How much info do you give by phone or E-mail?

When receiving replies to your advertisements, how much info do you provide? Do you only give what the parents ask?
What kind of questions do you ask the parents to ensure they are not just wasting your time?
When do you figure they are legitimately interested in your daycare.

I am asking these questions because I've had 3 people do phone interviews with me, schedule a meeting in person, and not show up for the meeting! I am so discouraged that I do not want to advertise anymore. Obviously, not advertising is not getting me any further than I was.

When making a flyer, how much info do you put on the flyer?

I give basic information on a flyer or ad and refer to my wesite. My rates on on my website along with my basic philosophy on child care. When I was looking for daycare when I was working outside the home I immediatly was drawn to location. The closer the better! So when I advertise location is my number one.

It's so strange to have 3 no shows after phone interviews. I guess that would be discouraging! I suppose if they don't show you didn't want them anyways, but the key is to find out why they didn't show.

Do you do any follow up with the no shows? To find out why? What changed their mind and why they didn't contact you to let you know?

You might want to try something that I make a habit of doing....
1st contact (usually by email); are they a good fit (age group, pickup/drop off times fall within my schedule/behaviour or otherwise issues?).
2nd contact: If yes to above, I then email them: A copy of my contract, handbook and a short video of our space. At this point I stress to them to take their time to review everything and to call when they are ready to set up a time to meet.
3rd contact: Meet in person. Again, I stress for them to feel free to take their time in deciding...in every case they have signed on the spot at this point, but I, at least feel that I have not pressured them.

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Originally Posted by Dreamalittledream

You might want to try something that I make a habit of doing....
1st contact (usually by email); are they a good fit (age group, pickup/drop off times fall within my schedule/behaviour or otherwise issues?).
2nd contact: If yes to above, I then email them: A copy of my contract, handbook and a short video of our space. At this point I stress to them to take their time to review everything and to call when they are ready to set up a time to meet.
3rd contact: Meet in person. Again, I stress for them to feel free to take their time in deciding...in every case they have signed on the spot at this point, but I, at least feel that I have not pressured them.

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Same here, but I add in a phone interview as well! I don't give out my phone number anymore, as I want them to email me!

Ok, I've said this so many times, but do you have friends and family who work for large organizations with internal messaging systems where you can place an ad? Hospitals, factories, large offices, they can all reach 1000's of people and somebody always has a friend or family looking for daycare and returning to work soon.

I love this site and have a lot of clients who found me here, kijiji people get a really thorough pre-screening by email and godaycare.com is good. Advertise at playgroups for Moms & babies in your area. The first year is so very hard and then once you have established yourself your clients will recommend you to everyone they know and you will be like I am now, turning people away all the time because you are full.

Keep the faith, it will happen for you. Keep advertising and interviewing and it will happen.

apples and bananas, I was very nervous with the first two no-shows. Actually.....1 of them did call to cancel the night before. It was kind of good that she did as I did not get a good vibe from her at all. She had a very authoritative tone that made me feel like her inferior. The 2nd lady caught me off guard when she called. She was the 2nd person I've ever spoken to over the phone. She was looking for care to start immediately, even though I told her several times that I did not have an opening until July. We decided on an interview anyway. I gave her my address and we set a time and day. When she didn't show up, I was extremely upset so I did not call her. Our meeting was supposed to be on a Saturday at 4pm. I wasted my whole day making sure everything was perfect when I could have been out with my children enjoying my weekend. I never bothered to call her, and she never called me. For the last person that was a no-show.... We had a very good phone interview. She seemed down to earth and really liked a lot of the things I said. The only time that she was able to come for the interview was on a Thursday at 6:30pm. My son's soccer game was at 6pm. I had to miss the soccer game to wait around for this woman. She didn't show up. I called her around 7pm and left a message with her husband. I gave him my full name and telephone number with the reason for my call. She never called me back. She obviously would not have been a good fit either!
So I guess the no-shows and last minute cancelations worked out in my favour anyway....sort of.

I didn't expect to fill my daycare spots but I did think I would have at least 3 full-time children to start. As it stands now, I have 1 full-time child. He is my bread and butter. One part-time child comes for full days 2-3 times per week. The other two are siblings and come 2-3 times per week for 2-3hrs. One of them is going to school in the fall. They seriously are not even worth my while but the extra little bit I get at the end of the week is helping me for now.... I am just getting by! I can still feed everyone, but I stress about the money big time. We used to be able to set aside money for savings. Now we can't... ugh. I hope more children come along soon. I have a lot of competition right now.

I think my best bet is to eliminate my phone number from my ads. They can contact me by e-mail instead. This way, I reply when I have the time and not in the middle of the day when I am trying to get lunch ready or get the children down for a nap.....or worse....answer the phone confused and groggy at 8:30am on a day off. lol. I won't even speak of an interview until I know for sure that they are a match for my daycare. I did have way more replies when I first started advertising but I was strictly looking for full-time children...and they were all families seeking part-time care.

Yes, for me e-mail is sooo much easier for initial contact, then I can schedule a phone call (if need be) during nap time when I can actually focus;)
Thoughts on dropping your rate? It would be a fast way to build your business (fill your spots) and create good solid references for future clients (at a higher rate). I have been open a year now and this is what I did; I was full within 2 weeks and have now raised my rate for the next years contract to market rate for our area; the parents didn't even blink at the new rate...because they know me now and are pleased with the care.

I have a website. When people contact me by phone or email, I will answer any overt questions they ask, and then I encourage them to set up a meeting, and to check out my site beforehand. I used to send out my contract electronically for them to review before our interview, but I don't do that any more. When they get here, I sit down with my laptop to the side (not in between us), and I go over the main points in my contract with them then. I send the contract electronically after the interview now, if I like them, and I think they're interested.

I have been toying with the idea of dropping my rate and seeing how it goes. If it is not feasible, I will just send each parent a notice of my impending price increase. lol. Part-time rate will remain the same though.

I would give the basics: times open, available space, ask age of child, make sure the location vibes with them. Just about after that though, if they are still asking questions/interested.....get them set up for a meeting in person.