Last year, I finally secured a boat storage slip with a roof for my fishing boat. I was so excited, I bought a lock and hauled my boat up there for the winter months. This facility was just 15 minutes from my house and a mile from the reservoir so I could grab my boat and hit the water in 20 minutes.

In the spring, I fish a lot more so I keep the boat at home. I brought the boat home, put my lock in my truck and really didn’t give it another thought. I had paid six months’ rent in advance and shared directly with the owner that I would pay the next six months when it came due. I also shared with him that I would store the boat at home when I was fishing more frequently. They did not offer a monthly automated bank draft or recurring credit card charge and I did not want to write a check every month.

So at the end of the summer, I take my boat back to storage and what do I find — my code does not work and another boat is in my slip. I call the owner and he says, “Well I saw the slip was empty, your six months were up and I had not received another payment so I rented it out. I thought you had abandoned it and not signed out.” I reminded him that I specifically asked him to call me or text me when my six months were up. Gibberish….

What did I learn? First, I needed that slip a lot more than he needed me as a customer. But the big lesson for me was no matter how clear I felt our agreement was, we are individually responsible for following up. Why didn’t I put the renewal date on my calendar? That’s a pretty simple fix. We can really elevate our results as we work on clarity and frequency of communications as well as take 100% ownership of the important things in front of us.

CeCe: What do you mean your boat is going to be in the driveway all winter? I thought you got a boat storage slip. What happened to that?

It’s a long story CeCe….

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Joey Havens Author

Joey Havens, CPA is the author of Leading with Significance. He is currently a partner with HORNE LLP a top 25 CPA firm. He previously served as managing partner of the firm from 2012 to 2021, leading more than 1,800 team members to build the Wise Firm© while passionately living out his life’s calling to help others see and reach their full potential. Prior to being named managing partner in 2012, Joey served as the managing partner of healthcare services and the managing partner of government services, respectively.