Phillip Liao

Phillip Liao I help clinic owners and health professionals improve their sales and communication skills.

25/05/2026

This is how you answer when a patient asks you for a miracle... and it's a lot simpler than you think.

You just need to talk about how you would help.

And to be willing to walk away.

These two things will strongly set the interaction in your favour and most patients will respect you more for it.

If you start to people-please your patients, you lose control of the relationship.

At the end of the day, you are supposed to lead your patient, not the other way around.

Every 2 weeks.That's what I've come to learn about myself.Every 2 weeks, I go through a wave of intense irritation and d...
09/05/2026

Every 2 weeks.

That's what I've come to learn about myself.

Every 2 weeks, I go through a wave of intense irritation and dissatisfaction at myself.

Why aren't you making more impact?

Why aren't you helping more people?

Why aren't you better?

A lot of pop psychology talks about this as a strong inner critic.

I've just accepted that it's part of my wiring.

It's part of what I am.

Because you know what I've learnt?

It's my choice whether I channel this energy toward something that I find useful.

Because no matter what I do, I still get back to the same place anyway.

Travelling? Feels good for 2-3 days, then we're back.

High intensity competition? Feels good for a day or two after, then we're back.

Business wins? Feels good for 2-3 days, then we're back.

Don't get me wrong, I thought there was something 'wrong' with me a few years ago.

But I was already doing the things that were most effective for management anyway.

Exercise. Eat well. Sleep. Good relationships. Purposeful life.

So if I'm already doing everything right and it's still happening then there's nothing wrong.

It's just the way it is - like an ocean that is meant to crash when it storms. No one says an ocean is wrong because there's times of rough waves.

If you're like me, then I want you to know - there's nothing wrong with you.

You're wired to create, to use these periods of irritation to generate impact.

It's not a problem, it's a gift. It's not to be fixed, it's to be channelled.

06/05/2026

Do you scratch your head why your clinicians can't retain their patients?

It's not even about revenue most of the time.

It's about poor quality of care.

And time and time again I see these three mistakes in clinic teams.

1. What is the VALUE in your treatment offers?

What is the difference in VALUE between a 30, 45 or 60 minute session?

It's not the time - it's WHY that time is important.

A 30 minute session is valuable for people who already have an existing exercise history, are simple cases or are past the acute stage. All these aspects allow for LESS time with the therapist.

A 45 minute session is valuable for people who have zero exercise history, and thus need more movement coaching, or are very acute and anxious... so they need more time to settle and take in the information.

The same goes for 60 minutes. Most times, clinicians just say 'well you get more time,' and 'it's cheaper.' This is wrong. There is no inherent value in 'more time' if it's not articulated. There is no inherent value in 'cheaper' if the patient isn't looking for a 'budget' option.

2. Not Having Clear Progression Pathways

This is where most clinicians lose their patients. They deliver great treatment in the first 3 sessions but then they say 'come back in three days and we'll review.'

Review what? What exactly is the patient coming back for?

Patients don't come back if they don't know why they need to.

3. Not Having Next Stage Conversations

Most clinicians don't lose patients in the acute stage. They lose them in the sub-acute stage.

Why?

Because they assume the patient wants to continue.

But most patients will say 'yes okay,' and never turn up.

Instead, clinicians need to be COACHED to have the next stage conversation.

Don't leave it in the hands of the patient - they'll almost never want to come back; unless you ask them to.

And as promised...

If you want a FREE copy of my retention eBook, comment 'retention' and I'll send you your free copy.

This is your friendly reminder that...You're probably working hard enough. Go chillax ffs.Whether it's sitting on a hors...
05/05/2026

This is your friendly reminder that...

You're probably working hard enough. Go chillax ffs.

Whether it's sitting on a horse, lounging with your kids, watching a movie with your partner or just picking veggies in a garden...

Work is always gna be there.

02/05/2026

A patient retention hack I wish I'd learnt earlier...

Is to treat each consult like the patient is searching for a win.

A lot of clinicians head into consults looking to 'treat' patients.

On paper, they're doing their exact job.

But so many patients drop off because these treatments don't leave them with a WIN.

See patients want to leave every consult feeling like they've 'won' somehow.

And one of the best wins you could give them is the gift of a great conversation.

Don't get me wrong - you should definitely still do your clinical job.

But you can only talk clinically sporadically before they tune out anyway.

That's why one of the pillars of any great clinician is their ability to start, hold and maintain a conversation.

It's not about being a chatterbox either.

It's about asking the right questions, listening thoughtfully and responding in an authentic way.

Sometimes, it's these very conversations that reveal more psychosocial factors that you can use to treat them even better.

This is just one aspect of retention I write about in my free book 'How To Retain Patients Without Being Sleazy,'. If you want a copy, comment 'retention' and I'll send it through.

30/04/2026

People buy from people who believe in the value they bring.

A lot of clinicians talk about 'exercises' to improve a certain condition.

But what they don't do is elaborate on the value of them.

Quite often this is because they themselves don't truly understand or can articulate the exercise selection.

Everything in my pre-hab program, I put thought and clinical rationale into.

And if I was to explain this to a lead, I would tell them exactly where the value in that exercise lies.

The farmer's carry on its' own is not valuable to own.

But the farmer's carry increases cuff activation with low re-injury risk is valuable.

The wide grip row is not valuable on its own.

But when they can see and experience the contraction of that muscle for themselves and how much more sturdy their shoulder feels - it immediately becomes valuable.

You're not 'sellling' exercise.

You're selling your thought process behind the exercise.

Insight is the difference between a $120 and a $240 consult. Patients are happy to pay you more if you can demonstrate y...
29/04/2026

Insight is the difference between a $120 and a $240 consult.

Patients are happy to pay you more if you can demonstrate you understand the problem at an extremely deep level.

With new graduates every year that claim to have certain specialties (and some genuinely do)...

It's even more important that you learn how to mix your professional education with personal experience and your unique method of solving the problem.

This is insight, and NO ONE can copy this off you.

They might copy your program, but they cannot possibly copy your interpretation.

To develop insight, the answer isn't in more formal education.

It's going back to how experts first were developed.

By spending time in THE THING.

It's a completely different conversation when a patient speaks to a clinician whose has walked part of that journey.

You get each other more. You also understand them beyond what 'rehab' is.

Develop insight. No one can copy this.

28/04/2026

In my 10th year of business and I learnt these the hard way...

1. It's not about how much I know, it's about how much I'm ready to do. I read multiple textbooks on marketing, business, leadership and sales but none of it prepared me properly for my first sales call.

2. Working long hours makes me feel good about myself, but isn't actually business success. I used to glorify 50-60 hour work weeks. I told myself 'I needed to grind' in order to make it work. The truth? I was just using long hours to cover up my own feelings of self worth.

3. Use money to buy time back. Don't use time to earn more money. This is the biggest trap I fell into in my 20s. I kept trading my hours for sessions. Every hour increased my income. But it didn't increase my time. I started sitting around on weekends wondering, where did all my time go?

4. It's okay to not want to make a million dollars. I think most people enter business with this weird figure of 'I want to make 7 figures' but the reality is most people never do. And the ones who do will say 'now that I have it, I think I would've been happier with less.' Lifestyle businesses are just as great to have.

5. I realised how selfish people really are. I remember spending months building a new product, spending thousands of my own money and charging a very affordable price. People still ask for discounts. They still ask for freebies. they still say 'I'm spending money so shouldn't I get...' But that's the game.

6. I realise just how much my upbringing affected my growth. Growing up in a low income immigrant household made me think that working hard and saving my money was the mature thing to do. What I didn't realise on my business journey is that's only half of what needs to happen. Spending money is actually how you grow. Investing in your vision is how you change your life.

7. Business is unfair. I don't mean that in a negative way, but 1 hour into one business does not equal the same dollars from another business. (Cont in comments).

27/04/2026

Can a psychotherapist convert consults at $250 for a session?

Of course they can. But it's not easy.

I worked briefly with , aka Eunice on improving the quality of her sales calls and how to position herself as a premium service provider. Here are three quick strategies we used.

1. Niche hard. It's not about nicheing, it's about specialisation based off what you're good at. Eunice has a clear channel to her clients - a unique blend of experience and professional training. No one can compete with her on this. She lives it everyday.

2. Improve lead quality by showing exactly what she does on her website (compounded by Google Ads). This means that people who do book in are most likely people with the EXACT problem she can solve.

3. Restructuring her sales calls. Instead of pitching a service, focus on understanding a prospect's problems and demonstrating your pathway forward. This alone helps clinicians convert better instantly.

BONUS: To step into premium pricing requires outsized value. If you want to charge high, be prepared to give value at scale like nobody else in your niche. That's how you outgrow the profession and become the provider people go to see.

EDIT: Eunice is a psychotherapist, not psychologist. My bad 🙏

Need 1-1 help? DM me and let's chat.

25/04/2026

Seeing more people is not the answer to building a 200K/Year clinician.

Seeing moderate amount of people for a higher fee per consult, IS.

Let me break down why all these strategies work.

1. Increase Prices - A lot of resistance when it comes to raising prices comes to access. But time and time again, all my clients that raise prices INCREASE in utilisation. The paradox is pricing sends a signal. Patients who truly value what you do are happy to pay $20-30 extra IF it means they are well looked after.

2. Increase Treatment Times - The argument against this is 'but if we increase treatment times, we see less patients and that means less volume.' In the short term this is true, but here's the trade-off. When your consult times increase, patient satisfaction improves and you are far more likely to RETAIN your patients. Your clinicians are writing less notes, have more time with their patients and will increase overall job satisfaction.

3. Cap Patient Numbers - Opening your books from 7am - 7pm will not improve your patient numbers. Even if it does, it'll destroy your clinicians over time. Patients who want to come and see you will find ways to work around their schedule. Will you miss out on some patients? Of course. But you can say the same thing for not opening from 7am - 12am. When you cap patient numbers, demand for your time improves, patients stick and they're far more likely to turn up.

If you want even more ways to build your next 200K clinician, comment RETENTION and I'll send over my free eBook.

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