Volume

Turn it up! Volume is such a perfect word. It means so many things and applies to so many aspects of life. Volume is  the key to understanding business, success and life itself. Now, in my household volume is usually only discussed when my daring wife is instructing my teenagers…or me to “turn down the volume!” Ok, the Freshley’s are a loud family…imagine that. And me, I like my music so you can actually hear it. Party on Garth! But the word volume is so much more than sound.

Volume is a relative measure for almost everything. For me lately, I’ve been thinking about volume and the jewelry business. Ok, so there is the obvious “gross retail volume” , there is “traffic volume” , there is the “volume of product knowledge” your staff possess. There are also the ” volume of people” who know your brand and what you do. So volume can be, as you see, both tangible and intangible and here is my larger point. Your “sales volume” is a direct reflection of how much “market volume” you have. How many people do you touch? How many events do you have? How many people on your email list? How many people mentioned your store in conversation last week? This is the “volume” I think about. This is your “market volume”

The volume of life is so large these days only the loudest voices seem to be heard. Think about it. It’s not just the volume of radio, TV, billboards and on line advertising.We are constantly being barraged with an huge volume of messages, commands and propaganda. Advertising surrounds us all day, everyday…on everything! But it’s also the volume of life, family and work that requires all of our focus and concentration. Volume is also the size and scale of our social and sporting activity. Volume is the pace and yes quantity of the lives we lead. Most of us live life at full volume don’t we?

This is why I work so hard and push each of you to turn up your “advertising volume” as much as possible…to increase your volume and thus you share of voice. We also concentrate our dollars in one medium, a concept I call “media massing” so we don’t get lost in all that volume. By media massing we are able to shout our message from a mountaintop, so all can hear us, instead of being crowded out by the masses in the valley. Media massing is  turning up the volume. This is also how I have also been able to make a smaller jeweler competitive with the biggest store in town. This is how David can take down Goliath….the right volume in the right place.

Now, take a look at your store. Is your store loud or is it quiet? Is there activity and excitement or do you feel like you are in mortuary? Volume is activity. Volume energy and excitement. Now I’m not saying you should have all you associates yelling across the store like commodity brokers in the pits, but I am saying that buying is a mood thing and a busy, boisterous staff will sell more diamonds and jewelry. People feed on energy. Volume is energy. Try doing things to turn up the volume in your store

Volume is also the perfect measure of life. Volume is how much you love. Volume is how much you live. Volume isn’t just the years but how much we pack into the time we have. Volume is your family and all the people you know and touch. Volume is the impact you have of others. Did you make a difference? Are you making a difference? As you go though life are you making the world better or are you sitting quietly in your little corner, doing, saying and being…nothing.

In your business, your community, your family…your life…turn up the volume!