Giving out contracts advice please!

Hey everyone,

I generally, as a rule don't give out contracts unless I am signing a family up for care, it is a waste of paper, ink and my time. I recently gave a contract to a family to look over, the mom seem pretty interested in signing up. Now I haven't heard back-even though she herself offered me a date when she would be letting me know. Is it out of line for me to ask for my contract back?

It seems to be the trend these days of parents emailing inquiring about care and when I respond - nothing! So frustrating, and really discourteous in my opinion.

Thanks! Sorry a bit of a rant at the end there lol

This is what I do....

-a parent will email me via my ad on an online site
-I email the parent's my parent package (contract, permission forms, sick policy)
-if after reading my contract they are still interested, we set up a meeting. I do this because I don't want to waste my time meeting with ppl who don't like or aren't going to follow my contract
-I ask them to bring a list of questions to the meeting and I can answer in person and they can view my home and daycare.
-meetings typically last 30-60 minutes and I set them up for during work hours. This way I can see how their child interacts with my current children, they can see how I interact with children and I'm not giving up my free time. My groups have always been well behaved and they like visitors so it's not an issue for me. I know some don't like it because it can be chaotic though
-I ask the parents to let me know within 3 or so days if they want the spot
-I have a list of parents on my waiting list but I don't set up meetings until a spot opens up.

Yes, do a follow up call if she has not responded by the date she mentioned. Even then, you can set up your own time line to hear back instead of being at the mercy of a parents time line. It is always a red flag for me when people are not punctual with getting back to me. Sure, call her and ask for the contract back. Tell her it is a confidential part of your daycare business package for parents and if she is not going to come to your daycare, then it needs to be returned.

I don't had out my contract either. I go over it with the parents during interviews, but not until they come back to sign it do they get a copy.

I don't see why you couldn't contact them and simply as for the contract to be returned either signed or unsigned as in brought back unsigned if they have decided on a different daycare or signed if they wish to join your daycare. I probably would only ask once and then let it go. In the grand scheme of things the paper and ink to print a contract is really not that expensive. Some providers have a registration fee of say $50 for a family signing on to go towards child specific things like bib, highchair - and future replacement as well as individual change mats, etc. and part of that compensates for printing the contract. Many parents like to take the material home and read it through at their leisure so they know exactly what they are signing.

Yeah, it looks like I am not going to hear back from this family. My emails and calls are not being returned so I am considering my spot open.

I have to say, I have never experienced this at all in the 3 years that I have been running my daycare but it seems to be the trend now, for parents to just ignore you when it suits them. I have to say I find it so frustrating! I feel like saying, "hey, there, YOU contacted me!" I have had several families this month contact and ask me about childcare just to completely ignore me when I respond with the normal questions (when would you like care, how old is your child and so on). What is up with that?!

Sometimes I find when I don't hear that the family hasn't actually made up their mind and as such don't reply because they don't want to burn all their bridges.

I consider any space open till I have a signed contract in hand.

I have all my documents available on line. If a parent is interested, they can read the entire thing on-line and print it if they want a hard copy. I used to waste a lot of paper printing it out, giving it to prospective clients and then never hearing back from them.
Having it on-line eliminates that issue.

I wouldn't worry about it. If they aren't interested they aren't interested. They might even have thrown your contract in the garbage.

Going forward I would see if you can email your contract to families. It saves on paper! It is possible they read your contract and just aren't comfortable with something in there. No biggy. If they aren't willing to follow the whole contract then you don't need them in your daycare.

I normally email my contract to the family after I have an interview with them and it has gone well. They read it online, then if they tell me they want the space, either they print it (most of the time) or I print it and they come to sign it. Saves paper that way. Also, I don't like to send my contract out before the interview because I have had bad luck with that. I find they are much more likely to agree to my paid vacation etc, after they have met me and seen my daycare and know they want a space ;)