Raised Rates & Now Not Sure It Was The Best Idea????

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Honestly I don't tell parents the rates over the phone. I tell them I like to discuss rates during the tour because once I have them in here where they can see the environment that their child will be in then they know its worth every penny.

So either don't serve lunch, have parents bring food (boooo) and charge less, or just get them in first before giving your rates out

That's incredibly smart. I shall begin doing that as well.
LCLC looks beautiful and is worth every penny the parent spends in terms of quality of the physical environment and quality of education.

[cheerfuldom]

Honestly I don't tell parents the rates over the phone. I tell them I like to discuss rates during the tour because once I have them in here where they can see the environment that their child will be in then they know its worth every penny.

So either don't serve lunch, have parents bring food (boooo) and charge less, or just get them in first before giving your rates out

I tell rates right away. I don't have time to interview people that can't afford my rates, no matter what I show them.

[nannyde]

I tell rates right away. I don't have time to interview people that can't afford my rates, no matter what I show them.

Me too

The last thing I want to do is interview a parent that can't afford the fee.

[Mary Poppins]

Me too

The last thing I want to do is interview a parent that can't afford the fee.

This. I recently raised my rates and tell people exactly what they are and what they are getting for their dollar right away when they call. I found out quickly that if I don't it gets uncomfortable during an interview when a potential client REALLY likes what they see here and REALLY wants their child to be part of my program then finds out it is out of their grasp financially.

Makes me feel a bit guilty (but not enough to lower my rates ).

I do still get annoyed when it is the first question they ask when they call, but that's just me.

[CheekyChick]

I guess my main concern is that their are now more and more ads in my area for people offering Child Care for $20/day which was my rate. I want to be sure that I can still find families to care for

I think my biggest concern with my old rates was that I offered such a big discount for the second child. So one of those children I would be charging $100 and the other $75 and to me for full time that is NOT enough! Like someone else said ... they arent getting discounted care so why should they get a discounted rate.

So the reason I was questioning my rate increase was that maybe I should have just dropped the second child discount and dropped breakfast which I think would have helped out alot ... I also was watching kids until almost 6:30p which also was way to late ...

There are people in my area that charge $2.50 per hour for INFANTS when I charge almost $200.00 per week for infants. When people call and I can tell it's too much, I ask them to visit other childcare providers and if they are not happy to call back and set up a time to visit with me and view my facility.

HOLD YOUR GROUND. I've learned the more you charge, the better quality parent/family you get. That may not sound nice, but I worked with several low income families when I first opened and ALL of them had a hard time even coming up with their co-payment and it was VERY frustrating. It was even more frustrating when they would take trips or buy new clothes and NOT pay me. Ugh.

You get what you pay for and PROVE to them that you are worth every penny.

[Sprouts]

The main reason I hold off for an interview to tell rates is because if a person is just rate shopping then they could care less about quality, if money is tight they are usually persistent on the phone about the rates so I ask them what is the ball park figure they are looking to spend and I tell them if I fall in their area or not but usually I get the parents in. Maybe if I had 10 calls a day then I might say my rates over the phone to weed out the ones that can afford or not.

[MissK]

Take it from a dacyare parent who knows that the rate isn't everything - we currently have our son in a daycare that is more expensive than others around the area (except for the center) and more expensive than the daycare I took him out of to go to this one. I was happy to pay more to have peace of mind that my son was getting great care from a wonderful provider. I think that when you really connect with a family and they feel like you are a great fit for them the rate won't be the deciding factor Of course there are all of those that will choose a daycare based on rates, but I just wanted to share my situation with you too