by Cameron Smith

Decision makers for the Wal-Mart supplier teams are the major league players of the consumer packaged goods industry.

They were plucked off the best of the best campuses across the U.S. to take entry-level sales positions in the field. Many started out as Territory Managers and the best rose through the ranks of the CPG teams. They are judged on deliverables which turn into braggables – and up the ladder we go. District Manager, Region Manager, Zone Manager, Trade Marketing until the elite athletes get a chance to play in the Superbowl of CPG: Wal-Mart.

To give you an idea of the magnitude of responsibility that comes with this account, consider the result of one mistake in analyzing “the numbers.” That mistake could cost hundreds of factory jobs at the corporate office. In 14 years working with CPG major league players, I have plenty of memorable moments. Here’s one I will never forget: Factory workers applauding the sales force and other visitors as we toured the facility with our safety glasses on. All I can say is these suppliers are the best.

As the suppliers have made their way to Bentonville and set up satellite offices over the past 16 years, the size of what would eventually be called a team doubled, tripled and quadrupled in size. Whether it’s category management, RFID replenishment or consumer insights, the suppliers have to be on their game.

These suppliers are not here to sell to Wal-Mart, they are here to service Wal-Mart. You see, to be successful at Wal-Mart, you not only have to be a good marketing company. You must be a great service company. When people talk about Wal-Mart, they talk about speed and how they can navigate through the numbers to manage the business at the home office and Wal-Mart more efficiently.

The suppliers who are here and get it – meaning their company is happy and Wal-Mart is happy – they are the ones we are asked to recruit.

Companies who are late to the party in having a local presence can make up a lot of ground when they can recruit a player in the same category, someone who has moved the needle consistently and has learned how to be very strategic. In other words, someone smart, quick and accomplished with experience playing in the Superbowl of CPG.