By Kathy Smith

Numbers help us put information in context and are an easy way to convey specific details. We need to know if that horse’s price is $2,000 or $20,000, whether he stands 15 hands or 16.3, or if he’s 3 years old or 12. Those numbers are details which help create a mental picture, and help us understand. A 25% discount is better than 10% off. And McDonald’s signs, which used to state the ever-increasing number served, now simply read: “Billions and billions served.”

I was thinking about numbers the other day and decided to take a brief office poll, asking each of our staff members how many years of horse and publishing experience they have. The results were surprising. Currently, here at the office of Canadian Horse Journal, there are 190 years of horse experience, and 103 years of publishing experience – all working away pounding 14 keyboards. And those horse hours are real, honest to goodness, stall-mucking, sweaty saddle pad, frozen water bucket horse hours… without even counting those among us whose horse affliction began in the womb!

This got me even more interested in numbers, so next I tallied up the total number of magazine pages we published over the past year: 1480. Then I calculated the number of pages published over the 22 years we’ve been publishing magazines: more than 30,000. Next I multiplied my average work-week hours times the past 22 years since starting the magazine in 1991 and the total was … ridiculous! It made me want to start looking around for that old t-shirt I used to wear, with a picture of galloping horses and the caption “I’d rather be riding…”

Now when the people in our office get together for planning sessions like the meeting we had yesterday, all that real life experience kicks into action and multiplies exponentially. If two brains are better than one, imagine a roomful of funely-tuned and motivated brains stuffed with the cumulative total of 293 years of horse and publishing knowledge, all eagerly discussing the horse health and training topics for the coming summer and fall issues… With all that knowledge and experience focused on the subject like sunlight shining through a prism, at times there were so many great ideas refracting around the room that I almost couldn’t keep up on the keyboard. 

Think about the numbers your own customers might find interesting. How many years of horse experience are working in your tack store? How many saddles have you fitted? How many miles of fence have you installed? How many horses have you trained? How many years has your business sponsored the local horse show? How many hours have you volunteered to your local club? How many satisfied customers have you helped over all your years in business?

When customers open your door, visit your website, or book an appointment, they are seeking not only your product or service, but the knowledge and expertise of the people who work there. First, do the math and impress yourself with just how much you and your staff have to offer… then impress your customers! As the saying goes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

To read more by Kathy Smith on this site, click here.