Originally Posted by Country Kids:
Tom you answered straight to the point and this is excellent business practice.
If a provider doesn't think it is a good fit, no reason to beat around the bush, especially if the family is needing care quickly and will be needing to know if they need to keep looking.
If I was a parent I would want to know sooner than later if I was needing care if my child was able to go into the program or not.
Why lie about having other interviews if you don't have them? Parents need to know and I would rather have a provider be up front to me then keep me waiting. Would make me question other business practices of theirs.
What if you do have more interviews or plan to do more? What is unprofessional about telling that truth?
There are so many life experiences where you have to wait to see if you are chosen. The issue with daycare is a fundamental misunderstanding that the parent is the one who is choosing rather than the provider is choosing whether to consider them for a slot.
So many providers do one interview and offer the slot right away. The average parent thinks this is universal. It isn't.
It's okay to not give them an answer and make them wait. They will have a zillion experiences in their parenting where they wait. If they need an immediate answer then they need to immediate care then they need to only interview providers who do both interview and signing on the same day.
it really is less painful to say a version of "we'll see" than no. It's less painful or caustic to say "you are one of many, I'll let you know" than a straight no.