Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Walton Understood That it Was the Customers Who Vote

There's an important, no crucial truth, that Walton understood that every business owner, manager and worker needs to know, and that is that a business is a democracy in every understanding of the word, and regardless of rhetoric and enemies ignorantly spouting off, it's the customers that make the decision on whether a business succeeds of not.

We recently talked about the mistake Walton made with first store in not having a renewable lease where he had to leave what he had built over five years because the landlord wouldn't work with him.

In his autobiography he mentions when he brought the Wal-Mart  (WMT) chain back to Newport where it all happened. He tells the story like this:

"Wal-Mart No. 18 … opened in 1969, and it marked our return to Newport ... nineteen years after we had basically been run out of town. By then, I was long over what had happened to us down there, and I didn't have revenge in mind…. As it happened, we did extraordinarily well with our Newport Wal-Mart, and it wasn't too long before the old Ben Franklin store I had run on Front Street had to close its doors. You can't say we ran that guy—the landlord's son—out of business. His customers were the ones who shut him down. They voted with their feet."

It doesn't matter what your critics say or you competitors, it's the customers that must remain focused on. They are the ones that will tell you if you're doing it right. That's the democratic importance of business that many detractors hate; they resent that people make decisions and vote with the decision on where their dollars are spent. 

Too many businesses buckle under to inuendo and false statements just because they get bad press. Walton understood that they aren't the ones that make that decision. It's the people that make that decision, and with Walton and Wal-Mart, the people have spoken.

Businesses lose their way because they don't understand the importance of that reality. Remember why you're in business and who you serve and you won't get off center by neglecting those that really matter.

Other Walton Sources:

The Wisdom Of...Sam Walton

Sam Walton Articles

The Most Underrated CEO Ever The legendary Sam Walton

Sam Walton: The Power of Persistence

The Anti–Wal-Mart Jihad

Made in America: My Story

Sam Walton Business Quotes for Ya

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