When would you contact them?

[Mamma_Mia]

I met with a great family at the begining of December. They were perfect....IMO
They needed care to start mid to end of January, she asked for referrals, which I gave. I wasn't sure if she received my email so I contacted her again to make sure.

Shsent me an email on the 16th : Hi Mamma_Mia, Yes I have received your email. We have been so busy with Christmas plans and my new job I haven't had a chance to respond. As soon as we make decision I will be in touch.

Now mom hasn't called anyone yet (to my knowledge) and I don't want to be pushy or sound desperate....I was thinking to be in touch with them/her next week? Bad idea? Should I just leave it and assume that by End of January they wen't a different route or contact them?

I hate this

[playfelt]

I would probably let it go and assume they went with someone else. If they contact you then go from there. Not everyone contacts your references even if they take the list with them.

[apples and bananas]

You could always send an email.


Dear XXXXX I am following up on our interview. I have had a few other inquiries for the space and I wanted to give you first choice as I feel that your child would be the best fit. If you are still interested in enrolling child in my care, please contact me by XXXXX.

I look forward to hearing from you.


I've done that before and it's pushed people in the right direction.

[Spixie33]

I would take it as a sign that they weren't going to sign with me. I would think that now it has been a few days since Christmas/New Years and she would put the care of her child somewhere on her to do list. If she still hasn't contacted then maybe she has decided to sign somewhere else.

I think contacting more than once might seem like you are desperate.

Hopefully she will still contact you ...but even then I would wonder about this family and how little consideration they put towards signing a quality provider in a timely manner. It should be a priority for them rather than waiting for the last minute.

[Momof4]

I would probably send an email similar to apples & bananas, short and sweet, thanking her for the last email to keep you informed and letting her know that you must have a decision from them because you will continue to interview until the space is filled. Give them a nudge to let them know you have other options and are not sitting there waiting on them, that gives them too much power over you. By the way, I hope you are still interviewing. It's the first one we decide can sign the contract and pay the deposit that gets the space. If others are too slow, they lose.

[monkeymama]

I agree with others. I would send them a quick email letting them know you are finishing up interviwing and if they want the spot they need to let you know by xx date. I actually did this a few months ago, mom never got back to me by the required date and I gave the space to someone else. Then the mom called me a week later asking for the spot and couldnt believe I had given it away! you snooze, you lose. hopefully she learned for the next daycare.

[sunnydays]

I wouldn't contact her again. If they want the spot, they will contact you. If they are not eager to put their child with you, it may be a sign that they are not the right fit anyway. All of the families I have signed normally let me know either immediately or within a couple of days at most if they want the space.

[gramma]

I met with a great family at the begining of December. They were perfect....IMO
They needed care to start mid to end of January, she asked for referrals, which I gave. I wasn't sure if she received my email so I contacted her again to make sure.

Shsent me an email on the 16th : Hi Mamma_Mia, Yes I have received your email. We have been so busy with Christmas plans and my new job I haven't had a chance to respond. As soon as we make decision I will be in touch.

Now mom hasn't called anyone yet (to my knowledge) and I don't want to be pushy or sound desperate....I was thinking to be in touch with them/her next week? Bad idea? Should I just leave it and assume that by End of January they wen't a different route or contact them?

I hate this

I always send an email. Just start by wishing them happy new year, i hope you had a great holiday and that the boy(use his name, it makes it personal) had a great christmas. just say that you are doing a final follow up and wondered if there was any other questions she had. also just say that if she isnt interested in the spot if she could let you know so that you can remove her from your list . i had one person a long time ago who hadnt responded to me for awhile and i persued it and she was so glad that i had because her computer crashed and she had not written my number down.

[playfelt]

Because of the Christmas issues you could email without it sounding as desparate as it might at other times of the year. Just saying something general (that sounds like you are sending it to more than one family to encourage urgency in them). Saying that you just wanted to touch base with all families that had contacted you prior to Christmas to let them know that now that the holidays are over you will again be advertising the opening and wanted to be sure that they didn't have any additional questions about your daycare space. If nothing else it jogs their memory and spurs them to oh yeah I guess I better get back into childcare search mode. Ideally some will respons saying they have found other care so at least you will know where your list stands partly.

[Inspired by Reggio]

I agree with the other ladies ~ I do not like to 'chase' clients cause it sends a bad precedent of desperation which tends to attract those clients who than give you issues later cause they feel that you need them MORE than they need you so they can be late with payments or disrespectful if it suits them and you will suck it up cause you must need the money .... however if you do not have a lot of bites due to the time of the year sending off a little nudge reminder that you are continuing the interviewing process and would hate for them to miss out on the opportunity if someone else snaps it up just to make sure it is CLEAR that you are not sitting there waiting on them and will fill the spot with the first 'best match' that commits to the space!

[Mamma_Mia]

By the way, I hope you are still interviewing. It's the first one we decide can sign the contract and pay the deposit that gets the space. If others are too slow, they lose.

That's the issue...I'm advertised all over as available with 2 spots right now and they were the first bite in a while! If there was another intrested family I'd interview them too....the only other "bite" I got was asking for SEPTEMBER and a 7pm pick up....((sigh)) "Next"

[Momof4]

Well MammaMia, we're coming up on the first full week of the new year and in my experience that's when people get a wake up call and start searching because they have to face the fact that they are going back to work soon. So I really hope all of you with a space to fill get bombarded with phone calls for interviews this month. My fingers are crossed.

[kidlove]

sometimes if I haven't heard from a family and an anxious to know what's up, I will send a quick e-mail stating...I just received a call from someone interested in care and wanted to double check with you regarding care of your child before letting them know. Wanted to give you first dibs on the opening before filling with anyone else. I am to return their call in the next few days, if you could let me know if you still need services within the next few days, I would greatly appreciate it! sincerely, :)
Seems to work, they will either call and say they went somewhere else, or they will call to grab the spot before you let it go to someone else! Good Luck!