How do I bring back weight loss clinic patients who stopped coming?
By the Margin Media team · Updated
A weight loss clinic brings back patients who stopped coming by finding out who has lapsed, contacting them with a short and kind message, and making the return visit easy to book. People drift away quietly and can feel awkward about it. A message with no judgement and a clear next step gives them a way back in.
Why do patients stop coming?
They stop for ordinary reasons: a missed appointment that was never rebooked, a busy month, a holiday, a change in budget. Few make a decision to leave. One gap becomes two, and then coming back feels like admitting something. Meanwhile the clinic, busy with the patients in front of it, does not notice the absence.
How do you run a win-back?
Run it as a small, deliberate campaign instead of a one-off blast. Each step below protects either the patient or the clinic. Do them in this order.
- Pull a list from your records of patients with no visit and no future appointment in a set period.
- Remove anyone who asked not to be contacted, and anyone your clinical team says should not be.
- Write a short message that says you are thinking of them and offers a time to come back in.
- Leave out any comment on their progress, their weight or why they stopped.
- Give a simple way to book: a reply, a link or a number that is answered.
- Follow up once with those who do not reply, then leave them be.
What should the message not do?
It should not guilt, diagnose or promise. Do not tell a patient what they have lost by stopping, and do not describe results they could expect. Those are clinical conversations for the consultation room. The message is an invitation and nothing more. Have your clinical lead read it before it goes out.
How does Margin run a win-back for a weight loss clinic?
Margin runs a win-back campaign to your past patients to bring them back in. The list and the wording are agreed with your clinic first. Replies come to Mia, our AI receptionist, who books the visit onto the portal calendar and tells the office.
She does not give medical advice, and a reply with a clinical question is passed to your team. The campaign goes out from your clinic's own texting number, so it waits for phone carriers to approve that number, which takes days to a couple of weeks.
What Margin sets up for this.
- A win-back campaign to past customers
- Booking onto your calendar
- Mia, the AI receptionist, on every call
What a business needs is decided on its audit. It is a one-time setup fee and a monthly fee, with exact numbers on the audit.
How Margin works for cosmetic and elective medical practicesSee the portal with a sample businessThe Surgery Accelerator, for plastic surgeons
Related questions
How long before a weight loss clinic patient counts as lapsed?
It depends on how often your programme expects visits. A weight loss clinic can define lapsed as a patient who has missed two expected visits and has nothing booked, then adjust once it sees its own pattern.
How often should a weight loss clinic run a win-back campaign?
A few times a year is enough for a full campaign. Better still, a weight loss clinic can check weekly for patients who missed a visit without rebooking and contact them then, before the gap grows.
Is it appropriate for a weight loss clinic to text past patients?
It can be, if the patient gave the clinic their number for contact and the message is discreet. A weight loss clinic should take its own advice on what applies to it, and honour every request to stop.