Getting to know Granny
On Aug 15, 1899, in Detroit, Michigan, Henry Ford resigns his position as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company's main plant in order to concentrate on automobile production.
Henry Ford left his family's farm in Dearborn, Michigan, at age 16 to work in the machine shops of Detroit. In 1888, he married Clara Bryant, and they had a son, Edsel, in 1893. That same year, Ford was made chief engineer at Edison. Charged with keeping the city's electricity flowing, Ford was on call 24 hours a day, with no regular working hours, and when not working could tinker away at his real goal of building a gasoline-powered vehicle. He completed his first functioning gasoline engine at the end of 1893, his first horseless carriage, called the Quadricycle, by 1896.
On Aug 15, 1899, in Detroit, Michigan, Henry Ford resigns his position as chief engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company's main plant in order to concentrate on automobile production.
In the summer of 1898, Ford was awarded his first patent, in the name of his investor and Detroit's mayor, William C. Maybury, for a carburetor he built the previous year. By the middle of the following summer Ford had produced his third car. A much more advanced model than his two previous efforts, it had a water tank and brakes, among other new features. Maybury's support, combined with Ford's bold ideas and charisma, helped assemble a group of investors who contributed some $150,000 to establish the Detroit Automobile Company in early August 1899. Ten days later, Ford left Edison, where he had worked for the previous eight years. He turned down a considerable salary offer of $1,900 per year and the title of general superintendent to become mechanical superintendent of the new auto company, with a salary of $150 per month.
The Detroit Automobile Company was one of some 60 aspiring automakers in America at the time, and it struggled to keep up with the stiff competition provided by the likes of Packard of Ohio and Olds Motor Works of Lansing, Michigan. The company began to collapse in the middle of its second year of operation and ceased doing business in November 1900. Maybury and others retained their faith in Ford, however, and in late 1901 they backed him as chief engineer of the Henry Ford Company. This effort failed as well, and Ford put all of his hopes into a make-or-break third effort. The Ford Motor Company, founded in mid-June 1903, rolled out its first car--a Model A--that July and continued to grow steadily over the next several years. The release of the now-legendary Model T or "Tin Lizzie" in 1908 catapulted Ford Motor Company into the leading ranks of American automakers and turned its founder, a farm boy from Dearborn, into one of the world's richest men.
– history.com/this-day-in-history/henry-ford-leaves-edison-to-start-automobile-company
The Little Old Lady has been around since the beginning of time and planning on hanging around to the end–Granny, Little Old Lady Auto Sales
The goal as a company, is to have customer service that is, not just the best but, legendary. Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart
Well done is better than well said.–Benjamin Franklin
Great experience, customers tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful.–Jeff Bezos, CEO Amazon.com
Customer satisfaction is worthless. Customer loyalty is priceless.–Jeffrey Gitomer
Good service is good business–Siebel Ad
Being on par in terms of price and quality only gets you into the game. Service wins the game.–Tony Allesandra
You'll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can't be copied.–Jerry Fritz
Every great business is built on friendship–JC Penney
Rule 1: The customer is always right. Rule 2: If the customer is ever wrong, re-read Rule 1.–Stew Leonard, CEO Stew Leonard's
Make a customer, not a sale.–Katherine Barchetti
A customer is the most important visitor on our premises, he is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favor by serving him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.–Mahatma Gandhi
Every company's greatest assets are its customers, because without customers there is no company.–Michael LeBoeuf, Author of: How to Win Customers and Keep Them for Life
Service, in short, is not what you do, but who you are. It is a way of living that you need to bring to everything you do, if you are to bring it to your customer interactions–Betsy Sanders
Here is a simple but powerful rule: always give people more than what they expect to get.–Nelson Boswell
Customers today want the very most and the very best for the very least amount of money, and on the best terms. Only the individuals and companies that provide absolutely excellent products and services at absolutely excellent prices will survive.–Brian Tracy
Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day. You can't expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don't exceed the employees' expectations of management.–Howard Schultz, CEO Starbucks Coffee
People expect good service but few are willing to give it–Robert Gateley
When the customer comes first, the customer will last.–Robert Half
Right or wrong, the customer is always right.–Marshall Field
Under promise and over deliver.–Toby Bloomberg
Latest from Granny
Granny's Links
Latest Inventory
FoodNetwork.com Cause Granny loves to cook.