Don't charge less. You're getting them in for interviews so the price didn't turn them away from coming so that's a good sign. You are telling them your price BEFORE the interview right? If you aren't, I would start doing that. It IS a waste of time for you and them otherwise, IMO.

Here are some things to think through, of course I'm not accusing you of anything since I don't know! :P

Does your house appear very clean?
Does your play space and nap space appear organized, clean, calming, engaging?
Does your house smell fresh (I am ALWAYS afraid of this... I think sometimes my house doesn't always smell wonderful and have to battle this alot. Diapers, dog, shoes, mildew, burnt pan, etc...)

Do you act confident but agreeable, friendly?
Do you have good interactions with the kids?
Do you give the kids an interesting toy or activity to do while you're talking to parents? (If they're not too shy of course).

I have an aquarium that kids always like. I keep bloodworm cubes in the freezer and it's always a hit. I ask the kid if they would like to feed the fish and I say do you want to feed them WORMMMMSSS? This always intrigues the parents too! And I tell the kid, okay, follow me let's go get them from the freezer, that's right, worms in the freezer! Then I ask them if I can pick them up and then I hold the kid up so they can see my plop the worms in. The worms melt and break apart and it's really neat to watch. The parents are always right there watching too! Then I talk to the kid aobut the fish, how many fish are there? Can you count them? See the red worms? Mmm, the fish love them, they're like candy! Do you want to eat worms? No way, yucky!

I point out all our wooden toys, I show them where the kids eat at their low tables since I do not use high chairs (Montessori influence). I talk about how I serve organic when possible, a few key items like milk, eggs, meat. I show them a sample menu brochure.

I find that interviews are MUCH harder if the parent does NOT bring their child with them. It's harder to show them why you're great. But when the child DOES come with, these interviews I feel like were a slam dunk.

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