Do your employees have the Vision

I just got back from a grocery run. I shop at Walmart at night, its fast and efficient….

What surprised me this morning was yet another visionary Walmart employee. I seem to come across one every 2-3 months.

I was picking up some Cheerios, and the lady stocking the shelves asked if she could help find anything for me. Ok, this does happen about 30% of the time.

Its unlike the normal experience at most stores… eg hey customer, you are in my way… I gotta get this stuff stocked fast, so I can go take my break.

No, I replied, at least Cheerio’s don’t move too much… I then went about my business, then the lady said, “we have some new items over here”. Hmmm, well I’m not really one to change, but hey, I’ll take a look. She then told me her two favorites, and that she had tried all 8 of the new ones, and then went back to work stocking shelves.

So, I start looking, it turns out, these new cereals are more nutritious label wise, and are about 30% less expensive than my normal brand. Wow, this is cool, I can save 30-60 cents… hey, I’m cheap. So to be safe, I get 2 new boxes, plus my regular ones. We’ll see if they taste good in a few hours.

Here’s the cool part, Walmart sold an extra $5, it cost them perhaps 45 seconds worth of labor. The manufacturer got a quick new product introduction via word of mouth. I got a good deal on something that is nutritious. And the employee got a short break from the monotony of shelf stocking.

This is cool, Walmart is known to pay on the lower side of the payscale. Yet, this is not the first time, that a stockperson has sold me on something new. Walmart is selling not only on price, but on value…. And they are propogating this vision with action, not just an empty mission statement.

Do you have a vision?, do your employee’s live it, breath it, and apply it?

Something to think about!!!