You've probably seen a company you're researching proudly display their collective experience in years. Statements such as "We have 8,435 years of combined experience" at the top of their website or on a piece of direct mail. While that may mean a lot to the company's staff, I assure you it means very little to anyone else.
It's not that we see it and think it untrue; There are several reasons it just doesn't work.
There is no factor offered for consideration. It's a simple math problem with an incomplete equation. The declaration doesn't include how many people there are for me to make a general assumption as to average experience per employee. That might have a greater impact. "Our 310 employees have 8,435 years of collective experience."
[YEARS] / [TOTAL STAFF] = [AVG EXPERIENCE]
8,435 / 310 = 27.2
Ok, perhaps that's a bit too nerdy but that's how I see it. The statement doesn't calcuate.
Another reason these statements don't work is that for many people, years on the job don't necessarily translate to expertise. My wife, while on a contract, worked with someone that frequently said "I've been in IT for 25 years!" Yet, that individual didn't know how to restart their computer. It was story after story for about a year.
Instead of trying to highlight a number that is essentially meaningless, here are a couple other approaches.
Highlight how long your company has been in business if it's been more than a decade or two. That has more meaning and reflects your stability.
Quantify how many products you've sold or how many projects you've completed and customers' average rating after the project.
Encourage your customers to complete reviews and share a link to those reviews (both good and bad).
If you can quantify the positive impact you've had on clients, show that. For example, "With new windows, ABC Company saved 40% on their heating and cooling"
Show a value prop such as "Our mulch is 100% organic and gluten free!" That's sort of a joke but not a bad play on popular food culture.
The bottom line is that there are so many other things you can write that don't result in the meaningless number of collective experience.
