The "Little Giant:" Richard Grant and Sales at General Motors, 1925-1941

Kettering brought more to GM than just technical expertise:  he brought talent that made crucial contributions to GM’s efforts to surpass the Ford Motor Company during the Interwar years. One of his closest associates at Delco was Richard H. Grant, and it was Grant who drew on his experiences at National Cash Register and the sales philosophy of John Patterson to teach GM to sell – first Chevrolets and then the entire product line. Known as “Dynamic Dick” and the “Little Giant,” Grant was one of America’s great salesmen. Born in Massachusetts and educated at Harvard, Grant learned to sell at NCR, became its general sales manager in 1913, later moved to Delco and Frigidaire, and in 1923 joined Chevrolet as sales manager. In 1929, Grant became a GM vice-president and was one of the top four or five executives of the firm during the 1930s, with memberships on six policy groups.

Currently this structure is a part of Normandy Methodist Church. As an aside, my home is on land that was part of a Normandy Farms orchard.

            The “Little Giant” played major role in reorganizing the distribution system at GM, eliminating distributors who previously held large territories and had control over local dealers. He was an orator and showman, but beneath the surface Grant was a careful, systematic thinker who implemented market research, accounting, and training procedures throughout the corporation. Grant had learned seven fundamentals of sales from NCR’s John Patterson that were subsequently instilled into GM personnel:

1. Have the right product.

2. Know the potential of each market area.

3. Constantly educate your salesmen on the product, making them listen to canned demonstrations and learn sales talks by heart.

4. Constantly stimulate your sales force, and foster competition. among them with contests and comparisons.

5. Cherish simplicity in all presentations.

6. Use all kinds of advertising.

7. Constantly check up on your salesmen, but be reasonable with them and make no promises you can’t keep.¹⁵

1929 Chevrolet International Coupe

1929 Chevrolet Art

Grant further refined Alfred Sloan’s notion of using R. L. Polk Company’s monthly state registration data to closely monitor subtle shifts in consumer demand. By the late 1920s, this information would be relayed to William Knudsen’s production group, thus ensuring that the automobiles made would be the kind that customers would quickly buy off dealer’s lots. After the Depression hit, Grant responded in 1932 with an aggressive strategy of reorganization and renewed energy centered on the formation of the Buick-Olds-Pontiac Sales Company. An interview in Barron’sin 1932 outlined his plans:

“The new organization is planned to intensify and improve the operating efficiency of our distributing outlets for these three lines of cars…. The present field organizations for the three brands will be combed for the best talent available and their united efforts under one directing organization will, we feel, form the strongest and most efficient sales force ever assembled in the automobile industry. The three cars will continue to be merchandised through the present dealer and distributorship organizations and the management expects to increase materially their sales through the new organization…. All talk of a discontinuance of any line as a result of this move is utter nonsense. The nation is junking more cars than it is buying. Auto buying has been at a low level for two years and something must turn soon to bring the public back in the market for new cars. People who have had automobiles and who can afford them will never deprive themselves of this modern luxury.”¹⁶

            Closely related to Grant’s efforts were those of the customer research group, led by Buck Weaver.¹⁷Weaver and his associates formulated a set of questionnaires aimed at asking the broad question of “What do customers want?” A large number of potential questions were mailed memorandum books in which every aspect of design and engineering was queried. Among the questions asked were what should be the shape of the radiator; what designs are too conservative and too extreme; should there be running boards on cars; and most significantly, how should a car be sold. For buyers of the early 1930s, the results of the surveys pointed to their priorities for cars that were dependable and economical. For the average American, speed and the power of the engine seemed to be the least of their concerns.¹⁸