Walmart wellness team discusses successful collaborations at the Elevation Forum
“The No. 1 reason we fail in partnerships is lack of self-awareness, and the inability to manage our emotions under stress. And the most important skill in an evolving world is risk assessment and opportunity discernment. We have all been put on notice; we must all expand our self-awareness, or our business relationships could be at risk.”
That was the kickoff discussion conveyed by Dan Mack at the most recent Elevation Forum, held on March 5, at the Northwest Convention Center in Rogers Arkansas, where a group of over 40 health, wellness executives gathered to talk about the future of supplier/retailer holistic partnerships.
“About 60% of sales leaders have a difficult time challenging a customer and 50% of most meetings are spent on unproductive customer discussions,” said Dan Mack, founder of the Chicago-based Mack Elevation, which meets three times per year to discuss industry, leadership and emerging customer growth initiatives. “While innovation is critical, we overvalue it. Retail leaders are looking for advisors who are curious and skilled at uncovering hidden threats to their business. The goals are to help your partners become aware of problems they are not even aware of yet,” said Mack.
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The event began with a discussion on the blind spots hindering many supplier / retailer partnerships. “Most senior leaders are feeling impatient, overwhelmed, and protective,” Mack said. “2-in-3 B2B buyers are born after 1980, and they expect experiential, curated, simplistic, and human sales discussions. If you want to be relevant, help them think through today’s sales essentials, and tomorrow’s investment or competitive threats. Every minute matters and salespeople must improve their (ROMTI) Return on Meeting Time Invested.”
The forum enjoyed real-world insights shared by Walmart’s wellness team including Vinima Shekhar, VP of wellness; Mary Walker, director vitamins, Shannon Allen, director nutrition; and Stephen Owen, director functional health. The Walmart team shared their thoughts on the evolving definition of “Best-in-Class” Supplier Partnerships, how suppliers can deepen and optimize face-to-face meetings and practical insights on designing cohesive omni-channel programs, holistic wellness category solutions and winning new item launches.
The forum leaders also had a robust discussion on the “8-Sins Killing Team Trust.” Mack shared, “healthy teams embrace diverse voices and are held together through transparent relationships, team consistency, and expertise. Deliberately practicing and expanding one’s self-awareness differentiates you as a leader. It is the glue holding teams together today during periods of change.”
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The next Elevation Forum will be on April 26, the day before the NACDS Annual convention in West Palm Beach, Fla.