How to Get More New Patients From Local Workshops

Most clinicians who run workshops don’t know how to confidently position themselves—and as a result, they walk away with little to no new patients.

If that sounds like you, don’t worry. I’ve been there too.

When I first launched my cash-based clinic, I relied on workshops to build trust in the community. The problem? I was great at teaching... but terrible at converting.

Today, I want to share the key mindset and messaging shift that changed everything—so you can turn education into patient visits without feeling sleazy.

The Early Mistake Most Clinicians Make

I used to end every workshop with a polite “thanks for coming”—then stick around answering free questions for an hour.

Guess what happened?
Zero new patients. Maybe a referral… eventually.

I had no pre-frame, no close, and no conviction. And that’s where most clinicians go wrong.

They think:

“If I give value, people will just come see me.”

Nope.

You have to confidently explain:

• Who you help

• What the next step is

• Why it matters now

The Pre-Frame: Setting Expectations

Start strong by establishing your authority and identifying who this workshop is for. Example:

“If you’re dealing with patellofemoral pain, anterior knee issues, or instability while squatting, this workshop will show you some movements that can help.”

By doing this, you:

• Grab attention from people with that issue

• Help them look for clues during the workshop

• Set up your close in a non-salesy way

The Close: Invite With Confidence

At the end, bring it full circle.

Here’s an example script:

“If what we did today helped even a little—if your pain decreased or range of motion improved—that’s not random. That’s a clue that we can help.

We work with people just like you every day, helping them eliminate pain and get back to doing what they love. If that’s something you want, I’d love to talk with you afterward and see if we’re a good fit.

And if not, I’m glad you came. Please tell a friend about what we’re doing here.”

That’s it.

Assertive. Helpful. Honest.

Why This Works

Because you’re not “selling”—you’re leading.

Most people are in pain, confused, and looking for a trusted guide. If that’s you, they need to hear it.

When you:

• Teach with authority

• Speak with confidence

• Communicate clearly

You give them a reason to believe that you are the solution they’ve been looking for.

Bonus: The Ripple Effect

Even if someone doesn’t become a patient, they can still refer others.

You never know who’s watching. One great workshop can lead to dozens of indirect referrals over time—if you leave a lasting impression.

TL;DR

• Don’t just teach—pre-frame and pitch

• Be clear about who you help and how

• Speak confidently about your results

• Follow up with an honest invite to work with you

If you avoid the close, you’re doing your community (and your clinic) a disservice.

Resources to Help You Grow

Want to get better at this faster? Start here:

• Join the 5-Day Challenge – Learn how to go full-time with a clear, actionable plan

• Get the PT Biz Book – Lessons from 240+ practice owners who scaled up

• Watch our YouTube Channel – Weekly strategies for mindset, marketing, and more

• Visit PT Biz – Coaching and support to build your dream practice

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Ready to elevate your practice? Book a call at the link below with one of our expert consultants today and start your journey to delivering unparalleled physical therapy.

Podcast Transcript

Danny [00:00:00] Hey, Danny Matta here with PT Biz, and today we're gonna talk about how you can get more new patients from your local workshops.[00:00:10]

When I started Athletes Potential, I didn't know anything about marketing. Um, I had just gotten outta the Army and all I really knew [00:00:20] was, uh, I could, I felt like I could treat patients and I felt like I could teach classes, I could educate people on. Different topics. I had to do a lot of that when I was in the [00:00:30] Army and I was currently, at the time I was doing that for Kelly Tourette's group at the time was called Mobility Wad.

So I was teaching in CrossFit gyms and I was teaching in a lot of [00:00:40] military organizations and a lot of it was teaching people about their body and how to do some basic self-care and understanding sort of movement. Principles and concepts that [00:00:50] were, you know, pretty straightforward, but would help them a lot when it came down to physical exercise and, and being able to do those things efficiently and safe.

Right? So what I did was just start teaching [00:01:00] component pieces of what I would teach patients or I would teach at workshops, uh, or I would teach at, at, uh, you know, one to two day long courses that I was teaching. And, and I would, I would put them [00:01:10] into workshops that would be, you know, 40 minutes to an hour.

And I would say my conversion rate on this was terrible when I first started because [00:01:20] a number of factors, uh, number one, I didn't really know how to structure it. Um, I had no pre or post, uh, workshop process. Um, and, and I didn't do a [00:01:30] good job of, of really, you know, being assertive about why people should come in to work with me.

There's a lot of things you can go around or go, go, uh, around [00:01:40] improving your workshops and improving your ability to convert. But there's one really big one that I wanna talk about that if you just improve this, you're gonna see a meaningful increase in your, [00:01:50] your conversion rates from the people that attend any sort of education event that you have.

And this is assuming that you're in a position where you're teaching something and you're in a position of. Authority of some sort as the educator for [00:02:00] this event, and that is your own conviction and confidence about the recommendation to work with you and your team. Now, when I first started teaching workshops, [00:02:10] I felt very, um, I, I lacked a lot of confidence when it came to pitching myself.

In fact, I wouldn't pitch myself at all. I wouldn't say, Hey, you [00:02:20] should come and work with me. Right. I, I wouldn't say that at all. I wouldn't say anything like that. In fact, I would just thank people for coming tonight and I'd let 'em know, you know, if they have any sort of individual questions, I'll just stick around [00:02:30] and, uh, and I'll answer those.

And sometimes I would literally answer questions. I would have a one hour workshop, and then I would spend another hour answering questions, [00:02:40] just diving into things, giving people homework exercises. I mean, essentially diagnosing people and giving them stuff to do. Go [00:02:50] figure. I didn't have a great conversion rate on that, right.

But as I started to figure out, okay, Danny, you gotta at least like try to get patients out of this because [00:03:00] I didn't know any other way to find people. Um, I started to really change the way in which I would position myself both on the front end and [00:03:10] on the, on the back end of. A workshop, and this is where you can establish authority and something that I think will really, truly help you if you just adopt this.

So the first thing [00:03:20] is to establish authority, um, and, and, and do so prior to, uh, anything that you're gonna do. So, for instance. [00:03:30] I would introduce myself and thank you for coming to the workshop. I'd say, you know, Hey, I'm Danny Matea. I'm a physical therapist and I own this clinic. [00:03:40] I appreciate you coming tonight.

Here's what we're gonna work on now. If anybody in here is struggling with X, Y, and Z, and I would name things that the [00:03:50] exercises that we're gonna work on would be beneficial to start adding it. And for instance, let's say this is some sort of like knee related workshop. I'd say if anybody's struggling with pain in the front of their knee, or maybe they've [00:04:00] been diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome, or they have some variation of a need diagnosis, that's not.

Traumatic. These should be really beneficial for you tonight. Now [00:04:10] they'll, the results will be transient. It's not gonna last forever. Like if I show you how to do a positional mobilization or something like that, and you have an increase in range of motion or a [00:04:20] decrease in pain, this is a really positive thing that shows us where're on the right track, and that gives us a piece of information.

Now, if that's the case for you and you are looking to truly solve a problem. [00:04:30] We can talk about what that looks like at the end and how we may be able to help you, you know, work through that problem long term. But tonight, this is what I want you to be on the lookout for. What things are [00:04:40] like, the clues in movement that make the most sense for you.

So I would pre-frame people with the idea of, oh, I do have. I have been diagnosed with Patellafemoral pain syndrome. I do have anterior knee pain, [00:04:50] and he said I should look for clues. So if I do something where I, you know, improving hip extension, all of a sudden my knee doesn't hurt as much whenever I squat.

That's a clue. I should bring this up with him. [00:05:00] So pre-framing things is a very powerful sales, uh, psychology tactic that allows people to be more aware of certain things [00:05:10] that maybe they would completely dismiss or not really think were as important. So pre-framing what they can expect, and if that's a good thing and what that means and what the next step might be, is very, very helpful because [00:05:20] it helps you position your, your final sort of close where you're gonna essentially pitch what you're doing.

In a way, you know, and it can be many different varia [00:05:30] variations of this, but for me, I would go back to, well, what it said at the beginning, you know, and I'd say, listen, if you found things that were beneficial and they helped you at [00:05:40] least even have short term, you know, in decreases in pain or increase in range of motion, that's awesome.

That means we found some clues that mean that this is not something you have [00:05:50] to live with forever. And that's a really good thing. And I would say something to the effect of, we help people just like you. Get past injuries and back to things that they love for good and live a high [00:06:00] performance, pain-free life every single day.

If you're tired of trying to figure this out on your own and some of this stuff worked for you, I would love to be able to help you one-on-one in my office and [00:06:10] truly make changes that are specific to you and not necessarily a big group. I'd love to hang out afterward and talk to you about what that might look like, if it's a fit for you and if it's not and you just [00:06:20] had a great time tonight.

Awesome. Thanks for coming. Tell a friend to come next time. You know, like I would finish essentially by pitching myself and wrapping it back up to what I said at the beginning. This is a very, very effective way [00:06:30] to include reciprocity, but then also your confidence and conviction in what you do, because you're not saying, Hey, everybody in here should come and see me.

That [00:06:40] is not a very effective approach. In fact, think about if you were an attendee to a workshop and that person said, Hey, everybody in here should come and see me and book a visit. That's [00:06:50] not gonna do so great. Versus if I'm calling out very specific things that they already talked about at the beginning, and I'm reiterating those, I have far more authority with that.

I have far more conviction from those [00:07:00] people that I probably am the right person that they, maybe they've been searching for, maybe avoiding shit that we could actually help them with, and now we can actually spend time with them. To rebuild whatever it is that we [00:07:10] need to help them rebuild so they can get back to the things that they like to do.

And that is a very, very honest way of going about it. I think this is what has to align with you. I always felt like I never wanted to make. [00:07:20] Um, I, I never wanna say something that I was gonna be able to do, something that I didn't feel like I could do. Right? And we know we can't get necessarily, we can't necessarily get everybody better.

I mean, that's the reality, right? Like [00:07:30] some people do require additional testing or surgery in some cases. Sometimes you just don't know and your skillset. Doesn't allow you to make the change that's going [00:07:40] on for whatever reason. Everybody has had cases where they just haven't been able to make, you know, the, the, the change that they would want and that their patient wants, and it sucks.

It's a, it's a freaking bummer, right? Like it, I hate that, [00:07:50] but generally our success ratio is very high. And our ability to help people, the right people, [00:08:00] you know, it's important to let them know. That we are the right people for them because the alternative is that they continue to avoid things that they like.

They continue to be in pain [00:08:10] restricted, decreasing their ability to be healthy or maybe move the way that they want, adding stress to their already probably stressful life. And if they're, if they're just doing these things and they're [00:08:20] just avoiding these, these things, that's not a great place for them to be either.

So if you're standing in front of that person and you're too scared to at least position yourself as somebody that can help [00:08:30] the right people. That's on you. That is a, that is a mindset problem. That is a internal issue that you're gonna have to deal with because there's people in front of you, you [00:08:40] can help and you are letting 'em slip away because you're scared.

And I know what that feels like 'cause I've been there too. I. And to, for some of us, it [00:08:50] requires the, the pain of literally having a business that isn't making enough revenue to provide for your lifestyle, your family, the way that you want, that you're [00:09:00] finally gonna get the courage to actually change something that's probably affecting lots of other things in your life.

Your ability to be assertive and confident. There's nothing that you can [00:09:10] do that's gonna improve that. And standing up in a, in front of a group of strangers and having to be confident and assertive about the things that you honestly think that you can do. And once you [00:09:20] get past that, your workshop conversions will improve.

Your reputation will improve. You'll get more people that never, they don't even work with you, but they [00:09:30] attend some sort of event that you have. And they can feel it, like they can feel it. If somebody truly. Understands what they're talking about and they have high conviction in the fact [00:09:40] that they can help somebody get an outcome.

We can feel that other people can, and they, maybe they're not appropriate to work with you, but they're impressed and they say, damn, this person was [00:09:50] different. I learned some stuff that was a completely different skillset, uh, than anybody showed me that made a meaningful [00:10:00] difference in my symptoms, you know, in one night.

Or here's another thing. It could literally be your ability to [00:10:10] effectively communicate what's going on. I have later today, a patient come into my house and I don't, I don't treat [00:10:20] patients formally in clinic anymore, but I have a free clinic at my house for friends and family, and I have a family member who.

Uh, had a knee replacement six [00:10:30] months ago and they live in a different city and they, they moved to the Atlanta area now and I saw 'em at a birthday party and. I spent about 30 minutes evaluating [00:10:40] his knee. It's not looking good. He's got a lot of work that needs to be done. He's completely sort of not done his rehab on the back end of it.

And so at this child's [00:10:50] birthday party on a sectional, I sat down with him and I, uh, I, I assessed his knee. I had him do some exercises, and I explained to him why he was having pain in certain places, like [00:11:00] behind his knee now, or why he was feeling unstable and, and why he felt like his balance was worse.

This, this guy did months of physical therapy after the [00:11:10] fact, and as we sat there, he said, I've. I did months of PT and I've never had somebody explain this to me that makes sense in a way that you did of the things that I need to do. [00:11:20] And now to have him re-motivated to do those things is fantastic. I would love to see that he makes a full recovery.

I'm sure he would love to have a full recovery so that he can play with his [00:11:30] grandkids and do the shit that he really enjoys. And he went from somebody that was just assuming that his life looks like this from now on, being dependent on people struggling with all these things that he used to [00:11:40] take for granted to now all of a sudden.

We have an opportunity where we have buy-in, we have trust, and we have somebody who has something that has clicked from an education standpoint, from a communication [00:11:50] standpoint and a trust standpoint that's gonna be much more willing to wanna put in the effort to actually get this outcome. That could be the thing that you do and you don't even [00:12:00] realize it at an event.

You might educate somebody on something and clear something up for somebody in a way that they just, they didn't [00:12:10] get previously, they didn't understand previously. And if you don't, at least. Follow that up with positioning yourself as somebody that can help them get the outcome that they want. [00:12:20] You are leaving money on the table, you're leaving visits on the table, and worst of all, you're leaving somebody in a position where they're gonna continue to avoid [00:12:30] stuff that they like to do and not live a full life the way that they should because our vehicles in life are our bodies.

Whether we. Like that or not, whether we want to do, you know, whether we wanna exercise [00:12:40] or not, whether we want to eat right or not. We didn't wanna sleep enough or not. Whether we wanna manage our stress or not, this is all we got. That's it. And we can help people with this in this [00:12:50] incredibly meaningful way.

Such a significant way that means so much to them. So much of them that they're willing to pay you probably a lot more than you're charging out of pocket. If you can get them [00:13:00] across the line and they can understand that you can help them, you prove it in some way, even within like interest session changes within a workshop, and all of a sudden you finish it off by being very confident about [00:13:10] who you can and cannot help and who should talk to you.

And even if they're not appropriate for you, you're gonna leave such a lasting impact on them, that they're gonna send their friends and family. And [00:13:20] that always shocked me when I would do these local events, you know it. I would be like, Hey, how did you hear about us? When we'd have a new patient come in, I would always ask them the same thing.

How did you hear about us? [00:13:30] We'd love to thank somebody, and they would say, oh, Brian sent me your way. I'm like, Brian, I don't know if I've, you know, I don't know if I've worked with, with Brian and they say, no, no, he [00:13:40] went to a workshop that you taught last month on whatever. And I, he, I worked with him and he said that, oh, you should go see this guy.

I went to this workshop, like, he [00:13:50] seems awesome, whatever. And I never worked with this person. And that is the, the compounding effect of what being involved in a local community and educating people can have on you. [00:14:00] There's very few, very, very few. Marketing efforts that you can put in that have a compounding effect of reciprocity like that.

There, there's, there's, there's other [00:14:10] variations that, that can be similar, but man, you nail these things and you're gonna have a lot more people coming your way, not just directly from workshops, but indirectly from [00:14:20] workshops. And this isn't even without any sort of systems built on the front or back end of this.

So. The key here is, and the TLDR of all of this is you've gotta be comfortable with yourself. [00:14:30] You gotta be confident with what you can and can't do. And if you can explain these things, especially on the beginning and the end of your workshop, and, and not shrink and be [00:14:40] small and hide and, and, and not position yourself as somebody that can help people, you're gonna get a lot more out of it.

And I'm telling you. I struggled with this so [00:14:50] bad. I probably taught a dozen workshops before I even pitched myself. And as soon as I started doing it in an authentic way, that felt good to me. 'cause I didn't want to feel like I'm, [00:15:00] you know, standing up there just selling to people, you know, just because I felt very uncomfortable with that.

And I hate, I would hate at any, [00:15:10] any time to this day, even with people that we work with in a completely different scenario with helping with their businesses. I hate. Telling people I can help them with something and not being able to do it. [00:15:20] And that's a good thing. If you feel that way, that means that you're an honest person.

That means that you care about other people, that that means that you're not just full of shit and you like to sell and make money. And that means you have a [00:15:30] service-based business, a service-based heart at that. That is a very, very good thing. But that can also lead people to struggle with, with sales when it comes to these things.

So you gotta get past that, and as soon as you do, you're [00:15:40] gonna see. Your new volume is gonna go up. Your clinic is gonna have more, you know, uh, new patient volume. You're gonna have a better reputation and you're gonna get a huge compounding effect. [00:15:50] 'cause every time you teach a workshop, that's 10 people, let's call it in there, 20 people, five people, it doesn't matter.

That's people that you are leaving a lasting impact on with something that is [00:16:00] face to face, person to person, that's special, that's hard to replicate online, and that that will be a buzz about you in a positive way, whether they come to see you or not. I hope this helps you. [00:16:10] I hope that you're able to position yourself as authority that you actually are, and you get past some of the limiting beliefs that you might have about yourself when it comes to actually selling your services.

Thanks for listening. [00:16:20] See you on the next one.