Old magazines damage your credibility

Some time ago I visited a practice that had huge piles of filthy, tatty, dog-eared magazines in the reception room. Some of them went back to 2013 and were so worn out and out of date that no one would look at them.

The dentist had me into the practice because they were struggling and did not have enough work.It turned out that the magazines were symptomatic for a general lack of care in the practice. They were the tip of the iceberg.What messages do tatty old magazines in the reception room send to patients. I think that there are three:

• The dentist doesn't give a s#@t.

• The dentist doesn't pay attention to details.

• The dentist doesn't care for the comfort of their patients.

If these are the messages you want to send to patients then by all means keep old, worn out magazines in your reception room.

But, if you would like to be in the top 5% of dentists then get rid of them. Only have the latest two issues of any magazine and throw all the rest away.

What are you waiting for? Go and look in your reception room right now!