I’ve been looking at cars recently, and marketing is constantly running through my mind. Car dealerships spend tons of money on advertising, leads, and internet marketing, but it really comes down to the salesperson. If you think about it, this is true in most sales transactions.
As I visited different dealers I met many different salespeople. Each had their own personality and style to getting you to their sales milestones (engage, test drive, and financing). There was one that stood out the most, not because he was a particularly good salesman, but because once we started to talk numbers, he assumed I was going to buy the car. He was so confident he even had the staff prepare the car I was looking at for the purchase. He was very surprised to see that I walked away from the deal because the numbers didn’t work out. It reminded me of the saying “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
In marketing, nothing is ever a sure thing. Never assume that your sale is done until you receive payment and your customer has left with the product. Even then, any good business person knows this is just the beginning of a long-term business relationship.