Has This Ever Happened to You... Interviewing A New Client

[pintsize]

There was a knock at my door st 4:10, open it to a woman, man and 5ish year old boy. She says "hi, I'm ____, I heard you have openings?" they wanted to tour and interview. This has never happened to me before. She said that one of my current clients talks about how much they have loved us since they started two months ago so she looked me up in Facebook and compared my Facebook page to the licensing roster to find my address.

I do have 2 openings so I let them in, we talked and I let her look over a copy of a contract, my printer was being weird so I told her I would e-mail it to her. It was just... Weird. Good thing my house was mostly picked up, but not half as clean as it would have been if they had scheduled an interview!

[Luvnmykidz]

Yes, that has happened to me on a few occasions. I turn the family away in a respectful way. I give them a business card and tell them for the safety and respect of my family and my daycare families I do not allow walk-ins. All interviews are scheduled in advance. One family understood, apologized and left emailing me as they were walking away to schedule an interview. I still have that child now as a drop in school-ager. I have her often on evenings and weekends too. The other family never contacted me back and one family came back again a week later acting as if I hadn’t turned her away before. She also stated she lived a few houses down from me and would need transportation and child care immediately as if that was such a great thing for me. I told her I don’t feel I can accommodate her needs and won’t enroll families who don’t respect my interview policy. She waves to me every now and again when I drive by her home.

[pintsize]

I feel like I should have turned them away, but I also didn't want them or current client to think I have something to hide. It was uncomfortable.

[Pandaluver21]

I have had this happen a hand full of times, the family has never worked out..
I used to let them in, but after the first couple I would talk to them briefly at the door and ask that they come back.

[MarinaVanessa]

It has happened to me. I politely turn them away telling them that I'm not available for a tour atm and ask them if they want to schedule a tour. I give them a business card with my email address and encourage them to email me. I ask them for their email address and ask them if they'd like for me to send them a copy of my policies and contract. I won't do on the spot tours because I'm super busy and usually have a lot going on.

[Josiegirl]

Yes, a few times. Once long ago a grandmother stopped by, asking for her dd. I just told her I had no openings. The most recent time was when a neighbor was expecting and just showed up at the door, saying 'I just want to see what's out there'. Stupidly, I let her in. I wouldn't do it again though, I'd have them call to set up an appointment. People just don't seem to think we're actually working, especially if we're an in-home dc.

[DaveA]

I've never had someone just show up to see about openings. I would have done like the others said and scheduled an interview. To me that wouldn't be a red flag as much as a "pink flag"- I would still do the interview with an open mind but be a bit more cautious about the family.

[HappyEverAfter]

Simply for safety reasons I wouldn’t open my door and welcome in a stranger for tour and interview. I would be friendly and professional and offer to schedule a time to do a sit down meeting.

[LostMyMarbles]

Simply for safety reasons I wouldn’t open my door and welcome in a stranger for tour and interview. I would be friendly and professional and offer to schedule a time to do a sit down meeting.

Absolutely this.

With all the crazies in the world, I don't trust easily.

First I would do a phone interview. Then I would schedule an interview face to face.

[hwichlaz]

When it happens to me it's always a neighbor. If I know them enough to feel comfortable and I'm not super busy, I'll let them in. Otherwise I give them my number and have them call me.

They've all been really apologetic about knocking, explaining that they don't have my number to call and accept my card with my phone number on it.

[Blackcat31]

It's happened to me before as well. How I've handled it depends on who it is and what's currently happening for the day.... I live in a pretty small and safe community.

Most of my clients come from word of mouth or simply because they know me or someone they know does. That's a perk of living in the same community I was born and raised. Everyone pretty much knows everyone in some degree or another.

I've had potential parents and grandparents randomly stop by and on some occasions, I've done an impromptu interview/tour and on some occasions I've had to tell them to call and schedule a time to interview/tour.

It really just depends on the situation.
Some have turned into long term clients and some only stay a while....like I said, it just depends on the situation and moment.

[MomBoss]

I have a seperate entrance for daycare families, so if anyone rings my main door, i dont open it. I would never answer the door for an interview that wasnt scheduled. I think its rude for people to do that. Its a red flag for me. Like the family wants to do things their way on their time. Might have a problem following my policies. Nope.

[Blackcat31]

I have a seperate entrance for daycare families, so if anyone rings my main door, i dont open it. I would never answer the door for an interview that wasnt scheduled. I think its rude for people to do that. Its a red flag for me. Like the family wants to do things their way on their time. Might have a problem following my policies. Nope.

! :: Aren't the differences of living in a smaller community verses a larger metro area kinda funny?

I don't see it as rude at all

There are alot of circumstances that lead someone to my door without a pre-scheduled appointment but I can totally understand why it wouldn't be welcome or accepted in some situations/areas.

[Snowmom]

I've had it happen. I'm on the corner of a semi-busy road and if I ever put my "openings available" sign out on my fence, I do get more people knocking than calling.

Thing is: I want to to know more about what the family needs and wants before I agree to an interview. I don't want to waste an hour of my time on an interview for a fit that I have no intention of taking on.
So, I have business cards by my door and tell them to send me a quick email later about what hours, days and needs they are looking for. We can go from there.

[MomBoss]

! :: Aren't the differences of living in a smaller community verses a larger metro area kinda funny?

I don't see it as rude at all

There are alot of circumstances that lead someone to my door without a pre-scheduled appointment but I can totally understand why it wouldn't be welcome or accepted in some situations/areas.

Lol i live in a very very busy and big city. For all i know, its a crazy person at the door. Small towns im assuming everyone knows everyone and safety might be different. I dont even know the people accross the street from me and ive been living here for 10 years ::