After he walked away I asked a buddy what was this guy's role? "Uhhh, Bob owns the company." Lol. Sure enough the guy is the sole owner of a $100+ million company that has a 9 figure contract with us right now (the subject contract of the meeting).
Was Bob impressed with how well your company studied up on his company for the meeting?
Nine-figure contracts should earn a 24"x36" portrait of the owner on an easel in the lobby.
When I was on sea duty, our sentries were expected to recognize various VIPs in person-- the admiral, a few commodores, a few commanding officers. They still had to prove their identity with their ID card but the sentry was expected to be able to greet them by name.
Of course it was a little difficult to reconcile their official photo with the guy standing in front of you wearing civvies and a two-day beard.
A friend of mine was telling tales of retired flag officers he's worked with. When ADM Hayward retired from CNO to Hawaii, he took a job in a local company. When his phone rang, he answered it as "Tom Hayward". He opened his own mail. He sent his own faxes. He made a fresh pot of coffee when he took the last cup. Someone eventually asked him why he behaved that way (instead of like a stereotypical retired flag officer) and he said "This seemed like a good chance to reinvent myself as someone who does his fair share of the work like everyone else." If you didn't recognize the face or the name then you'd have no idea what he used to do for a living.
We have two other retired four-stars living here with similar reputations. One of them is Tom Fargo (who I've briefly meet) and the other is Zap Zlatoper (who I only know by reputation). Real human beings, something you don't often find in a flag officer.
A fourth four-star retiree (I'm not naming names this time) went to work for a similar local company. He "required" a reserved parking spot, a company car with a gas credit card, an admin assistant, and all the other exec perks. He never answered a phone or touched a fax machine or opened an envelope, let alone risked a paper cut. This freed him up to spend more time thinking executive thoughts and making executive decisions. His business decisions cost the company $500K in expenses without generating additional revenue, and a year later it was decided that he should re-retire.