Hey there – Chris here, co-founder of Aeva AI receptionist for Cliniko.
I’m sharing a weekly update personally written by me with everything you need to know about the AI Receptionist space for Cliniko and what insights we get to see by speaking to so many healthcare practices.
And this past week, something really stood out to me.
A pattern I’ve noticed in the clinics that get the highest number of calls
After so many calls and setups lately, I started to realise something:
The clinics that are getting the most calls, the ones getting a ton of referrals, staying consistently booked, and charging premium rates.
They all have one thing in common:
Simplicity.
They’re not offering everything to everyone.
In fact, most of them only offer between two to five appointment types:
Initial Appointment
Follow-Up Appointment
It was subtle at first, but now I see it all the time. These teams have narrowed in on what they’re really good at. And what they want to be known for.
It reminded me of how the top restaurants always having the smallest menus. They’ve refined what they do, they know what they’re good at and they make sure they’re the best at that particular thing. And thats why you tend to tell your friends about it, “You’ve got to try this place they have the best X.”
This particular trend…keeps showing up. And it’s fascinating.
A practitioner I spoke with this week gets over 50 calls a day for himself. Almost all from word-of-mouth. No ads, no discounts. Just a clear reputation and an easy experience. We’re setting up Aeva to support his already busy receptionist, so she can stay focused on the patients in front of her, not constantly juggling ringing phones.
The number I can’t stop thinking about: $21,000
Another moment that hit me this week: I checked the dashboard and saw this staring back at me
$21,000 AUD (£10,000 GBP) in recovered revenue.
That’s how much additional income Aeva has captured for it’s customers from after hours calls that, just a few months ago, would’ve gone completely unanswered.
No receptionist was on duty.
No voicemails returned.
No second chance.
These were the kinds of calls that typically slip through the cracks the ones that happen after 5pm, early on weekends, or during that awkward lunchtime lull. But they still matter. Patients don’t always operate on a 9 to 5 schedule. And those moments are easy to lose unless someone (or something) is paying attention.
Aeva answered every single after hour call for our customers.
And out of those, 208 turned into real appointments.
That’s $21,000 in estimated revenue that would’ve just... disappeared. Quietly. Invisibly.
And now? It’s on the books. It’s real.
"Why should I choose you over Competitor X? They're backed by a quarter-million dollars of VC funding."
Something else deeply personal happened this week that shifted my entire perspective.
During a sales call, a potential customer asked me the above question bluntly.
I admit, I scrambled and gave a quick, probably overly polished answer.
He laughed at me, kindly, and then hit me with something that totally stunned me:
"I'm going with Aeva, but not for the reasons you said. I'm going with you because it's clear you genuinely care. About your product, your customers, and the impact it has. That matters more to me than any feature."
I was honestly speechless.
Every business owner thinks they care deeply but how often do customers truly feel it from them?
It reminded me how much we genuinely care and we won’t ever lose sight of that.
Have you joined us yet?
If you sat beside me today, you’d see constant calls, relentless improvements, and countless referrals from genuinely happy customers. It's humbling and energising.
You’d also see the messy middle of it all.
The moments where we're in the weeds testing a new feature.
Tweaking a sentence in a phone script so it sounds more human.
Jumping on impromptu support calls just to help someone get set up right, because we know those first few calls can make all the difference.
You’d hear stories from clinics who were overwhelmed with admin a few months ago and now feel like they have breathing room again.
That’s the part most people don’t see. But it’s the part that drives everything forward.
We’re not just building a product. We’re building something we want people to rely on. And that only happens when we care more than anyone else.
Thanks for being part of this journey with me, more updates next week.
P.S. Want to book a call with me about anything? Feel free to here, I’d love to chat.
Warmly,
Chris Baxter
co-founder Aeva AI receptionist for Cliniko