Well that might be a bit dramatic, but he’s certainly not feeling well right now if the chat at IAM last month was anything to go by.  Moving estimators, salesmen, surveyors, whatever you choose to call them would have been forgiven for assuming that their job at least was never going to be taken by a robot.  Sorry folks.  They are here. And not a squeaky voice or a ray gun in sight.  

It seems that it’s the latest trend.  Instead of sending out surveyors, driving 70,000 miles a year, burning fossil fuels and living on motorway food … you just call the customer on a video phone and ask them for a guided tour of the house.  Saves money, is quicker, is better than a survey form, helps protect the planet … oh yes, and puts the salesman out of work.  I knew there had to be a catch. 

And it doesn’t stop there.  Last month we ran a story about SurveyBot – other video survey products are available – that even does some of the calculations for you and links to the back office system so you don’t have to know how to type.  Well not very well at least.   

If you think it’s impossible to do a survey in this way you have to remember that the person on the office end of the video is an experienced estimator who knows what questions to ask, knows the tricks customers sometimes play to ‘pull the wool’, and understands how furniture fits together when packed for export. But a salesman trying to build a rapport with a customer via a three-inch screen – Arghh! And what happens when all the experienced people are dead?  

But consider how much it costs to do a survey - £100 if it’s local, much more if it’s a long way off.  If your competitors do it and you don’t, you are never going to compete.  Consider too that young people nowadays want to do things online.  They don’t much care for human interaction and are not prepared to stay in all afternoon watching Jeremy Kyle waiting for you to turn up.  They want a quote now!  

I spent nearly 20 years on the road as a salesman.  I enjoyed it and was reasonably successful.  But still I see the sense in finding an easier way and, as the world becomes increasingly ‘virtual’ it seems the writing is on the wall for the briefcase, the engaging smile and the sharp suit.  Oh well.  RIP.