Originally Posted by Meeko:
I lay the groundwork on the phone. If a pushy parents calls demanding a meeting at a certain time, I ALWAYS say no...even if I have nothing else going on. I tell them that I am interviewing other families and I could squeeze them in at tomorrow at blah-blah time.
They have learned straight away that I am in charge of my time, not them and that they are in competition for a place.
I then let them know that I will be continuing to interview families until Friday. I will then decide which child to take from all the applicants.
I use words like "applicant" because it puts ME in charge.
During an interview, I am very friendly, but keep it very business-like. I use phrases like "our policy is..." instead of " I don't do this or that". It's harder for them to question a "company policy" than just "my way" of doing things.
The terminology you use can make all the difference.
Wow, I am going to borrow some of your wording. I tend to be a pushover and I hate conflict but I can see how just changing some of the wording would put me more in charge!
As far as bad mouthing the last provider I tend to dislike that also. I know there are some bad providers out there, but many times I have found parents do that because they owe money and can't go back or something like that. I also feel like if they will bad mouth the current of past provider, they will go around and do that to me as well.