This Walmart Executive Likes to Make Unexpected Drop In Visits on Stores

Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart and the company’s U.S. President and CEO Greg Foran, have something in common. They like to unexpectedly visit Walmart stores.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance during a store visit, Foran said, “I think it is a critical part of the job, isn’t it?’
“Because it’s actually where the rubber hits the road in our business. And we’re only as good as the last transaction that we had with the customer,” he explained.

With nearly 5,000 locations, Foran has many stors to choose from. Foran looks at many things on his visits which include parking and store rooms, the lighting, and the smell of produce.

“I usually start looking at the neighborhood as we drive up to the store,” he explained. Also, “I always travel around the store before I actually even enter it to see how tidy are we at the back, are we stacking the pallets, are the cardboard bales being picked up?”

“And I just love doing that. And I know that you know, the better that we get at doing that, the better the experience is for the customer,” Foran said.

“And that really is one of the first things that we want our associates to do — is to engage with our customers, be really happy with the job that we’re doing. And then deal with whatever questions or queries that they’ve got in a really efficient manner,” Foran also said. He said for associates: “Whatever job you’re doing, do it to your very best of your ability.”

“And I just try my hardest to that job, and I do it to the best of my ability. I would’ve been just as happy being a store manager or a market manager or a buyer, and I’ve done those jobs,” he also added.

Foran joined Walmart in October 2011.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) and have not been compensated for this article.