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Elkie Mawdsley
26-04-2014, 07:13 PM
Hello

What do you usually go through with parents on first meeting?

Do you go into policies etc or is it just a chat about your setting and care?

moggy
26-04-2014, 08:47 PM
I have policies in my portfolio folder for them to flick through but I say I will send them all digitally if they wish to proceed, so no need to read in detail right then. First meeting is more for them to get a feel for who you are, what your home and family are like, for you to find out what they need, have a play with the child- see if you feel you will get on well, make sure they are clear about your fees and how and when you want to be paid, to talk about how you work, your settling in process, your routines, outings etc.

Elkie Mawdsley
27-04-2014, 07:42 AM
Brilliant info - thank you

bunyip
27-04-2014, 10:17 AM
A few "don'ts".

Don't feel you have to do everything at the first meeting. Make it clear that the first visit is not an end in itself, but should merely be the start of a process. This helps keep everything relaxed, and takes away the pressure of having to get everything done in a relatively short space of time. If the parents know they can have a 2nd visit, or phone you with any questions they think of later, then you'll look more the open, helping CM, and not look like a double-glazing salesman trying to rush for a signature.

Don't go over the top in trying to win over a client. The vast majority of problems which crop up in CM-client relationships come out of money/arrears or from not being clear about expectations before the arrangement began. I think a lot of parents leave the 1st visit thinking they'll have everything their own way, cos the CM has been desperate to please and/or come across as a wonderful person. Do you want to set up a good, viable arrangement now, or do you want to promise the Earth and then get angry when the parents expect you to deliver on those promises?

Don't forget: you are selecting the client just as much as they are selecting you. This can come as a shock to parents, especially if you're the one who calls them to say, "thanks, but no thanks." You don't have to make an offer to everyone who steps through your door. Ask the questions you want answered, and remember to keep your ears open just in case the alarm bells start to ring.

Don't get rushed into an answer to every question. We all want to appear to know everything. But prospective clients frequently pop up with questions for which a CM is unprepared. If you feel you have to give an answer straightaway, you'll almost certainly muff something or commit to a request you'll later regret. Just remain unflappable, and say, "let me think about that and get back to you." It that doesn't satisfy, then you probably are looking at parents who will prove in time to be rather pushy and excessively demanding.

Don't let the 'caring' aspect squeeze out the 'business' aspect. We all want to look like the perfect child-carer, who had that little bit more 'chemistry' with children than the last setting these parents visited. Truth is, any damned fool can hold a baby, and that's not primarily what CMing is about. I've learnt the hard way that the lo isn't always (ever?) going to magically accept being played with by the new, weird stranger in the strange weird house, and trying to force it can be entirely counter-productive.

Hope this helps and all the best for the visits. :thumbsup:

Elkie Mawdsley
27-04-2014, 03:03 PM
Thank you Bunyip - great advice :)

wee_elf
27-04-2014, 04:02 PM
great advice - thanks :)