YouSaid · the spoken record

Doug McMillon

lines on the record
56
first
2018-11-08
most recent
2018-11-08
sittings or episodes
1
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podcast

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  1. “I would say we're tough on behalf of the customer, but we always try to be fair. And if you look at the financial results of our suppliers, they've done really well. And PNG still makes more money than Walmart does after all this time. So this has worked out well, well for everybody, but we do keep pressure on on behalf of the customer. So you learn kind of how to think on the job, but with some principles behind you.”

    2018-11-08 · The Tim Ferriss Show · #345: Doug McMillon — CEO of Walmart · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  2. “Yeah, most of the learning that you have as a merchant, especially back then, came from the people around you. So it's really learning on the job and principles coming out. Like back then, we didn't really sign contracts and we had some vendor agreements to make sure we could pay people. But your handshake was your agreement. And I remember early on one of my supervisors, a guy named Dave Dibel, emphasizing to me we were about to make a big commitment and the supplier had asked for something in writing and Dave said, you need to explain to him that your word and your handshake is the contract. And it worked. So you learn things like you're working on behalf of the customer. You should be tough, but you should be fair. You want suppliers to make money because you want them to be here in 10 years' time. We're going to grow. We're going to need supply. Walmart has in some circles this reputation for being really tough.”

    2018-11-08 · The Tim Ferriss Show · #345: Doug McMillon — CEO of Walmart · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  3. “I think I just walked away. I don't remember having anything pithy to say. But I think it was probably awkward because I was so nervous and he was trying to break the ice. But we sold a lot of bait mate.”

    2018-11-08 · The Tim Ferriss Show · #345: Doug McMillon — CEO of Walmart · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  4. “And the fish strike the lure because it's been coated in bait mate. So it was over $2. We rolled it back to $1.97. We maintained our margin. I memorized everything about the item, and I wrote the rest of the answers on the back of the label. And I showed up at Saturday morning meeting, and Sam Walton was leading the meeting. And so my level of nervousness went from high to somewhere off the charts. So I wait till the end of the line at the end of the meeting to present bait mate to the auditorium full of hundreds of people with Sam Walton standing next to me. And I am shaking and my hands shaking and my voice is shaking, but I get all the information out that I'm supposed to remember. But what makes you think fish can smell?”

    2018-11-08 · The Tim Ferriss Show · #345: Doug McMillon — CEO of Walmart · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  5. “Debate main story. Does anyone in the room know what bait mate is? Okay, so when I moved into the home office, I'd worked in a store. This was 1991, and I got into our buyer training program at Walmart. And I was excited because they were putting me in sporting goods. I got to sporting goods and they gave us fishing tackle. And the other buyers, I didn't know it immediately, were hazing me. And as the new person, they said, on Saturday at the Saturday morning meeting, you must present an item that you have negotiated a lower price on and reduce the retail price. And you have to explain in the meeting the item, the price, et cetera, how many you can sell. I didn't know the first thing about being a buyer. It was literally my first day. And so other buyers helped me, and we found a supplier who makes this product called BaitMate, which comes in several flavors. You spray it on a hard lure if you're fishing, and it apparently causes the fish to think it's more real.”

    2018-11-08 · The Tim Ferriss Show · #345: Doug McMillon — CEO of Walmart · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  6. “It feels like a lot of time, and I don't do interviews that are very long, and that clock says 60 minutes on it. Could we at least start it? Because I'm used to like 15 minutes. I don't want to be up here that long.”

    2018-11-08 · The Tim Ferriss Show · #345: Doug McMillon — CEO of Walmart · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT