Parents occasionally ask their new tutor to meet for coffee or have a brief meeting with the child “to see if it’s a good fit.” This is understandable but the problem is that the parent does not expect to pay for this.
We do not believe it is fair to ask you, our tutor, make an unpaid visit to the client. If you feel better with a brief meet and greet, we won’t stop you, but if you’d like all your trips to the client to be billable, here’s a suggested script to help you handle these requests:
“In-Home Tutors has a policy about meet and greet sessions. They feel it’s more productive to have a real working, billable session for an hour. That way, you’ll get to see how your student and I get on, and you’ll get more accurate feedback from your child. And In-Home Tutors does have a first lesson guarantee policy. So if it turns out I’m not a good fit, you would get a refund. And we can of course take time at the start of the session for you to tell me more about your student, discuss your goals and show me any assessments or IEPs or schoolwork you think would be helpful for me to see. But let’s make that part of our first working session.”
Most parents understand, once you explain the key points in the script
– the first session will be a full one-hour working billable session
– it’s better this way, because the parent can see how the tutor and child get on together
– there’s no risk; if the session does not go well, we’ll refund the client’s money (the tutor still gets paid, of course)
If you have any push-back from the parent, let us know, and we can talk to them. And remember to get your timesheet signed at this first session, so the parent is totally clear that they will be billed!
Is it possible to do a 10-15 minute phone consultation, with a parent/guardian, if they are okay with it so as a tutor one can better prepare themselves for the first tutoring session?
Yes, in fact, it is really important that you call ahead to introduce yourself and get a feel for the client’s expectations. If it feels more professional, do this on Zoom. But you won’t be paid for this initial call; we feel this initial call is part of what a professional tutor does. But we do not think you need to do an in-person unpaid meet and greet. We will support you in telling parents that our policy is to make the first visit a full-hour paid session. They are always protected by our first lesson guarantee if they determine it’s not a fit.