training sessions for members of their network who represent the Segway brand of robotic mowers. Nothing too unusual about that - all suppliers regularly hold such events. It was however, a couple of statistics within the story that struck me as noteworthy.

Firstly, the company reported that over 170 dealer colleagues attended the training - and secondly the demand was such that the sessions had to run across eight consecutive days. Now, I'm not saying we should be informing the Guinness Book Of World Records, but those numbers do feel kind of significant. Would any robotic mower supplier have seen that demand even say, five years ago?

I'd wager that Barrus themselves are pleased with how the uptake for the Segway brand specifically is progressing, but more widely this feels like a decent indicator for the rise in popularity that robotic mowers are finding amongst specialist dealers and their customers.

A couple of weeks ago when Duncan and I made our road-trip around some of our dealer readers' premises, we were told by several that robotic solutions are an area viewed as offering a distinct opportunity for growth this year. In a year where there are a myriad of obstacles being thrown in dealers' paths for a smooth-sailing season, robots were repeatedly cited as a potential bright spot.

Perhaps one reason for this up-tick is something that a couple of dealers who we met remarked upon - and that's the prevalence in the last year or so of robots that do not require a boundary wire. This seems to have really struck a chord with domestic customers, especially so with the high-end purchaser who might have previously favoured a lawn tractor. So much so, that a couple of dealers told us that these satellite controlled ones have pretty much made the older, wired models obsolete. 

So today, we're running a short survey to gauge dealers' views on the technology this season. Is your dealership seeing the machines take off like never before? Or is still not quite happening in your local areas?

We're hearing that dealers who are finding success with robotics aren't just seeing positive movement in the homeowner sphere either. Professional users are increasingly utilising the units to fill a recruitment gap. Dealers are selling the larger models into golf courses or estates for example, with ever increasing frequency. What was until quite recently an unusual sight of robots trundling around fairways, is becoming a new normal.

Last year when we asked you, our dealer readers, for your thoughts on the market, the needle had clearly shifted positively from where it had been when we had last asked five years before. But now one year on, has that positivity further increased - and rapidly so?

Or, as some told us last year, are robots just not for you and your customers? For example one respondent 12 months ago said, "It remains a confusing market for us with not many sales each year, with the occasional sale disrupting the natural flow of the dealership." Does this still ring true for any of you?

We have a few brief questions we'd appreciate your feedback on today and space for you to leave your thoughts on the current market. As ever, we'll bring you the results and as many of your comments as we can in the next issue of Service Dealer magazine.

Thanks in advance for your help.

TAKE THE SURVEY