Fastest Ways to Fill an ABA Clinic's Open Client Slots Each Month
In order of speed to a completed intake: work the leads you already have (old inquiries, waitlist, referral sources), then fix response and booking so no new inquiry is lost, then run paid ads in your area, the fastest source of new demand (Relay's first lead comes within 72 hours of ads going live). SEO and referral partnerships are slower but compound. Confirm the spots are staffed first.
Why start with leads you already have?
Because they're the closest to an intake. Before spending anything, confirm the open spots are real: staffed BCBA and RBT hours, at times families can use, in the setting you offer. A spot you can't staff only turns into a waitlist.
Then go back through three groups:
- Past inquiries that went quiet. Families who reached out in recent months but never toured. Some were never reached, some weren't ready, some were waiting on a spot you now have. Contact only families who gave permission and haven't opted out, and tell them plainly what changed: "We now have afternoon openings for children ages 3 to 6" is better than "checking in."
- Your waitlist. Families who were waiting for a schedule or setting that is now open. Match openings to their stated needs before calling.
- Referral sources. Pediatric offices, diagnostic providers and other contacts who send families your way. Tell them you have openings, for which ages and schedules, and how to refer. The ABA referral partnership guide covers how to keep those relationships useful.
These families already know your clinic. The path to a tour is shorter.
How do you make sure no new inquiry is lost?
The second fastest gain is to stop leaking the inquiries you already get. If your current leads wait a day for a call, get one attempt each, or need three calls to book a tour, more demand mostly produces more lost families.
Check four things this week: how long a new inquiry waits for first contact, how many attempts each one gets, whether a reached family can book a tour on that call or from a link, and whether booked tours get a confirmation and reminder. The breakdown of each leak is in why ABA leads go cold before a tour.
How quickly can paid ads bring in new families?
Paid ads are the fastest way to create new demand for an ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) clinic, because they reach families in your area who are looking now. Relay's first lead comes within 72 hours of ads going live.
Speed here depends on setup. Ads target by area and message; Meta and Google restrict health-related targeting and don't let you target by diagnosis or insurance plan. The filtering happens in the form and follow-up, which ask about location, the child's age, requested service and insurance plan. A first lead in days is only useful if someone qualifies it and books a tour quickly. The Facebook ads guide for ABA clinics covers the ad side.
Paid demand also stops when spend stops. That is useful for control (you can turn it up when spots open and down when you are full) but it doesn't build lasting visibility on its own.
Where do SEO and referral partnerships fit?
They are slower and they compound. A clear service page that answers parents' real questions, a complete local business profile and articles built from what families ask can keep bringing in inquiries long after they are published. They take months to build, so start them alongside paid ads rather than instead of them. Relay's SEO work for ABA clinics covers this.
Referral partnerships work the same way. One conversation rarely fills a spot this month, but a steady relationship with a few pediatric and diagnostic offices becomes a reliable source over time.
How do you keep open spots full every month?
Run it as a monthly rhythm so a sudden opening never becomes an emergency.
- First week: confirm staffed openings by location, age range, setting and schedule. Update ads, your website and referral partners to match.
- Every week: review inquiries, qualified leads, contacted, booked tours, attended tours and completed intakes. Read a few lead records start to finish.
- When openings change: adjust ad spend up or down, and stop "now enrolling" messages for spots that are full.
- End of month: calculate cost per completed intake (ad spend plus fees, divided by completed intakes) and note which source produced the families who started.
- When hiring is the limit: shift effort to recruiting before buying more leads.
Keep a short list of families for upcoming openings so you're not starting from zero each time a spot opens.
What is Relay's 20 intakes in 90 days guarantee?
For established ABA clinics, Relay offers 20 new intakes in 90 days, or we work for free. Your first lead comes within 72 hours of ads going live.
How does Relay fill open spots?
The Relay Co builds a client growth system directly inside your clinic's business. Paid ads on Meta and Google, automation and the Relay team find families looking for ABA therapy, qualify them by location, age, requested service and the insurance plans your clinic accepts, follow up and book tours. Your clinic's team gives the tour, verifies benefits and clinical eligibility, and completes intake. Ads run from your own ad accounts, every lead belongs to your clinic, and it is month to month. Relay works with one ABA clinic per city, and recruiting support for BCBAs and RBTs is included when hiring limits growth.
One ABA clinic completed 7 new-client intakes from 29 qualified leads in 2 weeks, adding over $45,000 in new monthly recurring revenue. Another clinic added 3 full-time clients in 2.5 weeks. These are individual results, not typical ones. Results vary by clinic, market and capacity. More examples are on the results page.
Frequently asked questions
How soon can an ABA clinic expect new leads from ads?
With Relay, the first lead comes within 72 hours of ads going live. How quickly that becomes a completed intake depends on follow-up, tour availability and your clinic's intake and benefits process.
Should we run ads if we have a waitlist?
Work the waitlist first. If families are waiting because you lack staff hours, more leads will lengthen the wait. Run ads when you have staffed spots to fill.
Is SEO worth it if we need clients this month?
Not as the only plan. SEO is slower to start, but it keeps working when ad spend pauses. If you need spots filled now, run paid ads while you build search visibility.
Does Relay work with more than one clinic in a city?
No. Relay works with one ABA clinic per city, so check availability in your area first.
Put the plan to work.
Relay turns your service priorities into videos, social content, paid campaigns, email, and search pages. For clinic engagements, we also call leads, check practical fit and book the agreed visits. Your team handles clinical decisions, benefits and intake.