By Ruth Haag
www.RuthHaag.com
Sam Walton wrote his book in 1991 and his estate published it in 1992. Any retailer who wants to figure out how to compete with Wal-Mart needs to pick up the book and read it. He said:
“That little personal touch is so important for an independent merchant because no matter how hard Wal-Mart tries to duplicate it – and we try awfully hard – we can’t really do it.”
While he acknowledged that stores have to work a bit to compete with Wal-Mart, Walton also acknowledged that Wal-Mart can’t provide everything. He recommended:
“I think in the case of variety stores, they have to completely reposition themselves, something like the way [the Ben Franklin Stores] started converting a lot of their variety stores into craft stores. They offered a much bigger assortment of craft merchandise than any Wal-Mart could, and they held classes in things like pottery and flower arranging, services we could never think about providing. It worked.”
Thus, instead of competing head-to-head with Wal-Mart, Walton recommended offering greater selection, higher-end merchandise and classes. Another example of his advice follows:
“The same thing can be done for fabric: offer higher quality material and throw in some sewing classes.”
While Walton did acknowledge that hardware stores do have some problems when a Wal-Mart moves in, he offered this recommendation:
“Frankly, a good smart hardware store operator can just beat us to death if he thinks about what he’s doing and commits to putting up a fight. If he gets his assortment right and makes sure his salespeople have excellent knowledge of the products and how to use them, and goes out of his way to take care of his customers, he can keep plenty of business away from us.”
Along with not providing higher-end merchandise, Walton acknowledged that his sales people would not be able to provide much instructional assistance. For example, he said:
“…not all of our folks can explain how to fix a leaky faucet or rewire a lamp the way folks in a hardware store should be able to. Our paint customers don’t get waited on much either. They have to pick out their own paint and then walk around with it looking for the rest of the things they want.”
Walton visited all types of retail stores all over the world, all of the time and noted:
“Most everything I’ve done I’ve copied from somebody else.”
Why shouldn’t you copy him? He said, for instance :
“to compete, focus on something the customer wants, and then deliver it.”
His six principles of business are all common sense:
- Think one store at a time
- Communicate, communicate, communicate
- Keep your ear to the ground
- Push responsibility – and authority – down
- Force ideas to bubble up
- Stay lean, fight bureaucracy
Walton also predicted a problem that Wal-Mart is having, now more than 10 years after his death :
“When you start out as an unknown quantity with just a dream and a commitment, you couldn’t buy a mention of your company in one of these publications. Then the more successful you become, the more suspicious they become of you. And if you ever become a large-scale success, it’s Katie bar the door. Suddenly, you make a very convenient villain because everybody seems to love shooting at who’s on top.”
About the author: For the past nine years, Ruth Haag has been training managers and employees to understand the dynamics of the work environment and smoothly work within it. She is the President/CEO of Haag Environmental Company. She has written a-four book series for supervisors: Taming Your Inner Supervisor, Day to Day Supervising, Hiring and Firing and Why Projects Fail. Visit her online at www.RuthHaag.com.
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