45% of your clients disappear before their treatment plan is complete.
An analysis of client databases across Australian remedial massage practices — and the system that brings them back.
Routiq — Australian Remedial Massage Report 2026Remedial massage is one of Australia's largest and fastest-growing health services.
Remedial massage works best as a recurring treatment.
Client behaviour says otherwise.
Chronic pain management, injury rehabilitation (6–10 treatments), maintenance every 4–6 weeks. These are recurring needs being treated as one-off visits. Clients feel better after 2–3 sessions and assume they're fixed — then the pain returns.
BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine, WebPT, PMCThe economics of ignoring retention.
Most massage therapists spend on Instagram ads and Google Ads chasing new clients while existing clients sit idle in the database.
The cheapest client to acquire is one you already have.
The data tells the same story.
Across the massage practices we reviewed, the same pattern repeated — the majority of clients are lapsed, reachable by SMS, and have never received a clinically-relevant message prompting them to return.
In a typical remedial massage practice database, more than two-thirds of all clients haven't booked in 90+ days. Many haven't returned in years — despite ongoing treatment needs.
Typical client recency distribution
Most massage therapists have no automated system for tracking treatment plans, identifying lapsed clients, or sending clinically-relevant follow-up messages at scale.
Four reengagement segments hiding in every massage database.
What reengagement looks like for a typical massage practice.
Based on a practice with 2,000 clients, ~70% lapsed beyond 90 days, at standard Australian remedial massage rates.
| Segment | Estimated Pool | Reengagement Rate | Recovered | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment Plan Dropouts | ~420 | 10% | 42 | $13,860 |
| Maintenance Lapsed | ~350 | 12% | 42 | $4,620 |
| Initial Contact Only | ~350 | 8% | 28 | $18,480 |
| No-Show Recovery | ~112 | 25% | 28 | $3,080 |
| Total — First Pass | 140 | $40,040 |
Those 42 recovered maintenance clients generate $4,620 every 4–6 weeks in recurring revenue — $55K+/year from a single segment.
Modelled on Australian remedial massage rates. Conservative reengagement assumptions.These numbers aren't optimistic. They're conservative.
“Can't I just post on socials and hope they come back?”
Social media reaches everyone. Targeted recall reaches the right person, with the right message, at the right time. One is broadcasting. The other is reengagement.
82 cognitive principles from Nobel Prize-winning research. 20 that work for massage.
Routiq's messaging engine is built on behavioral science frameworks from 20 seminal works in psychology and economics — not marketing copywriting.
Loss Aversion + Commitment & Consistency
The first asks for action. The second activates loss aversion (tension patterns returning), commitment & consistency (3 of 6 sessions already completed), and shrink the change (just reply BOOK). Loss-framed messages outperform gain-framed messages by 2–3x in healthcare settings.
Anchoring (8 weeks vs 4-week norm), loss aversion (tension builds back up), default effect (Friday at 11am pre-selected), pratfall effect (zero guilt for no-shows), and planning prompts (specific options, not open-ended).
The 3-touch behavioural escalation sequence.
Every campaign follows the same evidence-based structure. Three messages. Three psychological mechanisms. Automated and personalised.
Loss Aversion
“You're 3 sessions into your rehab plan — the corrective work is where the real progress happens. Without continuing, the tension patterns tend to return. We'd love to get you back on track.”
Default Effect
“We've held a spot for you on Thursday at 3pm. If you have health fund cover, your remedial massage may be claimable on the spot. Reply YES to confirm.”
Social Proof + Scarcity
“Most of our clients come in every 4–6 weeks to stay on top of tension and prevent flare-ups. We have a couple of spots left this week if you'd like to get back on schedule.”
Three layers no one else has.
Routiq doesn't just know a client is “overdue.” It knows their treatment plan progress, their maintenance window, their injury history, and their preferred session type. Massage-specific protocols built in.
82 principles from 20 seminal works in psychology and behavioral economics. Not copywriting tips — systematic frameworks applied automatically. Each segment gets the right lever at the right time.
Daily monitoring against each client's treatment schedule. Messages sent from your own practice number at the exact overdue moment. Replies handled instantly with AI-powered clinical context. Works while you're treating.
Where Routiq sits.
| Capability | Front Desk / Instagram | Online Booking Platform | Routiq |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment plan tracking | Manual notes, if at all | Basic appointment history | Yes — plan progress monitored |
| Maintenance window follow-up | No | Generic reminders only | Yes — personalised to interval |
| Behavioral science messaging | No | No | 82 principles, systematic |
| Sends from your practice number | Personal phone | Platform number | Yes — your number |
| AI-powered reply handling | Between clients | No | Instant, 24/7 |
| Works while you're treating | No | Booking only | Yes — always on |
| At-risk client identification | No | No | Yes — daily monitoring |
Your booking platform holds the data. Routiq turns that data into revenue.
Reengagement isn't a campaign. It's a system that compounds.
20 maintenance clients recovered per month at $110/visit. Each one returns every 4–6 weeks. The revenue stacks.
By month 6: 120 recurring maintenance clients generating $19,800/month — $237,600 annualised from a single reengagement stream.
What this means for your practice.
The pattern is universal. The opportunity scales with your database size.
| Your Database Size | Conservative Recovery | Moderate Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| 500 clients | $5,075 | $10,150 |
| 1,000 clients | $10,150 | $20,300 |
| 2,000 clients | $20,300 | $40,600 |
| 3,000 clients | $30,450 | $60,900 |
| 5,000 clients | $50,750 | $101,500 |
Based on blended average of $110 per session and industry-standard ~70% lapse rate beyond 90 days. Excludes recurring revenue multiplier from maintenance cycle.
Industry benchmark: 15–25% of lapsed clients can be successfully re-engaged via targeted recall campaignsWithout Routiq
No follow-up between sessions
Maintenance clients silently lapsing
Revenue dependent on new client acquisition
No visibility into who needs rebooking
80% of marketing budget on Instagram & Google Ads
With Routiq
Automated follow-up at the right moment
Maintenance windows tracked and actioned
Revenue from clients you've already acquired
At-risk clients identified before they lapse
Works while you're treating — hands-free
You already did the hard part — building a client base, understanding their bodies, helping them feel better.
Those clients didn't leave because your treatment wasn't working. They left because life got busy and nobody reminded them.
Their body hasn't stopped needing care. They just need the right nudge.
How many clients are you losing to silence?
routiq.
Clinical Intelligence Meets Behavioral Science
routiq.ai
Australian Association of Massage Therapists (AAMT)
Jobs and Skills Australia
IBISWorld — Massage Services in Australia
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine
Canstar — Health Insurance Cover
Bain & Company / Harvard Business Review
WebPT — Patient Retention Research
Dialog Health — SMS in Healthcare
PMC — Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Practice analysis data from Routiq platform analysis. All data anonymised and presented as industry patterns. February 2026.