Samuel Walton—The King of American Retailing
山姆·沃尔顿——美国零售大王
Samuel Walton， founder of Wal-Mart which is the world's largest retailer， was born in Kingfish， Oklahoma on March 29， 1918. He was raised in Missouri where he worked in his father's store while attending school. And this was his first retailing experience and he really enjoyed it. After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1940， he began his own career as a retail merchant when he opened the first of several franchises of the Ben Franklin five-and-dime franchises in Arkansas.
This would lead to bigger and better things and he soon opened his first Wal-Mart store in 1962 in Rogers， Arkansas. Wal-Mart specialized in products at low prices. Soon a chain of Wal-Mart stores sprang up across rural America.
Walton's management style was very popular with employees and he founded some of the basic concepts of management that are still in use today. Among them， the three basic rules is a good example： (1) The customer is the boss. (2) Get it done by sundown. (3) Greet any customer who is within ten feet. That was Walton himself who put forward the “ten feet rule”， and it became one of the secrets to customer service of Wal-Mart until today. During his many store visits， he encouraged associates to take a pledge with him， “I want you to promise that whenever you come within 10 feet of a customer， you will look him in the eye， greet him， and ask him if you can help him.”
This pledge is called “10-foot attitude”， and it was something Walton had practiced since childhood. He was always ambitious and competitive， and by the time he reached college at the University of Missouri in Columbia， Walton had decided he wanted to be president of the university student body. In his words， “I learned early on that one of the secrets to campus leadership was the simplest thing of all： Speak to people coming down the sidewalk before they speak to you...I would always look ahead and speak to the person coming toward me. If I knew them， I would call them by name， but even if I didn't I would still speak to them. Before long， I probably knew more students than anybody in the university， and they recognized me and considered me as their friend.” Not only was Walton elected to president of the university student body， but he also carried that philosophy into the world of retail.
“The Sundown Rule” was Walton's twist on the adage “Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today？” That rule remains an important part of Wal-Mart culture and is one reason the Walt-Mart is so well known for its customer service. “The Sundown Rule” means the employees strive to answer requests by the close of business on the day they receive them. Whether it's a request from a store across the country or a call from down the hall， every request gets same-day service. A sense of urgency， a respect for others' time， and the desire to exceed the customers' expectations are all factors that make the Sundown Rule such a vital part of the Wal-Mart culture.
Walton also introduced “profit sharing plan”. It was a plan for Wal-Mart employees to improve their income dependent on the profitability of the store. That is because Walton believed that “individuals don't win， teams do”. Employees at Wal-Mart stores were offered stock options and store discounts. These benefits are commonplace today， but Walton was among the first to implement them. Walton believed that a happy employee meant happy customers and more sales. Walton also believed that by giving employees a part of the company and making their success dependent on the company's success， they would care about the company.
By the 1980s， Wal-Mart had sales of over one billion dollars and over three hundred stores across North America. Wal-Mart's unique decentralized distribution system， also Walton's idea， created the edge needed to further spur growth in the 1980s amidst growing complaints that the “superstore” was squelching smaller， traditional stores. By 1991， Wal-Mart was the largest U.S. retailer with 1，700 stores. Walton remained active in managing the company， as president and CEO until 1988 and chairman until his death. He was awarded the Medal of Freedom by the President George Herbert Walker Bush shortly before his death.
Walton died in 1992， being the world's second richest man， just behind Bill Gates. He passed his company down to his wife， sons and daughter. Wal-Mart stores now operate in Mexico， Canada， Argentina， Brazil， South Korea， China and Puerto Rico， etc.
Walton had described his success in his autobiography Made in America， “The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. 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； friendliness； convenient hours； free parking； a pleasant shopping experience.” It is just Walton's business model with his secret of successful retailing that changed the way big business runs in the whole world.
山姆·沃尔顿，是全球最大零售企业沃尔玛的创始人。1918年3月29日他出生于俄克拉荷马州的金菲舍郡。在密苏里州长大的沃尔顿，上学时就曾在他父亲的商店里做工。第一次参与零售业，沃尔顿十分开心。1940年他从密苏里大学毕业后，便开始了零售商人的生涯。他在阿肯色州开设了首家本·富兰克林“5美分、10美分”连锁店。
生意做得很好。不久后，沃尔顿于1962年在阿肯色州的罗杰斯开设了他的第一家沃尔玛商店。商品价格低廉，很快，沃尔玛连锁店便在美国乡村遍布开来。
沃尔顿的管理风格很受员工们的欢迎。他建立的一些基本的管理理念沿用至今。以下三种基本规则可以说是个典范：（1）顾客至上；（2）太阳下山之前完成任务；（3）在十英尺范围内，员工要主动上前问候顾客。正是沃尔顿提出了“十英尺原则”，时至今日，它一直是沃尔玛客服的秘诀之一。沃尔顿曾多次到店里巡视，并鼓励员工和他一起做如下保证：“我希望你保证：无论何时，只要你与顾客在十英尺距离内，你就要笑迎他，向他问好并询问是否需要帮助。”
人们称之为“十英尺态度”。沃尔顿从年少时就一直这样做。那时的他总是雄心勃勃，富有竞争精神。在哥伦比亚的密苏里大学上学的时候，沃尔顿便决心成为校学生会主席。他说：“我很早就学会了成为校园领袖的秘诀。其中的一条最为简单：在人们还没开口跟你交谈之前，你要先主动搭讪……我总是目视前方，和迎面走来的人主动交谈。如果认识，我就会喊出他们的名字，即便互不相识，我也仍会和他们交谈。不久以后，我在大学里结识的学生就会比任何人都多，他们会认出我并视我为朋友。”沃尔顿不仅成为了校学生会主席，他同样也将这一哲理引入了零售业。
“太阳下山原则”来自沃尔顿对一句谚语的改写：“为什么把今天的事拖到明天呢？”这条原则一直是沃尔玛文化中的一个重要组成部分，同时也是沃尔玛优质客服声名远扬的原因。“太阳下山原则”是指员工们在接到任务后要努力在当天完成，回复客户的要求。无论这一要求是来自于国内其他各店，还是楼下礼堂大厅打来的电话，都要在当天得到答复。办事紧迫、尊重他人时间、提供超出顾客预期的服务，所有这些都使得“太阳下山”原则成为沃尔玛文化中至关重要的一部分。
沃尔顿还引进“人员分红计划”。这一计划使得沃尔玛员工们的收入能够随着商店的收益情况而增加。这是因为沃尔顿相信“个人无法成功，团队才能胜利”的道理。沃尔玛提供给员工优先认股权以及店内折扣。这些对员工的优惠在今天很普遍，然而是沃尔顿率先实施了这一做法。沃尔顿相信快乐的员工就意味着快乐的顾客以及销售的增长。沃尔顿还相信如果员工拥有公司的股份，并将员工个人成功与公司的成功挂钩，员工就会愈关心公司的发展。
到二十世纪八十年代，沃尔玛的销售额已超过十亿美元，其在北美地区的店面超过了300家。沃尔玛独特的分散式营销体系加之沃尔顿的理念为它在二十世纪八十年代的持续增长创造了优势。这其中夹杂着那些来自小型传统商店因不堪“大型超市”之压而日渐高涨的抱怨声。到了1991年，沃尔玛已拥有1700家店面，成为全美最大的零售商店。沃尔顿仍管理着公司，担任公司总裁及执行总裁直到1988年，担任公司主席直至去世。总统乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什在沃尔顿去世不久前授予其“自由勋章”。
沃尔顿于1992年辞世，他是全球第二大富豪，仅次于比尔·盖茨。他将公司传给了他的妻子和儿女。现在沃尔玛的店面覆盖全球，包括墨西哥、加拿大、阿根廷、巴西、韩国、中国以及波多黎各等国。
沃尔顿曾在他的自传《美国制造》中这样描述自己的成功：“零售业成功的秘诀在于为顾客的需求提供服务。如果从顾客的角度出发，那你就能无所不求。优质商品、最低价位、保证满意、态度友好、方便快捷、免费停车、愉快购物。”正是沃尔顿的商业模式和成功的零售秘诀改变了全球大型商业的运作方式。
译者感言
沃尔玛是全球最大的超级市场，也许每个人对这个名字都不会感到陌生。然而关于它的缔造者山姆·沃尔顿，以及他如何创建这个庞大的零售帝国的故事，可能还不为众人知晓。遍及全球的沃尔玛最初只是一个坚持“天天平价”的经营理念、起步于美国乡村的小商店。自幼便饱尝生活艰辛的沃尔顿对每一美分都十分珍惜，而这一观念也深刻地融入进了他的销售理念中。同样，沃尔顿还独创了一套具有沃尔玛特色的经营管理风格，其中的“顾客至上”便是他在长达52年的零售业生涯中始终铭记在心并身体力行的四字箴言，而这也成为了沃尔玛的全球口号。1985年，《福布斯》杂志将沃尔顿列为美国第二富豪，而这位老人仍旧过着最为简朴的生活，头上戴着一顶折价的棒球帽，身着一套自己商店出售的廉价服装。但他却慷慨解囊，捐资教育，创立了拉丁美洲奖学金。美国前任总统老布什曾对他作过这样的评价：“山姆·沃尔顿，一个道地的美国人，他展现了创业精神，是美国梦的缩影。”
