By Sitter Pro
We’ve heard it before: “If I automate everything, my clients won’t feel a personal touch” or “If everything is online, my nannies won’t get any more value from me than they can on other nanny sites”. But let us tell you- this is just not the case. Automated processes and technology like Sitter Pro can actually improve your relationships and give you more time to focus on personal touches. Let’s walk through a few examples together.
Scheduling a nanny candidate interview
Picture your current manual process: You’ve found a great nanny candidate and want to meet them right away. So you type a personal email to ask for a few dates and times that work for them (5 min). They reply 1 day later with 3 timeslots, but none of them work for your team. So you email them again with a few alternate times (5 min). Luckily, when they reply 2 days later, one of the times works for them. So you email them an invite with the Zoom details of the call (3 min). The day before the interview, you send them a reminder email (2 min).
Now see what this process could look like: You’ve found another great nanny candidate and want to meet them right away. So you open your email template and update it with a sentence about what really impressed you about their resume (3 min). In this template, you have a Calendly link for the nanny to select a time on your recruiter’s calendar. 1 day later, the candidate selected a time and was automatically emailed a meeting invitation with the Zoom details. The day before the interview, Calendly automatically sends a reminder email.
A process that took you 15 minutes now only took 3. And instead of getting them scheduled after 3 days, you got them scheduled within 1. You still personalized the initial email and made the process super easy for the candidate, so they have a great first impression of your agency. And what can you do with the 10 extra minutes saved for every candidate? You can call another nanny who you’ve already interviewed but haven’t placed yet, so they know you’re still thinking about them. Double personalization.
Requesting a backup nanny
Put yourself in the client’s shoes: Your full-time nanny is on PTO next week and you need a backup nanny. You call the agency on Wednesday night, but they’re closed so you leave a voicemail. You haven’t heard anything by Friday morning, so you send an email to check on the status of your request. They get back to you quickly and let you know they’re working on filling the job. On Saturday morning, you get an email that the agency found a backup nanny and it includes their bio so you know who to expect.
Now, this doesn’t seem too bad, but what the client doesn’t see is what you’re doing behind the scenes. Sending group text messages and emails to nannies. Fielding questions about the job specifics. Sending the client a confirmation email. Continuing to get questions about the job after it’s been filled.
Imagine a better way: On Wednesday night, your client picks up your app, powered by Sitter Pro, and submits a job request in just a few clicks. The job details are automatically sent to nannies based on their qualifications, location, availability, and client preferences. A nanny accepts the job later that night and the client is automatically sent a confirmation email with the nanny’s bio.
With the help of technology, your client entered a few details on their phone and quickly confirmed a qualified nanny. And you didn’t have to do anything. You can now use the time that was spent filling jobs to make check-in calls to new families. And the existential dread you used to feel whenever a temporary request came through is now gone.
What do these examples have in common?
In both situations, you’re removing tasks that don’t add value (i.e. back and forth communications), simplifying processes for your clients and nannies, and saving yourself precious time that can be spent fostering relationships with your clients, nannies, and staff. So don’t let technology scare you, let it empower you.
Sitter Pro helps agency owners save time and stay competitive in today’s fast-paced world by automating your administrative tasks and providing your clients and caregivers with an app without the expense of developing it yourself. Tasks like caregiver scheduling and processing payments that used to take days, take minutes. Now, you can spend time growing your business, not managing it.