Motivated Wal Mart Employees When Sam Walton died in 1992, some industry insiders doubted whether the Wal-Mart chain he founded some 30 years earlier would maintain its importance as a discount retailer. They feared that the “magic spark” that Walton used to light the fire among the chain's 1.3 million members would be lost forever. And, since Wal-Mart stock failed to enjoy the same bull market growth as many other companies in the mid-1990s, the experts seemed to be right. Today, however, with stores in all 50 U.S. states and nine other countries, Wal-Mart has rebounded, leading the discount pack with record earnings. In fact, with $218 billion in annual sales and 100 million customers per week, Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world and was named "Retailer of the Century" by Discount Store News. Many believe that a key to Wal-Mart's success is how it energizes its sales force. For example, employee meetings at Wal-Mart stores are the same pep rallies that Walton organized years ago. Shouts of "Give me a W, give me an L, give me a squiggly..." are led by store managers who push clerks to frantically sell as they prepare for the day's onslaught of customers. And those employees know exactly what their customers want and how many buy their merchandise. To be sure, in-depth sales data is provided to show exactly how their particular store is doing. How much money did they make compared to the previous day, week or years? Which items are best selling and what is their margin? Department representatives proudly announce their answers, but not in the dry tone used in most business meetings. At Wal-Mart they make it fun for everyone. For example, if you were an employee at the Wal-Mart store in Pasadena, Texas, not long ago, you could have won a package of Oreo cookies by correctly guessing that the store sold 15,850 packages in the previous four weeks. Of course, the prize affects the winner's waistline more than their net worth. However, such events foster the camaraderie and sense of fun that define the Wal-Mart work experience. As you might imagine, the sales data shown comes from the company's computers.