Walmart: The Best and Worst in One Visit

Walmart can be an incredibly inspiring place to visit. It's a marvel of innovation. Beautiful if you're into these things. It can be equally infuriating.

Today I swung by to pick up some cold medicine and a few other items, like t-shirts. Can't wear a nice shirt without a t-shirt underneath. Call me old-fashioned.

Upon entering at about 9:00 a.m. (there are some advantages of self-employment), I was greeted by the friendly senior aged woman with the requisite gray-blue hair. "Good morning," she said sweetly. I returned the sentiment.

Needing to return some t-shirts that did not fit, I proceeded to the returns counter. There I was greeted by the Troll of Customer Returns.

Now, I have not gone through Walmart customer service training. I imagine the focus is on efficiency foremost. But, I imagine also they focus a little bit on politeness. Dumb thinking on my part? Well, efficiency was Troll's forte. The transaction was swift accurate and as cold as the plastic on her cash register. She never made eye contact. Never lifted her head at all, in fact. She grunted more than spoke, generally showing no politeness at all. I don't imagine the company tells staff to imitate the cold computer technology that makes the store so forceful - but this she did. She was a machine.

The woman at the check-out register where I bought some replacement t-shirts was very friendly. She smiled, politely said hello and even gave in to one of my jokes. She did, however, forget to pack the replacement tees in the bag. So, I left the store without them.

When I realized the error at home, I phoned the store to find out if they could just reverse the charge on my card. The woman who answered the phone was another automaton - sharp to the point of being rude. I was just a transaction, not a person with a problem she wanted to help me solve. I would have return to the store to pick up my item.

Alright, so everyone knows about Walmart. The bigger point here is - as business owners and executives, we sometimes forget that efficiency is not all its cracked up to be. It is not the holy grail. For most of our businesses, it is not what makes people come back. It may, however, be what makes they not come back.

Walmart was efficient to a fault today. Overall, they were totally ineffective at creating a good customer experience, the greeter's nice efforts notwithstanding. Now they have this guy, writing a blog, bitching about them to everyone who will read and listen. Is this a problem for them. I bet the folks at their Clairemont Mesa Boulevard store don't think so. But, for the company - yeah it is. Because, what are the chances that my experience was a rare occurrence?

Consider the deepening image and legal problems the company has now. You would think they would be trying to overcome them by being especially warm and kind to their local customers. Nope. Apparently not.

Walmart is incredibly inconsistent in its service. Warm and good at one point in store, cold and rude in another part. Which one do you think I remember most?

You don't need to go far to get a good lesson in business - the good and the awful. Just go to your local Walmart. Watch carefully. Pay attention to how you feel when you are treated in various ways. Then think of your own customers - and make some improvements.

Attention Buys Results

I have been listening extra closely to what people tell me they want to achieve while working with me. Normally, I hear things like, "I need to get out of the weeds and back to working smart, not just hard."

Business owners in particular say things like, "business is good, but we are a bit overwhelmed." When something isn't what they want it to be they describe the situation in terms of too few A-level clients, too many things on their plate, "a to-do list as long as my arm," staff turnover problems or, the classic, wrestling with alligators.

In Wobbly Company
Maaaaaaaybe 5% of all the people I talk with, executive in big organizations and owners of small businesses alike - maaaaaaaaaybe 5% of them are aware that their behavior may be a problem. It almost surely is.

I don't say that like a parent pointing a finger. I mean it in this sense:

I can look out at a situation and see all the problems and solutions "out there" someplace. The problem is too many C-level clients - the problem is the clients. The problem is turnover - the problem is the staff. The problem is a long to-do list - the problem is aaaaaall the top-priority issues that require my attention. The problem is always out there.

Even if that is true - that the problem is out in the environment - where are the solutions likely to come from? Will they also be out there? Unlikely.

The problems I hear described are always symptoms of a problem with where someone spends their attention.

Put more pointedly, where you put your attention, you put your resources. Where you focus, you act.

C-level clients come from a focus problem, an attention problem - a focus of attention on C-level prospects, for example. Start paying attention to a higher level prospect and you will likely get a higher quality client.

A long to-do list is a focus issue, too. The undiscerning management mind sees everything as a level one activity. Given the reality that not all of them can be accomplished with available resources - we are back to what you focus on. Where you pay your attention, you buy your results.

So, start thinking of backing up your description of what's happening "out there" with what is happening "in here," meaning - in your mind.

What you get out there has strong roots to what goes on inside.

So what, right?
Well, until I realize that my thinking steers my ship, I will continue to push or prod, attempt to convince, manipulate or coerce other people to behave differently - without paying any attention to my contributions to the situation, my own behavior. I am sure to get push-back, not least because I will not have acknowledged my contribution to the situation. I will have very little credibility. Who wants to follow such a man?

Inquiry
What is the symptom of the problem?
What are my contributions to the problem?
What are the other contributors?
What behavior do I need to change to turn the situation around?
What support do I need to continue the change until it becomes a habit?

Language as Evidence
One more thing - to gain some insight about how you view a problem - out there - or with your own attention and actions - listen to your own language.

If you usually say something like, "you know, when you have so many things on your plate, it's hard to get everything done. And, they are all top priorities, so you just can't get them all done," you're trying to pass the buck, from you to me - or worse - to everyone else.

The statements people make that sound like that are cop-outs. It's an unconscious attempt to make your problem a universal problem that everyone experiences. It's a avoidance of your responsibility. It is a way of not dealing with the feelings that come up were you to use the pronoun I.

To prove it - restate the same sentence using the I pronoun. Notice how different it feels.

It is an important exercise, because until you can get to using the I pronoun when describing the symptoms of the problems I face, I will not have fully committed to fixing them.

Where I pay my attention, I buy my results.

And, if you're looking for some help with it all - call me. I can help you with that.

Happy New Year - Now, Go Be Amazing

Ah, yes, the time of the New Year's Resolution. That cocktail party one-liner of intention whose life span is about equal to that of the ice cubes in your drink.

A lot has been and apparently is being written about our annual resolutions. Too darn much, if you ask me. Now, I'm all for self-improvement, of course. I make my living from it. BUT, I'm so incredibly tired of the annual rite of witnessing people set their resolutions and no less than a week or so later set right back down into the comfort of their habits, molded to their lives like an unsupportive sofa cushion sat on for the same five hours each day for ten years running. Making a resolution is easy; changing a life is much more work.

Doing It Right
"The keys to making a successful resolution are a person's confidence that he or she can make the behavior change and the commitment to making that change," says University of Washington psychology researcher, Elizabeth Miller. In addition, “…resolutions are a process, not one-time efforts... Even if people are to be successful, they need to follow-up on their behavior over the years," says Miller.

Now that makes sense. To make a resolution a way of life - and that's the only thing I'm interested in - you must understand you are in a process of improvement. There are no magic pills. You can't twitch your nose and make it all efficient and effective and nice. You must develop skill in the given area (this applies equally to diet and smoking and being a more loving parent, or a more potent contributor at work.)

Most of all, there is follow-up, and follow-through. Well, duh.

If you hold a child's mentality that making a lasting improvement will be easy, don't set the intention at all. You will only quit it after a week or a month or two and be comfortably where you began, except older and with less credibility. You will probably also feel bad about yourself that you set a resolution and didn't follow through. So, save yourself the anxiety and admit now that you're really not interested in that idea becoming lasting improvement. It's only the seduction of a resolution quickie and having something to say when someone asks if you made a New Year's Resolution that you dig. I tell you what, though, I'd give you high marks for honesty if you said, "You know, I really don't have one. I'm really not that interested in making any significant changes this year." You go! Put it out there. Truth is, you'll have said something people are scared to say.

For those of you as bold on the other side of the coin...

Examples of Strong Resolutions
...set yourself up for success. State your resolution as an outcome that will be experienced over time as the result of a new, powerful process. And, by all means, do not state your resolution as a thing that will be gotten. It works better as a state of being and behaving that will be maintained over time. So, no more, "I will lose 50 pounds." It must be, "I will reach a weight of 185 by the end of the year by eating less food, eating higher quality food, including more fruits, veggies, fewer processed and sugary sweet foods, and I will maintain these improved eating habits for the next five years. I will learn about maintaining a healthy weight by consulting experts and reading on the subject. And when I celebrate my success, I will do so with behaviors that keep me on the path. My celebrations will be healthy, too." Then develop a simple system for organizing and recording your progress.

If you're going for something like, "I will be more of a team player this year," Think in terms of, "I will transform myself into a supportive, creative and hard-working contributor to my team by being quick to help someone complete a task or project, being generous and genuine in my feedback and ideas, and producing work of the utmost quality, meeting all agreed targets. I will self-teach and learn from expert others in these important areas. I expect the results of this transformation will be obvious to my teammates. Even if it isn't, I'll keep it up because it's a better way to be, as a leader, as a man/woman, as a parent, friend and spouse, period."

If you're ready to do your New Year's Resolution at that level, I think you have a high probability of success - which is, after all - my New Year's wish for you.

Now, go out there and be amazing.