There's Only One Boss: The Customer
Whether many in management accept it or not, Walton had an insight that has been quoted for years concerning his understanding of his customers. He said that "There is only one boss: the customer, and he can fire everyone in the company from the chairman and down, simply by spending their money somewhere else."
Customers are a democracy, no matter what type of political system they live under. If they are allowed freely to buy where they want, they are operating under democratic rules i.e. they vote.
Managment needs to understand this thoroughly. A customer votes with their dollars; that's the determining factor in the success of any business venture.
This is one of the reasons that many people in business struggle because they think when they enter a business that they just got out of having a boss. It doens't take very long for them to understand that not only didn't they not get rid of a boss, but now they have a whole lot more of them.
Another thing leaders and managers need to understand is that a business will have many critics, the only important critic is the one spending money in your business. They are the only ones that have a vote that matters.
The whole point is that we need to stay focused on our customers and not our critics or other outside forces. When we take our focus off of our customers, we will always go in the wrong direction.
Walton understood this in the midst of some of his detractors and kept Wal-Mart (WMT) focused on those that came in through the stored doors. We know the results that it brought him and the store.
Other Sam Walton Sources:
Sam Walton: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Business
Sam Walton - Retail Success Story
Sam Walton: King Of The Discounters
Sam Walton: Great From the Start
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