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There is something utterly logical in the when-in-Rome-do-as-the-Romans-do philosophy that forms the backbone of this insightful book.
It makes perfect sense that if you want to succeed in the ultra-competitive world of retail that you adopt the same objectives, tactics, policies, procedures, mindsets and culture of the world’s most successful retailer, Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart is something of an American institution. It started as a small hardware store in Benton County, Arkansas in 1962 and quickly marched towards retailing supremacy, first conquering the southern states, then the west, south-east, north and finally the world.
It now accounts for almost nine cents of every non-auto retail dollar spent in the United States and register tape from one day’s sales would stretch almost 4450km, or from Perth to Brisbane.
Its incredible success was largely due to one man, its founder Sam Walton.
Walton always insisted that his goal for Wal-Mart was never to be the biggest retailer in the world; it was simply to be the best. He spent every waking moment trying to improve Wal-Mart. He did it by outthinking, outworking and outperforming his competition. He did it the old-fashioned way – by visiting stores, talking with associates and listening to customers.
Walton also cared about the people around him and they cared about him. No-one wanted to let him down, including executive Michael Bergdahl.
Even ignoring the incredible success of his company, Bergdahl couldn’t help but be impressed by Walton, the person. He saw him as a charismatic and approachable leader who spent his time instilling his personal values into the leaders and associates of the company.
Walton was living proof that an individual can make a difference. Innovative ideas backed by visionary leadership and hard work can lead to transformational change.
Bergdahl witnessed this first hand and this book draws on his personal insights to provide an understanding of the impact of Walton’s leadership.
In doing so, Bergdahl promotes the use of Wal-Mart’s best practices and principles to create other visionary and successful retail companies.
He wrote the book with the intention of uncovering the secrets of Wal-Mart’s strategies and demonstrating how competitors can compete with them and survive.
But that is not what emerged. Instead, the book is more about why it is difficult to compete with Wal-mart. It’s a subtle difference, but essentially Bergdahl concedes that the best place to learn is from the best.
He identifies the seven secret success strategies of Walton, easily remembered using the acronym P.O.C.K.E.T.S.
“P” is for price (don’t try to compete on price, rather differentiate your product. “O” is for operations (develop an operating strategy). “C” is for culture (build a can-do culture among the staff with a strong sense of urgency). “K” is for key item (determine who you are and communicate your brand message). “E” is for expenses (control costs). “T” is for talent (recruit constantly and hire both people with experience and potential). “S” is for service (never take the customer for granted).
This is a well-constructed book that allows us to delve deep into the mindset of a retailing giant. Bergdahl does a good job in conveying the fundamental principles of a man who took a small hardware store and turned it into the biggest retailer in the world.
His message is clear and, thankfully, this book ensures that it is not lost.
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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