Some habits can be changed\u2026<\/p>\n
We were on booth duty the morning after a long, but enjoyable evening on Bourbon Street listening to Dixieland. Well, I\u2019d<\/em> been in a club taking in the music, Kevin had been elsewhere and had returned to the hotel on the late side of night or more accurately, the early side of morning.<\/p>\n While I wasn\u2019t feeling my best, Kevin appeared to be his normal, remarkably chipper and vibrant self. Or perhaps it was a few healthy doses of caffeine.<\/p>\n While Kevin staffed a demo station, my job was to trawl for prospects lurking just beyond our booth. Many folks would stand just out of range, so to speak, and I\u2019d learned that if you walked directly up to them, you\u2019d likely scare them away.<\/p>\n Instead, I applied what chemists would call an SN2 backside attack. I would note my target\u2019s location and circle around, finally approaching them from behind and sidling up alongside. After a moment, I\u2019d ask, \u201cWhat caught your attention about our booth?\u201d<\/p>\n Surprised, they\u2019d admit they were interested in one product or another but were clearly holding back, cautious to engage. I\u2019d ask, \u201cWould you like a brief demo of that offering?\u201d<\/p>\n Most prospects replied, \u201cSure.\u201d And I\u2019d escort them to Kevin\u2019s demo station.<\/p>\n To fully set the scene, you need to visualize a very bright, earnest, smiling character in his late twenties, attired in a button-down long sleeve shirt topped with a handtied bowtie. Nearly a clone of Pee-wee Herman (in his prime)!<\/p>\n The gentleman who I brought over to Kevin this particular time had a deep Texas drawl that was slow, mellifluous, and filled with inspirational homilies.<\/p>\n After showing a crisp, compelling example of what our chemistry tool could do, we would invite our prospect to suggest their own search.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you like to look for something you are working on?\u201d suggested Kevin.<\/p>\n \u201cCould ah? Why, certainly!\u201d he replied. He drew a few structures on a sheet of paper and Kevin got to work forming a search query. As Kevin labored, the mouse moved furiously around the screen and as he paused to think, the mouse twitched, circled aimlessly, and migrated wildly from location to location.<\/p>\n \u201cSon, y\u2019all should put the brakes on that mouse,\u201d intoned our guest.<\/p>\n Kevin glanced up and smiled, then returned to drawing the desired reaction.<\/p>\n Our prospect watched the mouse gyrations for another moment then gently reached down and placed his hand on Kevin\u2019s, saying, \u201cSon, y\u2019all\u2019ve got a real zippy mouse there! Can ya sloooooooow it down?\u201d<\/p>\n