Potential Family asks Current Family to fill out referral questionnaire????

[michellesmunchkins]

Morning Ladies,

So one of my current families texts me last night and emails me a copy of a referral questionnaire she received from a potential daycare client. The potential client asked my families if they would take a minute or two to answer a couple questions for her. They ALL emailed her saying that I was wonderful and their children were happy and blah blah...everything was good or so we all thought...last night they received a full on questionnaire from potential parent asking them to fill out and return to her...I'm not impressed and feel she is over stepping. My daycare families now think the woman is nuts and I don't think I want her as part of our group anymore...here are a couple of the questions she sent them...thoughts????

1. When you first started bringing your child to daycare were you ever called to pick her up because she was inconsolable?
2. When you pick up your child at the end of the day are they overly excited to leave or do they want to stay?
3. Does your child frequently fight you on going or staying at daycare? Are they happy once they are there?
4. How often does ______ close when she or family members are sick and what is her back up plan for when that happens?
5. Did you ever have a problem with _________and was it resolved to your satisfaction
6. What are your likes and dislikes about this daycare?
7. If you could change one thing about _______and the way she treats or cares for the children what would it be?

As stated above, this was all sent after everyone emailed her saying they were happy with the care their children were getting etc. I absolutely understand wanting to find the best care for your child, but I feel sending them a questionnaire that went on longer than what I even posted kinda went to far....not to mention that almost all of her questions should/were addressed in our interview (ie: calling parents which I've never had to do for a crying child, never closed for illness, etc) and if they had dislikes and wanted to change me don't you think they would have their children elsewhere???? I know I would lol

[Skysue]

As Judy would say NEXT...

I seriously think this parent has major trust issues and will never be able to hand over responsability. Go with your gut instinct. Thank God your other parents forwarded you the e-mail?

[Errbear]

OMG!!!

What is going on with the serious lack of ideal families these days?!?!?!? It must be something in the water that makes parents(especially mothers) bonkers when it comes to group care

If I were you I would not even consider taking that family on. Mommy dearest there didn't even listen to you in your interview. She should have those answers already. Pure bonkers!

[Inspired by Reggio]

Umm ya NEXT!

Seriously how many current clients have TIME to fill out an extensive questionnaire like that for every potential client - that is what WRITTEN REFERENCES are for so READ THEM or if you want to 'engage' in deeper questions than a letter of reference contains than you CALL them and take a few minutes to TALK to current clients and just ask those types of deeper trust issues.

But I agree ... while I can empathize with WHY a prospective client might have trust issues there are NORMAL trust issues and BAGGAGE trust issues and personally I do not have the time or patience to deal with the BAGGAGE potential clients have developed in their trust of other people ..... 95% of choosing the best match in childcare is GUT INSTINCT and the other 5% is doing reference checking / spending time in the program to see it in action to make sure your GUT is correct ... this client sounds like she is reversed where she cannot trust her gut for some reason and so is doing a 95% of the trying to 'control' the situation with reference checking and likely at some point 'micromanaging' the program to make sure it is up to her par!

It wont WORK if the client needs that much control she needs a NANNY in her home who is her employee!

[michellesmunchkins]

Thanks ladies, my thoughts exactly. She will never let go and will be a royal pain in the ***. I don't have time to coddle parents. Oh and to top it off, she says I am the ONLY daycare provider she is interviewing because she thinks I'm great and just wanted my references...that should have been my first red flag...who doesn't take the time to interview a few people when placing their child in care????

[Crayola kiddies]

Well I think she just went about it the wrong way ....she should have asked for references and then when talking to them she could have posed her questions ..... I'm wondering how she got all of your current clients email addresses to question them in the first place ..... when potential families ask me for references I give them two daycare families and one personal. I think 3 references are plenty. I think yes I too would take a pass on this family unless you need them and have no other prospects ..... But she does sound rather "out there" and this is just a precursor to what will come ..... Ya ..... NEXT !!!!

[michellesmunchkins]

Well I think she just went about it the wrong way ....she should have asked for references and then when talking to them she could have posed her questions ..... I'm wondering how she got all of your current clients email addresses to question them in the first place ..... when potential families ask me for references I give them two daycare families and one personal. I think 3 references are plenty. I think yes I too would take a pass on this family unless you need them and have no other prospects ..... But she does sound rather "out there" and this is just a precursor to what will come ..... Ya ..... NEXT !!!!

She asked that I forward my current families her email addy and they all responded to her and were very good at getting back to her quickly. She then took it upon herself to keep their emails and continue emailing them. I've emailed everyone and told them to just ignore any further correspondence, thanked them for the references they gave but I think she's taking things too far and worry that parents won't want to give references if they are bombarded with crap like this.

[Judy Trickett]

As Judy would say NEXT...

Um.yeah, you hit the nail on the head there............... ......NEXT!

[Inspired by Reggio]

...when potential families ask me for references I give them two daycare families and one personal. I think 3 references are plenty...

This is me as well ... at this point I have over 30 written letters of reference in my portfolio from current and past clients both in centre care and home care for parents to READ if desired plus I offer 1 current client, 1 past client and 1 personal / professional reference for doing a 'phone reference' ... personally I think EMAIL is too impersonal for a reference check - on the phone you can ask those kinds of questions and listen for any 'pauses' when answering or pay attention to what is NOT said to listen to your GUT in regards to is this an honest reference or are they just telling me what I want to hear?

When I ask parents to do a written reference for me I do ask them to offer both strengths they see in my program as well as comments on areas for improvement and my conflict resolutions skills - aka share a time where we had a difference of opinion and how we were able to resolve that so that prospective clients can 'read' in my written letters of reference a 'well rounded' vision of me!

[Play and Learn]

She asked that I forward my current families her email addy and they all responded to her and were very good at getting back to her quickly. She then took it upon herself to keep their emails and continue emailing them. I've emailed everyone and told them to just ignore any further correspondence, thanked them for the references they gave but I think she's taking things too far and worry that parents won't want to give references if they are bombarded with crap like this.

HOLY HELL! NEXT...

The fact that she's kept the parents emails is beyond understanding, and the fact that she's still emailing them! WOWIE. What a freakin tool. Block her emails/phone calls!

I only give out phone numbers for references. If my current families are comfortable in giving them their email addys, that's their choice, but I'm only giving out phone numbers.

WOW.