He Told Me to Prove Him Wrong… So We Did

Some demos start with a warm welcome.

This one started with a challenge.

I had gotten in touch with Rob at CI Construction, and right away I could tell this one might be a little different. One of his texts basically said, you’re gonna have to prove me wrong in a demo then. He also mentioned he’d probably be getting a cleaning service soon and thought our prices were high.

Perfect.

So me being me, I went into this one a little extra competitive. Not just because I wanted the win, but because I wanted to show him that what we bring is a whole lot more than just a price tag.

The demo was at one of their newer builds up in Alexandria, Minnesota, and it was a cool one. Very long hallways, which we all know is a great setup for the CleanBoss C40, but beyond that, you could tell Rob had put together a strong team and a carefully planned project. This wasn’t just some random apartment building thrown together. The place had a bank, a distillery, multiple restaurants, and a really clean overall feel to it. You could tell there was intention behind it.

And honestly, that made me like the opportunity even more.

Long story short, we had a couple classic small issues at the beginning, but nothing crazy. Just normal demo stuff. We got through it, got the hallways clean, got the lobby cleaned up, and the robot started doing exactly what it was supposed to do.

Then came the part I didn’t totally see coming.

While we were eating lunch, Rob came in and kind of out of nowhere told us he really liked the way we operate. He said he could tell we had his back, that we weren’t the type to just drop off a robot and disappear, and that he appreciated us being open to a longer demo.

That was a big flip from what I thought this day was going to be.

And honestly, it was a good reminder that you can’t judge a book by its cover — or a text message by its tone. Sometimes what feels a little skeptical at first is really just somebody wanting to see if you’re the real deal.

He had big ideas right away.

In less than a handful of hours, he was already talking about multiple locations, multiple robots, and wanting to see how this thing would handle the elevator too. That’s when I knew this had gone from “let’s see if this thing works” to “okay, how far can we take this?”

So I told him we’d do the extended demo.

But not just that — I told him I’d be back the very next morning, bright and early, with a brand-new robot. And yeah, that was on purpose. I wanted to show him that I had no problem making the 2.5-hour drive back up there if it meant supporting the demo the right way and giving this thing the best chance to prove itself.

That’s part of the deal with us.

We want the robot to work, obviously. But more than that, we want people to feel like we actually have their back through the process. Not just on demo day. Not just on delivery day. The whole thing.

And Rob? Super smart guy.

He’s got a couple different businesses going on, and the conversation got good enough that I’ll probably even be talking with him about products through our family business, Minnesota Vinyl & Aluminum, too.

So maybe that’s what we call it.

Killing two hallways with one robot.

Maybe not my cleanest line ever, but I’m keeping it.

This one was another reminder that almost every demo turns into a new proof of concept. You learn something, you adjust, you keep going, and sometimes the thing you thought was going to be a battle ends up becoming a real opportunity.

That’s why these demos are so fun.

You just never know where they’re going to go.