Tweet

Sam Walton Quotes

Article Overview: Sam Walton Quotes

Sam Walton Quotes

There’s a lot more business out there in small town America than I ever dreamed of.

Individuals don’t win, teams do.

Remain a corporation and retain control if you like, but behave as a servant leader in a partnership.

Money and ownership alone aren’t enough. Set high goals, encourage competition, and then keep score.

Keep everybody guessing as to what your next trick is going to be,” he said. “Don’t become too predictable.

The more they know, the more they’ll understand. The more they understand, the more they’ll care. Once they care, there’s no stopping them.

Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitor.

Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They’re absolutely free – and worth a fortune.

The folks on the front lines – the ones who actually talk to the customer – are the only ones who really know what’s going on out there.

There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.

The two most important words I ever wrote were on that first Wal-Mart sign, ‘Satisfaction Guaranteed’. They're still up there, and they have made all the difference.

Each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community.

The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. And really, if you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience.

If you love your work, you’ll be out there every day trying to do it the best you possibly can, and pretty soon everybody around will catch the passion from you – like a fever.

I probably have traveled and walked into more variety stores than anybody in America. I am just trying to get ideas, any kind of ideas that will help our company.

I think I overcame every single one of my personal shortcomings by the sheer passion I brought to my work. I don’t know if you’re born with this kind of passion, or if you can learn it. But I do know you need it.

Ignore the conventional wisdom. If everybody else is doing it one way, there's a good chance you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction.

I guess in all my years, what I heard more often than anything was: A town of less than 50,000 population cannot support a discount store for very long.

Commit to your business. Believe in it more than anybody else.

I had to pick myself up and get on with it, do it all over again, only even better this time.

I have always been driven to buck the system, to innovate, to take things beyond where they've been.

Capital isn't scarce. Vision is.

A computer can tell you down the dime what you’ve sold. But it can never tell you how much you could have sold.

Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun.

My feeling is that just because we work so hard, we don't have to go around with long faces all the time. While we're doing all of this work, we like to have a good time.

Celebrate your successes. Find some humor in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up, and everybody around you will loosen up. Have fun. Show enthusiasm - always. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you. Don't do a hula on Wall Street. It's been done. Think up your own stunt. All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think, and it really fools the competition. "Why should we take those cornballs at Wal-Mart seriously?"

When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song. Then make everybody else sing with you.

All of this is more important, and more fun, than you think. Don’t do a hula on Wall Street. It's been done. Think up your own stunt.

We’re all working together; that’s the secret.

Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish.

Related Articles
  Lesson #5: Loosen Up
  Tearing Down Walls: How Walton Rose To The Top
  Lesson #1: Motivate Your Workers
  Lesson #3: Catch The Fever
  Words of Inspiration

Article Tags: assortment, boss, competitor, fortune, important words, information is power, knowledgeable service, lowest possible prices, offsets, partnership, passion, point of view, quality merchandise, sam walton, satisfaction, score, servant leader, shopping experience, wal mart, words of praise



Related Forum Posts
Famous Entrepreneur Question? - First name to come to mind was Sam Walton. After reading his aoutbiography, I feel so connected to him. My one Question would be...(after getting on one knee) "Would You Mentor Me?''
Facebook application - Hi Kevin - thanks for the suggestion! The two that we were thinking of were Famous Entrepreneur Quotes and Which famous entrepreneur am I most like? I like your idea as well. We've got a rollout schedule of new features for the site that we are working on first before we can get to the Facebook app. We're also not sure how hard it is to integrate into Facebook. It looks like there is a php way to do it which is great because that is our core competency.
Facebook applications - ....[quote:36s714h1]The two that we were thinking of were Famous Entrepreneur Quotes and Which famous entrepreneur am I most like? [/quote:36s714h1] So far my own foray into Facebook has been a complete bust, though I expected that from the start. But if I do an Application for my own particular field of interest, such as Your Favorite Sci Fi movie...that might get people going. So Evan when you figure out how to do this please let me know how complicated it is!!
Common Sense Relationships - Sam Walton said by enriching others, I enrich myself…which is in essence the same as “help enough people get what they want, and you will inevitably get what you want.” This is a key principle that as a internet marketer we hear over and over, but I don’t think many people really understand it. I was listening to my boy again, Zig Ziglar and he spoke on this very same topic. Zig talked and explained what EVERY one wants in life. Everyone! Everyone wants to be happy, healthy, wants friends, peace of mind, security, to be reasonably prosperous, wants good family relationships, and hope that the future will be better. Whether we want to admit that or not, that’s what we all want. Zig also made a profound statement when he said “Perception is the cruelest form of reality.” Zig summed it up by saying that we need to understand the perception of other people. In other words, put yourself in other peoples shoes, and treat people how you’d want to be treated. People want to feel important. That should be common sense, but common sense isn’t common. Zig tells a story about how he was out to dinner with some colleagues and everytime the waitress would bring something out to him, salad, drink, anything he would thank her, and give her a warm smile. No one else at the table even acknowledged her presence, she was merely the help to them. The time for dessert came along, and everyone else at the table got a very small portion of cake and ice cream, whereas Zig’s portion was considerable larger. So the others at the table said “Wow Zig, you must know that lady.” Zig replied, “No, but I know alot about her.” The others asked, “How so…?” Zig spoke and said “Well I recognize that she is a human being, wants to be happy, healthy, wants friends, peace of mind, security, to be reasonably prosperous, wants good family relationships, hope that the future will be better, she works really hard and appreciates a simple please and thank you!” Zig wasn’t treating the lady with any special treatment. Nor was he treating her nicely just to receive a larger portion of ice cream. Its just common sense to treat people nice, and with respect. Studies have shown that your immune system is automatically strengthened by having love, hope and faith instilled within you. Robert Updegraff said “In terms of downright happiness, the returns per minute from giving are far greater then the returns for getting.” You never know what difference you may make on someones life. That waitress Zig made acquaintance with could have been contemplating suicide, but with a little kindness shown, decided otherwise. When we are givers, things do happen for us. Andrew Carnegie has been known for having 43 millionaires work for him. Someone asked him one day, “How did you get 43 self sufficient, millionaires to work for you?” Carnegie answered “Well, they weren’t millionaires when they started to work for me.” Carnegie continued “You develop people the same way you mine gold. When you go to a goldmine, you remove tons and tons of dirt to find gold…but you don’t go in there looking for the dirt, you go in looking for the gold.” But what’s even more interesting is that you will find whatever it is you go in there looking for. Zig closed the seminar with what I truly believe in my heart is a way of life, not just a parable or story. Zig tells a story about a man given a choice to go to either heaven or hell. He goes to heaven first and he sees where there is tons and tons of food and fruits and vegetables, and people just having a ball. Goes to hell and there is the same food, but the people there are so sad and miserable. So the man asks because he doesn’t understand, how come if in both places people have the same food, same amount one place can be so happy and the other so miserable. Then it is explained to the man that the reason the people in heaven were so happy was because they had a 3 foot fork and was helping each other to eat and feast upon the plethora of food, whereas in hell, no one wanted t help anybody. Whether you are self-employed or working for someone, having and maintaining good relationships isn’t rocket science. Just treat people how you want to be treated, listen to them, and be kind. If you help enough people get what they want, you will enrich your life along the way. I promise you!
Top 50 Entrepreneurs Ever! - And the Top 50 Entrepreneurs of all time are… (In no particular order) Hugh Hefner – Obvious. Oprah – Born to a single mother in rural Mississippi, did what she loved and never let up. Popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre. Simon Cowell – Guy made millions off Karaoke. Jenna Jameson – Worth $70 million using only what god gave her. Henry Ford – Standardized efficiency. Thomas Edison – Numerous failures on the road to success. Perseverance! Adrian Block - 1612 establish the first known brewery in the New World on the southern tip of New Amsterdam (Manhattan). I live in a city with more than 30 breweries operating in the city limits…think these guys were onto something. Hans Christiansen – Partners with Adrian Block. Adam Osborne – Creator of the 1st personal computer. Howard Hughes – Say what you want about him the man had a vision and stuck to it. Madame C.J. Walker – 1st Female African American Millionaire…and she did it in early 1900’s. Safe to say she had a lot of obstacles, but persevered and prospered. If you think you have more working against you than Madame C.J. Walker did, think again. Mary Kay Ash – The woman behind Mary Kay cosmetics. Redefined affiliate marketing. Howard Schultz – Who’s gonna’ pay $4.00 for a cup of coffee? With $2.5 billion plus in total revenue the answer at Starbuck’s is a lot! Alexander Graham Bell – Inventing the telephone in 1876 was about as wacky an idea as teleportation is today…did that stop him? King Croesus – Minted the world’s first coin in 6th century. Benjamin Franklin – Author, printer, inventor, businessman. Ray Croc – Where do you go for dinner when you spent all your money on $4.00 Starbuck’s coffee? McDonald’s! Franchising and national expansion (both stores and waistlines) would never be the same. Sam Walton – Speaking of saving money and expanding like crazy. Sam Walton found a niche and filled it, regardless of what you think of the extra traffic Wal-Mart brings to your neighborhood. Ernest Gallo – Took what was once an exclusive product and repackaged it for the masses. I was 20 years old before I knew wine came in anything but a “jug”. William Middlebrook – Giving William the nod for inventing the paper clip, although some debate remains. However, you have to include the inventor of the paper clip in this list since we’ve all said, at one time or another, “and whoever invented the paperclip is rich, and I’m still working in this crappy office!” Bill Gates – Took a risk and was a first mover in a market that exploded. Steve Jobs – Make your products easy and people will love to use them…making a dead sexy laptop doesn’t hurt either. Mayer Amschel Rothschild – Started the world’s first international bank in the mid 1700’s. What did you do today? Scrooge McDuck - Scrooge has emerged from being a mere supporting character to a major figure of the Duck universe. Parlayed early success into his own comic book series, television appearances, films, and video games. As big as David Hasselhoff in Europe, he seized opportunity when it arose. Russell Simmons – Worth $325 million, and started as a teen street hustler. A hip hop pioneer and visionary who has shaped the hip-hop scene of the early 80’s, has branched off into fashion, television and film. And I don’t care if you grew up in Brooklyn or Beverly Hills you remember “Russell Simmons Def Comedy Jam”. Ron Popeil – Net worth in excess of $100 million dollars. A consummate salesman, he had us believing we NEEDED a food dehydrator and spray paint to cover our bald spot! The Phoenicians – Inventors of the sail boat, and could be credited then with giving our early explorers the means to take over the western hemisphere. H. Ross Perot – Used a $1,000 loan from his wife in 1962 to start Electronic Data Systems. Became a billionaire as computer systems drove the need for electronic data storage. JP Morgan – How many people get credited with having saved or rescued the U.S. national economy in general—and the federal government in particular—on two separate occasions? Not many, and JP was a merger monger legend in his time. Charles Schwab – Founder and CEO of the Schwab Corporation, made having a broker cool and accessible. Worth $5.5 billion for his efforts. Larry Page – Google, need we say more? Sergey Brin - Google, need we say more? Philip Knight – In partnership with Bill Bowerman created Nike. What’s the reward for taking a product everyone uses and making it functional and fashionable? Try a net worth in excess of $9 billion dollars. George Lucas – Start with a vision, add some talent, and never waiver. Stars Wars is as well known on this planet as Coca-Cola, and Lucas is worth a cool $3.6 billion. Doctor John Pemberton – Pharmacist who in 1886 invented Coca Cola. Forced to change his formula from including wine due to prohibition his elixir with “tonic and nerve stimulant properties of the coca plant and cola nuts sweetened with sugar” became a sensation. Eberhand Anheuser- Founder of Anheuser Busch Brewing and Budweiser beer…thank you sir for the many mornings where I regretted the night before. Adolphus Busch - Founder of Anheuser Busch Brewing and Budweiser beer…bless you for allowing me to think I am funny, great looking, and a fabulous dancer for a few hours every Saturday night. Jeff Bezos – Founded Amazon.com in 1994, and wrote up the business plan for his company on a cross country drive from New York to Seattle. Was a .com entrepreneur before there was even a term for it. Thomas Kinkade - Americas most collected living artist. Marketing works people. Erno Rubik - Invented a puzzle only .000001% of the world population could solve without cheating, and sold millions! Marketing works people. Alex Tew - 21 year old entrepreneur made $1,000,000 off the “Million Dollar Homepage”. Adding him to the list to illustrate that great ideas are sometimes in plain sight. Didn’t we all think, “I wish I had thought of that”? Henry Hassenfeld - Owner of a textile plant in 1923 his company struck gold when they developed a way for kids to play doctor. The first toy the plant ever produced led the way for the likes of Mr Potato Head, GI Joe, Life, Yatzee, Candyland, and just about any other game we played as kids. Partners with his brother Helal Hassenfeld. Helal Hassenfeld - Thanks for the memories man, I still get misty eyed thinking about Cobra Comander and the words “YO Joe” will live with me forever. Rollin King - In 1965 started a regional airline serving 3 Texas cities. 40 years later Southwest Airlines has 3500 flights a day and is the number one airline in the United States and the World by number of passengers carried. Herb Kelleher - Partnered with Rollin King to start Southwest Airlines. The guy started an AIRLINE COMPANY for crying out loud, that’s ballsy. Guy Laliberte - Made the circus cool again. Founder and CEO of Canda’s Cirque du Soleil, Laliberte founded Cirque in 1984, and revolutionized the idea of what a circus could be. Cirque du Soleil has toured more than 100 cities around the world. Admiral Zheng He - Built the vaunted Treasure Fleets, comprising dozens of ships and tens of thousands of sailors, and led them in trade missions across south Asia and as far west as Africa and the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. In seven voyages from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He spread China’s goods across the world and returned with treasures for the Ming Dynasty. Andrew Carnegie - The Scottish immigrant and weaver’s son built a steel empire whose mills churned out the railroads, ships, and structures of post-Civil War America. Milton Hershey - In 1905 built the worlds largest chocolate factory. His name has become synonymous with chocolate, which Americans consume more than 11 pounds of each year. Gary Dahl - A millionaire for selling rocks, pet rocks, enough said.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Civility in the Workplace---Is it Decreasing?

Ten Things You Can Do To Be a Better Leader

Mistakes Made by New or Inexperienced Sales Staff

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.