Read a blog post about this exact thing, small paid test projects close way faster than big retainers. Your Denver guy basically handed you a better sales model for free.

Wait, a plumber laughed at you for protecting your own business? That sounds made up, tbh.

Honestly I used to walk past that sign and think it was the ugliest thing ever, like who picked those colors. But now I kinda get it, sometimes the stuff that bugs you at first is what makes you look at your own stuff different. Wild how that works.