Been there man. My old boss shot down a whole subdivision bid because he "didn't like the look of the guy" and then we sat around twiddling our thumbs for two weeks while the crew from the next town over took the whole contract. What killed me was he never even ran the schedule, just went off his gut. Next time it happens, put your math in writing before the meeting, dates, guys, hours, the whole thing. Hard to argue with a schedule that actually adds up, and if it still flops you got proof you did your homework. Good on you for pushing it through, that referral chain off one street is how you build a real client list.