For several months now, I've been dealing with a little brown bat that is determined to live inside the patio umbrella on my deck. That's right ... INSIDE my umbrella!! Can you imagine my surprise the first time I opened the umbrella and falling onto the table top (just missing my hand) was a little brown bat! It was as shocked to see me as I was to see it ... to say the least.
Then we started to tie the umbrella closed at night so it couldn't get up inside. The persistent bat would tuck itself snug as a bug in the folds on the outside of the umbrella! Finally, I decided to post a bat box on the outside of the deck rails closest to the umbrella. My hope was to encourage it to live in a more suitable enclosure.
This weekend ... SUCCESS!! The little brown bat now lives in its very own box, keeping my back yard free of pesky mosquitos. It must have decided that a comfy bat box that wouldn't be disturbed was much more desirable than an unpredictable umbrella. We're all so much happier now.
Fortunately for the bat, I love nature and was patient enough to give the bat what I knew it really needed. Do you know what your referral partners need to be really happy? You're probably saying, DUH ... they need referrals to make them happy. It's more complex than that. Do they need a face to face introduction? Do they need to meet the COO instead of the CEO? Do they need two referrals per month to help them meet their goals? Do they need to meet with you once a month to keep you top of mind?
Lucky for you ... your referrals partners can talk ... unlike the little bat. So, ask them ... What do you need from me? Effective communication can make any relationship operate more smoothly.
