How Many Interviews Have You Done?

[EchoMom]

Fun question:

How many interviews have you done this year?
How many interviews did you do in your first year?
How many interviews did turned into clients?
How many people do you think you've SPOKEN with (even if they didn't become a client, just inquiries, applications, etc.) in total???
What's the percentage of interviews you give that become clients?

I just counted it up and in one full year (my first year) I have done 26 interviews!!!!!!!!! OMG!!! Do you realize how many hours of cleaning that is?! How many 30-60min. chunks of my evenings?! No wonder I'm exhausted! :P

I figured out that of my interviews 40% have become clients so maybe 1:2 -1:3 sign on. Not too shabby!

But to get those 26 interviews that means I MUST have SPOKEN (email, word of mouth, care.com, CL) with like 75 different people I would guess!!!!

[wdmmom]

My first year I did roughly 15 -18 interviews.
This year I've done 5.
Of those 5, 3 are current clients.
I get several calls per year...usually asking if I accept State subsidy. Most prospective clients contact me through my website.
Most of my current clients have been here awhile. I don't have many openings so I've been fortunate not to have to conduct as many interviews.

Of the 3 openings I filled this year, 1 went to school, 1 switched from morning to afternoon preschool so they no longer needed daycare and 1 i gave an ultimatum to...arrive by 9am or don't come. Me changing my day to accommodate a drop off anywhere between 10am and 1230pm just wasn't working for me anymore so they left.

[CozyHome]

Wow! Ok, I'll try.

This year is my 5th year in business and I had a space come up unexpectedly in the summer and I advertised and had 4 interviews.

Last year I had 2 spaces available in Sept. after 2 children were going to JK so I started advertising in Jan. I know now that is a bad idea because I interviewed all year for no reason except to help out the people who were 'shopping' for daycares. I will from now on only advertise a few months before a space becomes available.

I have had dozens, maybe 100 inquiries over the past 5 years thanks to people finding my website and I always respond professionally and keep their name and info on file and recommend them to my friends in the general area of my city if they have a space open.

My first year was hell, but for the past 4+ years I've had great clients who didn't leave until JK.

[spud912]

Fun question:

How many interviews have you done this year? 0...I have not had any openings thankfully!
How many interviews did you do in your first year? Hmmm, I would say probably ~25 or so. I had 4 spots to fill and turnover of 3 children in the first year.
How many interviews did turned into clients? In the first year, I had 7 of those 25 interviews turn into clients. I'm fairly selective so most of the other interviews did not turn into clients because I went with someone else. I usually interview 5 or so families for one spot and select the best fit for my program. Usually out of the 5 families, there is ~1 who is not interested in my program.
How many people do you think you've SPOKEN with (even if they didn't become a client, just inquiries, applications, etc.) in total??? When advertising, I get probably 50 inquiries a year at least. When not advertising (like this year), I still get about 15 a year. They find my website and I'm listed on Care.com, Sittercity and Yelp.
What's the percentage of interviews you give that become clients?
Probably 20% or so. More or less depending on the character of the families who I interview.
I just counted it up and in one full year (my first year) I have done 26 interviews!!!!!!!!! OMG!!! Do you realize how many hours of cleaning that is?! How many 30-60min. chunks of my evenings?! No wonder I'm exhausted! :P

I figured out that of my interviews 40% have become clients so maybe 1:2 -1:3 sign on. Not too shabby!

But to get those 26 interviews that means I MUST have SPOKEN (email, word of mouth, care.com, CL) with like 75 different people I would guess!!!!

I actually don't mind the interviews. I don't do any special cleaning for them because I want them to see how my home is on a regular basis (which is plenty clean already ). I also weed out many before the interview (based on their desired schedule and my rates). The only thing that really irks me is a no call no show because I have very limited time in the evening for interviews and I don't like waiting for someone to not show up.

[EchoMom]

Wow, thank you this is very encouraging! I want to hear from more people about this too please!

[daycarediva]

I do 1-2 interviews per month now for my waiting list. I get about 1-5 calls per week, most don't go to the interview stage (children too young, I charge too much, don't take subsidy usually) I have had atleast 1 waiting list enrollment per month, so half. Most don't want to be put on a waiting list, but they know going in to an in person interview that I don't have any openings.


I just pulled two kids from my waiting list that I termed, both want to enroll and are coming to reinterview.

[Scout]

In my looong lime of being open since October I have done 3 interviews, 2of which I got kids out of. I guess they wouldn' t be considered interviews by some. It was more meet me type things.