Au Pair Host Family – Team Parent – Marketing Kit

Case Study of 

“Building The Perfect Family Pitch”

Situation:

After a whirl wind day work day, it was 9 pm at night on Monday when I wrote an email to my office saying I would not be in the next day as I needed to find childcare and please reschedule all meetings to the following week. Our caregiver had just left with zero notice and even the agency could offer zero help as there was no problem that could be determined as a root cause and all they could say to the disruption was ‘sorry but we don’t offer backup options.’ 

The reality hit, I didn’t have a reliable pit crew, I didn’t have childcare or coverage. So like many professionals with grit and determination to find coverage, that night at 10 pm I started making posts and calling family to at least get coverage the next week. Over the next week, it felt as if I was working another full time job of playing recruitment manager for childcare and while I would jump on calls and constantly try to schedule interviews.

The first 2 weeks were disappointing results as we got rejected 85 times while trying to search for a nanny or au pair on top of our full time professional jobs and managing childcare. There was little support to even try to make the first interview and sometimes the rejections would come in quick, it is almost like a ‘swipe’ right or left for potential caregivers if they like you or not based on your profile. 

It was clear that if they were in country rematch au pair or a nanny searching, they had already been in discussions with another family that met their ‘ideal expectations.’ When we would find a great potential nanny or caregiver and try to start the conversation, it was too late, they choose another family, that they got good vibes with and choose the other family … this happens to all of us … the game of great snatch. 

With so many great host families … how do you as a wonderful family stand out from the crowd?

The areas that I have identified in the years past are the following:

• Too late in the searching season: In the past, I was late to the game and started the search way to late in the season like in April and May when I should follow the academic year and start in January and February. If you are like me and researching an au pair or nanny off the academic calendar, it is still possible but be realistic and allow 3 to 6 months of lead time unless you can watch all the sites on a daily basis and dedicate 1-2 hours a day. I have even talked with parents that spend a whole week in January and February and take vacation time to plan childcare for the year.
• Family Cover Letter and Portfolio: I didn’t have a game plan with my marketing kit of materials to show how cool my family really is to a prospective caregiver (yeah I am a busy parent and can’t always catch a breathe when I am building a pit crew, it happens).

So as a professional marketer – I studied the customer journey of marketing to a potential customer and the process of a perfect pitch so here is what I did a little differently to get results.

What I researched from  the “Successful Parents” on the best practices:

• Follow the Academic Calendar: Found out that most of the best nannies and au pairs have made their goals by January and February if they are following an academic school year. 
• Tell more about your location. From what I researched from the successful families and understanding what au pairs and live-in nannies is a key selling point. Tell them how far you are from a major city. Even if you are out in the suburbs tell where they closest major city is … in my case the minute I said 70 min drive to New York City (I got more interest).
• What can the caregiver do around your area: We found ‘selling points’ like famous universities near by, why you would want to visit us. For instance, I found that Princeton University offered Auditor Classes and wrote “imagine putting an Ivy League University on your resume or CV.”
• Show Fun Family Photos: Found pictures of our family having fun and posted them in a photo album while answering frequently asked questions.
• Get Recommendations About Working With Your Family: We asked our current caregiver or au pair to give a recommendation with her photo and asked for her email or WhatsApp so others could reach out. 

Step by Step Process On Creating Your Profile to Land the Perfect Fit for Your Family:

1. Send a less than 3 sentences pitch email with a few sentences (see below).
2. About My Family Cover Letter: Developed an awesome cover letter that can be posted on the agency website. Then also sent to the potential au pair / caregiver / nanny in an email in a PDF.
3. Created a photo album of frequently asked questions

👍 Results are in for 2019:

• 70% Response rate: Out of 30 interview requests – 21 responded back (even to tell me I had an ‘awesome family’)
• 5 Potential Au Pairs showed ‘Interest’ in my family and even called the agency saying they wanted to match

Step 1: Example Pitch Email:

Hello __________________,

Please let us know if you have availability to talk! We would like to see if we might be a good match. Below is more information about our family and location where we live in the USA. Attached is a family photo album of some fun photos of where we live and activities we do …

My contact information is:

Name | Email | Skype | WhatsApp | Phone

Looking forward to meeting you,

Mary

Step 2: Example About My Family Cover Letter: