Automotive News October 31, 2011 - Chevy 100 - 164

A CENTURY OF CHEVROLET
STORY 64 100

Lund was Chevy’s supersalesman
BY LARRY EDSALL

During his years as general manager, Lund led the teams that sold more than 25 million cars and trucks

obody sold more Chevrolets than Bob Lund. Not only did Lund lead Chevrolet to its first 3 million-unit sales year, and then to its first 4 million year, he anticipated the day when that figure would reach 5 million, with at least some of them powered by electricity. Lund was Chevrolet’s general sales manager from 1969 until 1973, when General Motors made him a corporate vice president and general manager of Cadillac. Even though he suddenly was dealing with annual sales not of 3 million but of 300,000, Lund cherished his short time at Cadillac, where he helped start the development of an important new model: the Seville. In 1974 Lund returned to Chevrolet, where he had started his GM career in 1946 as a district sales manager in Minneapolis. This time he was corporate vice president and general manager of the world’s largest automotive division, with its 100,000 employees and two dozen dedicated manufacturing and assembly plants. Lund led Chevy until 1982, when, at age 61, he was promoted to vice president for sales and marketing for all of GM. During his years as Chevrolet’s general manager, Lund led the teams that sold more than 25 million cars and trucks — more vehicles than Chevrolet sold during its first 38 years in business. Add in his years as the division’s general sales manager and Lund’s personal sales leadership figure

grows to more than 39 million Chevrolets. But Lund wasn’t even close to being done. In his two years as vice president for all sales and marketing, GM sold more than 14 million vehicles. And after his official retirement, Lund moved to Phoenix and, with his son, operated three Cadillac dealerships that became among the most successful in the country. Lund was born in Duluth, Minn. When he was 12, his father died and Lund worked part-time jobs and put himself through the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., where he studied business. He also was class president and an all-conference football star for three years. Lund served in the South Pacific as a U.S. Navy lieutenant in World War II, and then was assigned to help organize the Chicago-based Naval Automotive Distribution Unit. While there, he caught the attention of the Chevrolet regional sales staff, which he joined after his military service ended. Within four years Lund moved to Chevrolet’s central office. He later spent time on the Pacific Coast and led the Midwest sales region before returning to Detroit and leading Chevrolet to its first 3 million sales year. As general manager, Lund had to contend with oil crises and greatly reduced sales volume. But he saw smaller, more

BOB LUND
❙ 1920: Born in Duluth, Minn. ❙ 1938: Enrolled at College of St. Thomas ❙ 1943: U.S. Navy lieutenant ❙ 1946: Joined Chevrolet as district sales manager, Minneapolis ❙ 1962: Assistant general sales manager, Chevrolet Central Office ❙ 1969: General sales manager of Chevrolet ❙ 1973: Corporate vice president and general manager of Cadillac ❙ 1974: General manager of Chevrolet ❙ 1982: GM vice president for sales and marketing ❙ 1984: Retired; became Cadillac dealer in Phoenix ❙ 2007: Died at age 87

fuel-efficient vehicles — cars, some powered by diesels and even electric batteries, and trucks, including compact pickups and perhaps vehicles as yet unimagined — as ways for Chevrolet and GM to retain sales leadership. “When the quarterback gets hurt, people in the stands say, ‘That’s it, we’re sunk,’” Lund told Automotive News when he retired from GM. “But some kid on the bench you’ve never heard of comes in and plays a hell of a ball game.” Once upon a time, a young Naval lieutenant had played just such a role for Chevrolet. Lund died in 2007 at age 87.

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Joe Girard, a man for the record books, sold 13,001 Chevrolets in 15 years
BY AMY WILSON CHEVY’S TOP SALESMAN
❙ Who: Joe Girard ❙ Years of service: 1963-77 ❙ Where: Merollis Chevrolet in suburban Detroit ❙ Sold: 13,001 Chevrolets, including 18 in 1 day ❙ Quote: “What made Joe Girard was service, service, service — and I created the greatest advertising in the world, which was word of mouth.”

STORY 65 100

oe Girard says he can sell anything. But he soared into the record books selling Chevrolets — 13,001 of them in just 15 years. From 1966 through 1977, Girard won the annual title as the world’s No. 1 car salesman, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Then, at age 49, he retired from selling cars and began selling himself, launching a career as a motivational speaker and writer. Girard, a Detroit native who turns 83 on Nov. 1, boils his achievements down to spark — spark to overcome his humble beginnings in the city’s Depression-era slums, the words of an abusive father and the failure of a home construction business. “This is what made Joe Girard,” said Girard. “Every day was a challenge. The more people can use things that aren’t good as an advantage toward their life, they will do better.” The bankruptcy of Girard’s business in 1962 led to his automotive career. He got a foreclosure notice for his house, and he had no car, no groceries and no money. With a wife and two children to support, Girard got on a bus looking for work one day in January 1963. When the bus doors opened, he stepped off in front of a big Chevrolet dealership. Girard begged the manager for a job. He spent that first day calling everyone he knew. At 8:30 that night, after most of the other salesmen had slipped out, a customer walked through the door. The only other salesman still working was busy. So Girard spent 90 minutes with the customer, did some more begging — and sold his first car. “I said, ‘Look out world. I’m coming back,’” he said. He borrowed $10 from his manager to buy groceries and sold 18 cars during his second month on the job. But the owner fired him after complaints from other salesmen. Girard went to Merollis Chevrolet in suburban Detroit and set sales records year after year. But Girard never let go of being fired. Every year he mailed a copy of his W-2 to his old boss, with a note at the bottom telling him, “You fired the wrong guy.” After his old
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boss died, Girard says he even took a W-2 to the cemetery and buried it atop the man’s casket. At Merollis, Girard set up his own retail empire within the dealership. He eventually took customers only by appointment and hired two people to manage the flood of customers. Girard paid those employees out of his own pocket. They found out what buyers wanted, whether they had a trade-in or would qualify for a loan. Then Girard did the selling. One of his biggest secrets? Girard told his customers to come back to him directly if they ever had a problem with their cars. Then Girard treated the dealership’s mechanics to a big dinner at an Italian restaurant on the third Wednesday of every month. The mechanics loved him so much they’d drop other jobs and assign three people to one of his customers, recalled Girard, who often speaks of himself in the third person. He’d also pay for low-priced parts himself if the car was out of warranty. “What made Joe Girard was service, service, service — and I created the greatest advertising in the world, which was word of mouth,” he said. Girard, who often sold 160 cars a month and once sold 18 in a single day, employed other tricks: He paid a lot in so-called bird-dog fees to people who

Joe Girard, right, with his first customer, who is shown here buying another car in 1977, shortly before Girard’s retirement.

would refer customers to him. Girard wined and dined supervisors at big companies who knew hundreds of people to send his way. Other than “Good morning,” he refused to talk to coworkers. He ate lunch at his desk so he could dedicate every minute to selling. Instead of the flashy suits some salesmen wore, Girard wore casual clothes. He wanted to dress like his customers, who were largely blue-collar people. But after Christmas of 1977, Girard called it quits. He had topped 13,000 in sales — 13 is his lucky number — and he no longer could take the stress of the job. He had been sweating and shaking at work; he went to a doctor, who told him to quit or die. He started writing business-advice books and speaking at business events. IBM and the Harvard Business School are former clients. Even in his 80s, he continues on, charging $18,000 a speech. He travels to China every year for several speaking gigs. In 2001, Girard was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Chevy’s bow tie badge was on his product, but he chalks his success up to selling himself. “I never sold a car in my life,” Girard said. “I sold a Girard.”
CHEVROLET 100 ❙ AUTOMOTIVE NEWS

Automotive News October 31, 2011 - Chevy 100

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