A dealer in Almaty advertises a base trim on its website and Kolesa. The last one sold yesterday, but the ads keep bringing enquiries. A salesperson offers a more expensive version, the buyer disputes the price, and the CRM records "bad lead" as the loss reason.
The marketer has a job before the next launch: connect the offer to a car the dealer can supply on the stated terms. This example uses illustrative figures. Advertising, inventory and sales share one availability record, and campaign results can be followed through to handover.
Availability belongs to a car and its terms
One model can have different trims, model years, prices and delivery times. "We have that model" does not establish whether the advertised version is available.
The dealer has twelve cars not yet handed over. Four are available for sale, two reserved and six in transit. Cars already sold and delivered remain separately in the history.
| Status | Cars | What the buyer can be told |
|---|---|---|
| Available for sale | 4 | Purchase terms for these particular cars |
| Reserved | 2 | Current reservation and a possible next step |
| In transit | 6 | Ordering terms and the wait for delivery |
| Total not yet handed over | 12 | Inventory composition, without promising all twelve today |
The ad opens a car with the same identifier or a clearly defined group of trims. Its record contains status, price and conditions, collection location and update time. Inventory owns the status, marketing owns the page and ad, and the salesperson owns what is promised in conversation.
After a sale, the record must change everywhere it is active: the ad, website listing and salesperson's guidance. Agree who removes the offer and how delays are detected. Stale data cannot support an immediate-handover promise just because the old listing is still visible.
The "Unavailable offers" section of the Google Ads misrepresentation policy prohibits promoting an unavailable offer or one difficult to find on the landing page. Check other channels' rules before launching there too. Taking an enquiry for future delivery should be described as an order involving a wait.
Buyers can take different paths
Not every buyer needs finance, trade-in and a test drive. A successful purchase without one of those steps remains a purchase. Record actual events and the chosen path instead of forcing every buyer through identical reporting stages.
Keep test-drive bookings and completed test drives separately, just as reservations and handovers are separate. A rescheduled visit retains its original enquiry link: a new date must not add a new customer.
Someone may call first, then message on WhatsApp and submit a form. Touchpoints help preserve history, but unique-enquiry counts need them combined under an agreed rule. A matching phone helps locate possible matches; a salesperson confirms whether they concern one request.
An end-to-end report connects source, enquiry and outcome. If a buyer chooses another model, retain both the initial interest and the delivered car. Two models in the history do not create two sales.
Cost per form, visit and handover
Take a hundred new unique enquiries from one campaign, each observed for 90 days after its first contact. Twenty people booked a test drive, twelve attended and three took delivery. All three buyers in this group had a test drive, although other groups may take different paths.
Advertising cost 300,000 ₸.
| Group outcome | Calculation | Ad spend per result |
|---|---|---|
| Unique enquiry | 300,000 / 100 | 3,000 ₸ |
| Test-drive booking | 300,000 / 20 | 15,000 ₸ |
| Completed test drive | 300,000 / 12 | 25,000 ₸ |
| Buyer who took delivery | 300,000 / 3 | 100,000 ₸ |
A presentation can easily retain the 15,000 ₸ booking cost and call it cost per visit. Actual attendance costs 25,000 ₸. Changing the outcome label changes what the number means.
The 100,000 ₸ per buyer includes only ad spend. Sales staff, creative production and other acquisition costs can increase full CAC. Assessing a deal also needs contribution after the car's cost and costs associated with selling it.
The 90-day window belongs in the label too. A later handover updates the group's result. Do not divide current-month sales from older enquiries by this month's new enquiries: they have had different amounts of time to buy.
A loss reason should suggest a repair
"Poor-quality lead" combines an unavailable car, an unsuitable price and a conversation that never happened. It cannot tell you what to change in the ads.
Keep the offer version, trim of interest, availability at contact time, desired purchase timing and next agreed step. Record reasons that point to an action:
- Requested car unavailable: update the offer and reconcile inventory.
- Price or timing unsuitable: retain the stated condition and assess whom the ad targets.
- Suitable offer available: agree the next step with sales.
- Contact unsuccessful: leave the person's reason unknown.
The last outcome cannot establish demand quality. Investigate lead handling before judging the channel. Financial documents and credit-application details belong in a secure process, outside advertising parameters.
The advertised price survives the conversation
A car's full price and a monthly finance payment answer different questions. The buyer needs the conditions affecting the calculation and eligibility. A marketer cannot promise approval to everyone: that decision follows the financing process.
Trade-in works similarly. A preliminary valuation and the final offer after inspection may differ. Explain what is provisional and what remains to be established. Sales uses the same terms.
Before launch, follow an enquiry as a buyer, from the ad to the sales offer. If a mandatory condition only revealed during the conversation changes the price, repair the original offer. Salespeople should not have to rescue a promise the dealer cannot fulfil.
Service revenue still has to happen
Handover may begin a servicing relationship, but the customer may choose another garage. Future contribution should not be added to the sale as money already earned.
Customer-base value needs actual service visits for buyers observed over equal periods. Deduct parts, labour, discounts and other associated costs from service revenue. Show contribution earned and forecasts for future years separately.
Separate warranty obligations, paid servicing based on need and additional offers too. Build forecasts from comparable customers' observed behaviour, retaining the assumptions. Selling a car today does not justify recording every future service visit against it.
Exercise: rebuild the dealer's report
Take two campaigns whose enquiries had equal time to buy. Build a table useful in a discussion with inventory and sales.
Campaign A spent 300,000 ₸ on a hundred enquiries with three handovers. Campaign B spent the same on sixty enquiries and four handovers within 90 days. A's CPL is 3,000 ₸, B's 5,000 ₸. Ad spend per buyer is 100,000 ₸ and 75,000 ₸ respectively.
B looks better on observed cost per handover. But the difference rests on one sale: another handover for A would also produce 75,000 ₸. Increasing the budget needs more stable evidence, contribution from the trims sold and suitable inventory. For now, the result identifies questions about the campaign and lead handling. These figures do not let you promise the dealer 75,000 ₸ for every subsequent handover.