Sam Walton

United States
29 Mar 1918 // 5 Apr 1992
Businessman

Quotes

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If the associates treat the customers well, the customers will return again and again, and that's where the real profit in the retail business lies.

Made in America (1992)
It's part of my strong feeling for the necessity of constant change, for keeping people a little off balance.

Made in America (1992)
The key is to get into the stores and listen.

Wall Street Journal (1982)
Each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers and support the vision they hold for their community.
A computer can tell you down to the dime what you've sold, but it can never tell you how much you could have sold.

Made in America (1992)
Listen to everyone in your company and figure out ways to get them talking.

Made in America (1992)
Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage.
The way management treats their associates is exactly how the associates will then treat the customers.

'The Hot Ticket in Retailing,' New York Times (1984)
Our philosophy is that management's role is simply to get the right people in the right places to do a job, and to encourage them to use their own inventiveness to accomplish the task at hand.

Dun's Business Month (1982)
You can make a lot of mistakes and still recover if you run an efficient operation. Or you can be brilliant and still go out of business if you're too inefficient.
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