In the mid 1980's we had designed a foam generation machine to apply greenhouse pesticides which we were introducing. We were exhibiting at a show in Chicago and it was the last day of the show. Not just the last day, but the last 30 minutes. By then, you are more than ready to get packed up and go home. All the "real" prospects have come and gone, though there might be a few stragglers still wandering around the show floor. But, "everybody knows", they are just distractions to the real job of closing down the show.
So, here came our straggler, dressed in old jeans and an old tee shirt. He had unkempt hair and two bags full of information and free hand-outs. If you have ever worked a trade show, you know the type: out to collect every free thing they can, but not a real prospect. He expressed interest in our largest machine, so I told him a bit about it. Suddenly he said "I am the operations manager for the largest green plant leasing firm in Chicago and this is just what we need."
It went on to be a great relationship. They had locations in other cities as well and Ken was in charge of all of them.
The product line never took off (in large part because misuse could and did cause leaf "burning") and we stopped producing and promoting it, but if we'd had more "Ken's" things might have been different.
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