Ep 110 How to Build a Client Enquiry System That Runs in the Background

If you’re spending your evenings replying to Instagram DMs while simultaneously trying to write clinic notes, sort dinner, and remember whether you actually moved the washing into the dryer… this blog post is for you.

Because whilst social media can absolutely bring clients into your business, manually managing every enquiry quickly becomes exhausting.

And the truth is, most health professionals don’t start a business because they dream of being permanently attached to their phones.

You want freedom. Flexibility. A business that works around your life, not one that steals every spare moment you have after clinic.

That’s why today I want to show you a much simpler way to handle client enquiries using a system that runs quietly in the background for you.

No pushy marketing. No complicated tech wizardry. No dancing on Reels at 9pm whilst your children ask where their PE kits are.

Just a practical, ethical system that helps you attract the right people, build trust, and move potential clients towards working with you.

And honestly? Once you understand how this works, it feels a bit like discovering the business equivalent of finally getting everyone in the house to put their shoes in the same place.

Life changing.

 

Why Most Health Professionals Feel Stuck on Social Media

Here’s what I see happening all the time.

A dietitian, nutritionist, physio or therapist starts posting consistently online. They share helpful content. They build trust. People start engaging.

And then the enquiries begin.

Which is brilliant… until suddenly they’re drowning in a sea of:

• Instagram DMs
• Voice notes
• Questions
• Link requests
• “Can you send me more information?”
• Follow-ups they forgot to reply to three days ago

What started as exciting visibility starts feeling like another full-time admin job.

And because most clinicians are already juggling patient work, family life, CPD, and approximately 47 open tabs in their brain at all times, it becomes unsustainable very quickly.

I know because I’ve lived it myself.

 

The Turning Point in My Own Business

Back in 2021 and 2022, I started properly implementing sales training inside my own business.

And it worked.

Really well.

Every time I shared Instagram stories inviting people to grab a free resource or enquire about working with me, I’d get flooded with messages.

Sometimes 80. Sometimes 200.

Now, on paper, that sounds wonderful.

But behind the scenes? It was chaos.

At the time, my assistant Claire and I were manually replying to every single message. We had browser tabs everywhere. We were copying and pasting links over and over again like two exhausted NHS administrators trying to survive winter pressures.

At one point Instagram actually started flagging my account because the repetitive activity looked bot-like.

Which honestly felt slightly offensive considering how very humanly exhausted we both were.

And that’s when I realised something really important:

Manual social media selling is not scalable.

Eventually, you either:

• Burn yourself out
• Miss opportunities because you can’t respond quickly enough
• Or spend so much time managing enquiries that you stop focusing on the parts of your business that actually generate growth

Something had to change.

 

The Simple Client Enquiry System I Started Using

The system itself is actually incredibly simple.

There are really only three stages:

1. Attract the Right People

First, you need something that attracts the right audience into your world.

Usually, this is a lead magnet or freebie.

Something genuinely useful that solves a very specific problem.

For example:

• A symptom tracker
• A quick-start guide
• A meal planning template
• A checklist
• A short training

The key is specificity.

Not:
“Healthy Eating Guide”

But:
“5 Steps to Beat the Bloat”

Your audience needs to immediately think:
“I need that.”

2. Move Them Onto Your Email List

This is the bit so many people skip.

Social media is lovely. But you do not own Instagram.

And relying entirely on social media for enquiries is a little bit like building your dream house on rented land.

Your email list is where relationships deepen.

It’s where people:

• Hear from you consistently
• Build trust
• Learn your approach
• Understand your offers
• Eventually become paying clients

Email marketing is still one of the most effective sales tools in online business.

Especially for regulated health professionals where trust matters deeply.

3. Automate the Delivery Process

And this is where ManyChat comes in.

ManyChat is a tool that connects with Instagram and Facebook and allows you to automate parts of your enquiry process.

So instead of manually replying to every DM, the system responds automatically when someone:

• Comments a keyword
• Replies to a story
• Sends a message

For example:

You post:
“Comment BLOATED below and I’ll send you my free guide.”

Someone comments.

Instantly, ManyChat sends them a DM with the link.

Simple.

Smooth.

No scrambling around trying to reply whilst reheating your tea for the third time.

 

Why ManyChat Works So Well for Health Professionals

One of the biggest myths I hear is:
“But won’t automation feel impersonal?”

Honestly? Not if you do it properly.

People know they’re interacting with a system.

The goal isn’t to pretend it’s you typing live from your sofa whilst half-watching Netflix.

The goal is simply to remove friction.

And actually, instant responses often create a better experience because people receive help immediately whilst they’re still interested.

You can also make automations feel incredibly warm and human by:

• Using conversational language
• Adding personality
• Including voice notes or images
• Personalising messages with names
• Writing exactly how you naturally speak

Think of automation as support, not replacement.

It handles the logistics so you can focus on the relationship itself.

 

The Hidden Benefit Nobody Talks About

There’s another reason Instagram automation works so well.

Engagement.

When you ask people to comment a keyword on your post, Instagram sees lots of interaction happening.

And the algorithm loves that.

So your post gets pushed to more people.

Which creates more comments.

Which creates more reach.

Which creates more leads.

It’s a little bit like giving the algorithm a giant Yorkshire pudding and saying:
“Go on then, help yourself.”

Suddenly your content starts travelling much further than before.

 

A Real Example From One of My Clients

One of my clients, Christian, specialises in coeliac disease.

He created a simple free symptom tracker for people still struggling with symptoms despite following a gluten-free diet.

Then he used ManyChat to automate delivery of that freebie.

The results?

One post generated:

• 271 comments
• Another generated 241
• Another generated 161

Now imagine manually replying to every single one of those people.

Absolutely not.

Instead, ManyChat handled the process automatically whilst Christian focused on creating great content and supporting his clients.

And this is what I really want you to understand:

You do not need to be a tech expert to make your business run more smoothly.

You just need simple systems.

 

Tech Is Not the Enemy

I know many health professionals feel intimidated by tech.

But often, that fear comes from trying to learn everything at once.

You do not need to become a full-time marketer.

Or funnel strategist.

Or automation wizard living in a dark room surrounded by ring lights and spreadsheets.

You simply need to understand the basics of a few key tools that save you time.

And honestly, once you start building systems like this, business feels lighter.

Less reactive.

Less frantic.

More intentional.

More spacious.

Which matters enormously when you’re trying to build a business around your actual life and family.

 

Your Next Step

If you want to try this for yourself, here’s where I’d start.

First, think about:
What is one small but genuinely useful free resource your audience would love?

Not something huge.

Not a 97-page ebook nobody reads.

Just one simple, practical quick win.

Then go and create a free ManyChat account and have a little play around.

Don’t overthink it.

Most people are surprised by how simple it actually is once they get started.

And if you want support building systems like this inside your own health business, this is exactly the kind of thing we work on inside Accelerate.

Because growing a business shouldn’t mean working every evening, constantly refreshing Instagram, or feeling guilty every time you sit down for five minutes with a cuppa.

You deserve systems that support you.

You deserve a business that works around your life.

And I promise you, it is absolutely possible to build one.

 

Ready to Build a Simpler, Smarter Health Business?

Applications are now open for the waitlist for the brand new Accelerate 2.0.

Inside Accelerate, I help regulated health professionals build profitable online businesses with clearer strategy, better marketing systems, stronger sales processes, and far more freedom.

Apply for the waitlist here:
Accelerate 2.0 Waitlist

And if you’re currently sitting there wondering whether business really can feel easier than it does right now…

Take this as your reminder that it can.

The Master Plan:

Helping you build the business of your dreams. Get your 22 point step-by step workbook here: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/master-plan

Connect with me:

Website: https://www.sarahalmondbushell.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dietitiansinbusiness/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dietitiansinbusiness

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/beyondtheclinicbusiness

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheClinicPodcast

 

Episode transcription:

Welcome along. Today we're going to be talking about how to put together a really simple system that brings in new potential clients into your business without you constantly being in the DMs or glued to your phone. It's going to be a good one.

Sarah Bushell (00:40.878)
Okay, so at end of the day, if you want to have a successful private practice, you need to have three things working together. Number one, you need to be attracting people to you in some way. Number two, you need to be nurturing them and building relationships to build trust. And then number three, you need to be converting them into paying clients. And for most of you listening, a really big part of that is happening on social media.

You're posting content, you're starting conversations, you're replying to DMs, you're answering questions, sending links, following up. You do all of these really, really important things to help you get clients coming through the door. But let me guess. But let me guess, it feels like hard work. It can feel hard. It can feel super time consuming, keeping on top of all of those things, right?

You might feel like you're always glued to your phone and spending way more time on social media than you really want to be. And the thing is, even one well-performing post can leave you with a lot of manual work work. Just imagine for a second, imagine you put up on Instagram a poll or a post or a story that invited people to grab your free guide. Just imagine for a second.

Imagine you put up a post on Instagram or a story inviting people to grab your free guide or a low priced offer. And it worked really, really well. And you get 20 or 30 or maybe even 50 or more people asking in your DMs wanting to know more. Now, it does sound like a dream, doesn't it? Except now you've got to go and answer all of those messages individually. And the sooner the better, because you want...

to reply whilst you're still at the front of their mind and while they're still interested. Plus, you likely have this to do on top of everything else that you're already busy doing at the moment. And then suddenly, what should feel like a really good problem to have starts to feel pretty overwhelming because it's 20 or 30 or maybe even 50 separate conversations, each one needing a reply, a link sent and a bit of context, and then some follow up.

Sarah Bushell (03:06.124)
And that's exactly where today's episode comes in because what we're talking about today is a tool that helps you handle all of that automatically. In fact, it just ticks along in the background without you needing to be constantly glued to your phone. And that is a tool called ManyChat, which you may have heard of. So in today's episode, I'm going to break this down into two key parts. Firstly, the strategy.

So the basics of how to attract the right people and then how to move them onto your email list and start building that relationship. And then I'm going to explain that simple tool called ManyChat that can help you automate a lot of that process so it runs nicely for you in the background. So let's do it.

Okay, now what I want you to take away from this episode isn't just the tool itself, but it's the strategy behind it. Because before we even get into what many chat is, what really matters is understanding what actually needs to happen in your business if you want consistent clients. So first, let's talk about how we can attract the right people into your world in the first place.

Now, of course, there's tons and tons of different ways that you can do this. But for the purpose of this episode, we're going to be focusing on using a freebie, also known as a lead magnet. And it's a really simple way to attract the right people. Now, the key thing here is that the freebie has to have a very specific outcome and solve a very specific problem. So just to give you an example, let's say you're an IBS dietitian.

you might create something like five steps to beat the bloat, a guide maybe. So in this case, the specific outcome might be five clear steps that someone should follow to help reduce post meal bloating. Your freebie also needs to be really enticing. So something that gives a really clear quick win. So it actually makes someone think I need that and it encourages them to opt in for it straight away.

Sarah Bushell (05:17.976)
Then once someone clicks through to your opt-in page to access that free resource, they will be asked to pop their email address and their name in exchange for it. And voila, they're now a subscriber on your email list. That one small action is what moves them off social media and onto your list, which is actually a really important action because this is now a space that you actually own. And from there,

you start to build that relationship so that they start to actually trust you and see you as the obvious person to help them. Because once someone is on your email list, it doesn't just stop at them downloading a freebie and forgetting about you. You then continue to show up in their inbox and remind them of how you can help them.

So for example, you might have an email sequence that welcomes them in and tells them a bit more about you and starts to build a bit of trust over time. Then you can also guide them to other helpful resources, maybe other free guides or blog posts or your podcast. And the great thing about email is instead of hoping someone comes back to your content on social media, you're now consistently staying on their radar in a much more personal way in their inbox.

And email is one of the very best places to sell from in your business. And now email is also one of the very best places to sell from in your business. So the aim here is to move people off social media and into email. OK, so now you understand the simple strategy behind this, attracting people in with something they genuinely want, helping them get a quick win with that free resource, and then getting them

onto your email list where you build that relationship further and eventually convert them into paying clients. The next question becomes, how do you actually do this in a way that doesn't feel manual and time consuming and like you're constantly glued to your phone? And that is exactly where ManyChat comes in. So what is ManyChat? Well, basically it's a really simple tool that connects platforms like Instagram and Facebook and allows you to send

Sarah Bushell (07:37.502)
automated and allows you to set up automated conversations with people who interact with your content. So instead of manually replying to every comment or DM or inquiry, you can create a prewritten response that is sent automatically when someone takes a specific action, such as commenting a keyword, replying to a story or sending you a message.

So going back to our example from earlier with the Beat the Bloat free guide, instead of having to reply to every single person manually, you can simply ask people to comment a word like bloat under your post. Now, as soon as they do that, ManyChat instantly sends them a DM with the next step, usually asking them to confirm that they want it. So something like, hey, you want me to send you the guide? And then there'll be a button underneath that says, yes, please.

and then it will instantly share the link to download your freebie. So it's not just quicker for you, it's also a much smoother experience for them. They don't have to go searching for links in your bio or wait around for a reply from you. And what's really nice about that is it doesn't just stop there. You can build out a really simple flow where they've downloaded the freebie and so you might check in with them, ask a quick question.

or guide them towards the next helpful step. And you can make this feel really human. You can personalize it with their name and even add things like images and GIFs or audio files if you want to. Now people know it's a bot, so don't pretend that it is actually you, but you can absolutely make it sound much more human than robot speak. So it's not...

Just a delivery tool, it's actually really helpful for nurturing relationships as well. And when you use it properly, it actually can support every part of that strategy that we've just talked about. It helps you capture attention. It responds instantly while someone is still interested now. It moves them onto your email list and it guides them towards your offer, all without you needing to be online at all.

Sarah Bushell (09:55.17)
And as I've said, this is the real goal here. It's not just sending a link, but it's from moving someone from a quick moment of interest on social media onto your email list where you can actually build a relationship and turn them into paying clients over time. Now, before I was using ManyChat in my business, I was doing everything manually. And I did hit a point where things did start to get completely out of hand. Back in...

2021, 2022, I can't remember exactly. I was doing a lot of sales training and I was starting to implement properly what I'd learned on Instagram stories. And it worked really, really, really well. Every time I put up a story inviting people to grab a free resource or find out more about working with me, I'd get anywhere between 80 and 200 DMs coming in, which sounds amazing, doesn't it? Until you're the one having to respond to all of them.

Now, at the time, I had an assistant called Claire helping me with replying to all of these DMs. And so we tried to make it work as best we could. I would record voice notes or write out responses. And then Claire would literally sit there with about 20 browser tabs open, copying and pasting the same message in and doing it over and over and over again. And it actually got to the point where Instagram started flagging my account.

because the activity looks so repetitive, as if I was a bot. And this is exactly what it started to resemble really, even though in reality it was a real human just trying to keep up with all the messages coming through. And then of course, people would reply to those DMs. So it wasn't just sending one message and being done, it was a matter of keeping up real conversations with up to 200 people.

So suddenly there was a lot of workload. I had my actual client work and then I had this growing machine of inbound messages that needed constant attention. So something had to change because the reality is manual social media selling, just isn't scalable. You end up either burnt out or trying to keep up with it all or missing opportunities simply because you can't respond fast enough or actually both.

Sarah Bushell (12:16.066)
So ManyChat was an absolute game changer for me in that business and now in both businesses actually. And it's also been an absolute game changer for my client.

Sarah Bushell (12:32.587)
And it's also been an absolute game changer for my client, Christian. So Christian specializes in celiac disease, specifically supporting people who are already diagnosed following a strict gluten-free diet, but still struggling with ongoing symptoms. So it's a very clear niche with a very specific problem. He created Lead Magnet, a simple symptom tracker designed specifically for that audience. And then he set up a really simple many chat automation.

So whenever someone commented a specific keyword on his post, they would automatically receive a DM with the link to download the free symptom tracker. And the results were incredible. One post generated 271 comments. So that was 271 people who genuinely wanted that free resource.

Sarah Bushell (13:24.438)
Another post generated 241 comments and another one 161. Now if Christian didn't have many chats he would have had to reply to every message manually. But instead, every single one of those comments immediately triggered an automatic DM with the link to the freebie inside it. And every person who opted in joined his email list. And the only thing Christian had to do was to

created social media posts, and then ManyChat handled the rest. Now it's worth mentioning, Christian isn't a tech expert, he isn't a marketer, he's a clinician who chose a specific niche, created something genuinely helpful for that audience, and used one simple tool to help make his life easier. So let this be your reminder, you do not need to be techie or good at systems to make your business run smoother for you. ManyChat is really a very simple,

once you get the hang of it. And once you do learn it, you can start taking so much of this manual work off your plate. So you're probably quite intrigued about the idea of doing this for your business, but you might have a few concerns. You might be wondering if a tool like this that automates your messages will feel a little bit impersonal or sound robotic. And you know what? That is a fair concern to have, but really, it actually completely depends on how you set it up.

The more thought you put into it, the better it's going to work for you. The quality of your automation really matters. So when you take the time to make those messages sound exactly like you and add a bit of thought behind the wording, people are far more likely to actually click through and take that next step. Remember, ManyChat isn't there to replace the relationship between you and your audience, but it's there to handle the logistics.

like sending important links as soon as possible and starting conversations with people. Now, you might also be wondering how new this technology is. Well, actually, many chats been around for years. I've been using it since 2021, 2022, and I think it's been around for longer than that. So it's definitely not a trend or a shiny new thing. It's really well established. It's tried and tested.

Sarah Bushell (15:48.076)
And it's a tool that actually loads of online business owners have been using for quite a long time just to simplify how they handle leads and inquiries. And if you look at the people whose content feels effortless and who consistently get a lot of engagement and interest on their posts, there's a very good chance that something like ManyChat is working behind the scenes.

Well, I really hope that today's episode has been useful for you and it's given you bit of insight into how you can start making your business run a lot smoother behind the scenes.

Sarah Bushell (16:37.1)
And if you look at the people whose content feels effortless and who consistently get a lot of engagement and interest on their posts, there's a very good chance that something like ManyChat is working behind the scenes. Because if you think about it, if you're asking someone to comment a specific keyword and you set up a response to that, which you can do in ManyChat, the algorithm goes, there's quite a lot of engagement on this post. Let's push it out a bit further.

And of course, that post then gets seen by more people who then comment the keyword and you respond to that and so on and so forth. And it can actually create quite a lot of engagement and quite a lot of reach for you really quite quickly. So we really hope today's episode has been useful for you and has given you some insight into how you can start making your business run a lot smoother behind the scenes.

I want you to remember that tech isn't this big scary thing. It's just about understanding the basics of how it works and learning from there. So here's your action step for the week. First, I want you to identify your free resource. What's one simple, genuinely useful free resource that you could offer your clients that solves a clear urgent problem for them. Then secondly, go and have a look at ManyChat. Create a free account. Just have a play around with it.

Don't overthink it. It's far less complicated than it sounds. And the free plan is more than enough to get you started and familiar with how it works. And the reason why I'm telling you this is because this is one of the key tools that we use in our business. And I encourage my clients to use because it means that it frees up so much of your time so that you can go on and do other more income generating activity.

And then before we wrap up, I just want to remind you that I'm going to soon be taking on some new clients and relaunching my business support program, Accelerate. So if you've been thinking about working with me this year, now's the time to apply. And if you're accepted, you'll get a spot on the VIP wait list because for this next round only, those who are on my wait list and decide to go on to work with me are going to be entered into a cash

Sarah Bushell (19:01.516)
going to be entered into a draw to win a thousand pounds cash bonus, but it's only for the first person.

Sarah Bushell (19:11.104)
If you want to work with me this year, now is the time to get your name on that wait list because for this next round only, for those who are on the wait list, I'm going to be putting your names into a hat and offering one of you a £1,000 cash bonus when you say yes and start working with me.

Now, this program is one of the very few spaces where you get business support and mentorship from someone who actually understands regulated health care and has a real proven experience of building two six-figure businesses in this exact space. We focus on the full picture of getting more consistent clients, creating and selling digital offers, improving your marketing a thousandfold,

strengthening your sales processes and increasing your yes rate on discovery calls. The lot. So if you want that kind of support, I don't want you to miss out on your chance to win this thousand pound cash bonus. So just apply now. The link will be in the show notes and let's get you on that waiting list today.

Sarah Bushell (20:29.262)
Bye for now.