Fifteen minutes on the phone, and then silence
Your clinic offers a free fifteen-minute phone or video call for people unsure whether physio is right for them. Physios fit these calls between patients. The caller describes their problem, the physio explains how the clinic works, and the call ends with 'feel free to book an assessment when you are ready'.
Some book. Many do not. Nobody knows how many, because the calls are not recorded anywhere except the diary. The physio has moved on to the next patient. A week later, the caller has found another clinic, or decided to wait and see.
Why free calls leak
The call is treated as a favour, not as the start of a booking. There is no outcome recorded: interested, not suitable, wants to think, booked. Without an outcome, there is no follow-up.
The next step is left to the caller. They have to find the booking page, work out which appointment type to choose and pick a time, after the warm moment of the conversation has passed.
Physios are not salespeople, and most would rather not be. They are happy to talk someone through their options, but chasing them afterwards feels uncomfortable. So the follow-up that would help an undecided caller simply never happens, even when the caller would have welcomed a reminder.
Clinics also rarely know where callers came from, so they cannot tell whether their free call offer on the website, social media or a directory is bringing the right people.
What unfollowed calls cost
| Gap | Effect |
|---|---|
| No outcome recorded | Nobody knows who is still interested |
| Booking left to the caller | Interested people drift away |
| No follow-up | Physio time spent without a result |
| Source unknown | Marketing spend cannot be judged |
| No overview | Cannot tell whether free calls are worth offering |
Free calls use clinical time, which is the clinic's most limited resource. If they are worth doing, they are worth following through.
How we turn calls into bookings or clear answers
- Free calls are booked through a form that records where the caller heard about you and a short admin description of what they want to discuss.
- At the end of each call, the physio taps an outcome: booked now, wants to book, not suitable, wants to think. It takes a few seconds.
- Callers who want to book receive a text straight away with a link to the appointment type and physio the call suggested.
- Those who have not booked after a set time get a friendly follow-up, and later a final message, in your wording.
- Callers marked not suitable are not chased.
- A monthly report shows calls by source, outcome and physio, and how many led to assessments.
What the physio says on the call, and whether physio is right for the caller, is their professional judgement. The system handles what happens after the call ends.
What you learn and what changes
Interested callers book while they are still interested, because the link arrives while the conversation is fresh. Follow-ups happen without the physio having to remember. And the clinic finally knows whether free calls are worth the clinical time, and which marketing sources bring callers who go on to book.
If the figures show free calls are not working, that is useful too. You can change the offer, or stop it, with evidence rather than a hunch.
Is this how your free calls go?
- Free calls end with 'book online when you are ready'
- Call outcomes are not recorded
- Nobody follows up callers who did not book
- You do not know where free call bookings come from
- You are unsure whether free calls are worth the physio time