Originally Posted by
Capt Kremmen
I'm puzzled by this continuous reference to 'prospects'. At which point in our busy and exciting lives did customers become 'prospects' ?
When abundant supplies surpass the demand. I mean, in case supply & demand is in balance, we buy from the most convenient / closest source after the basic checks (price levels, quality). So if your business is OK in that aspect, whoever walks in, will buy something, prospect = customer.
When supply is much greater than demand, buyers try to take advantage of this, and test all possible options to see where they can gain the lowest price with highest quality. So they will constantly walk in and out of all the shops available to them, sometimes repetitively, yet, they will only purchase in one shop. This is when some people make themselves prospects and get treated differently from customers. (Not necessarily in an unpolite way, but certainly on a different track.)
Sorry for being a little off-topic here, but this connects well to the statement about contracting / shrinking General Aviation scene.