John Blyth - Marketing Manager Ford Tractors

Blokes like John Blyth probably have no idea of the impression they leave on a kid hanging around his dad's ankles but from the age of about ten John seemed to me the epitome of a company manager at the top of his game. Later I was lucky enough to be part of the Ford Motor Company's tractor demo team and John was there guiding the marketing ship setting a great example in both appearance and attitude.

When John emailed through his story I was enchanted and grateful that he agreed to put in the time to reply to my request.

Here is the story he sent in. I feel there is a book in John and if we could ever get everything down in print I'm sure it would be of interest to many.

THE LIFE OF BLYTH

For a kid of fourteen, leaving primary school in 1940, with a war under way and the necessity to get a job, I did nothing. Whilst the existence of a war tended to concentrate your attention on the fact that men could now kill one another legally, it managed to eliminate other things of importance such as getting a job. My mother did that for me. She was not the sort of person to do this kind of thing but I guess she felt compelled to launch me into life after school.

I was employed by the firm that had a gentleman by the name of Offord whose job it was to provide the company’s workforce with new labour. The fact that he was the brother of our headmaster Pip Offord was unknown to me at the time but I eventually realised this and saw how my mother had approached the problem.

For the next four years I laboured for Ransomes, Sims and Jeffries and in 1944 joined the RAF as, what else, a future hero. Going in as an air crew trainee ready to give his time to shooting down a large number of German planes, I was soon to be disappointed by being told that the only job among aircrew trainees was as an air-gunner. My intention to be a pilot was never considered. As a result I re-mustered to ground staff and became a radar mechanic.

Another three years were to pass before I enjoy the freedoms which came with being a civilian. A twelve month course training me to become a draughtsman enabled me to get a job in the old firm. So, by 1949 I was back in the old firm with only a small amount of self confidence having developed over the years.

Life was not good. Clothing was still rationed, as was food and sweets and just about everything that made life bearable. So I decided to migrate if I could get a partner to go with me. No one in the office wanted to join me but I did meet a girl at a dance who was perfectly willing. As a result we eventually got married and left for Australia on the motor vessel New Australia. We arrived in Melbourne six weeks later and were greeted by all my relatives who had spent their lives here. It all seemed very wonderful, especially the sweet shops, which were laden with sweets of all shapes and sizes and types.

I eventually got a job with a small agricultural firm as a draughtsman. This lasted about nine months when Ford advertised a position known as Implement Specialist. The job it was to find implement manufacturers, who were prepared to supply Ford with all types of implements for them for sale through their dealer organisation. The fact that I had worked for Ransomes who, in turn, had supplied Ford with implements put me into the right place at the right time. They gave me the job. So in late 1952 Ford employed me, and I stayed with them for the rest of my working life.

I spent six years working in this role before I was offered the job of working for Ford in South Australia. Of course I refused immediately, because I did enjoy the work I was doing and I felt totally incapable of selling tractors and farm machinery. Especially to that tough lot of dealers who would quickly realise that I was without any experience at all in their kind of business. Ewan Scott-Mackenzie was the new man taking over the Tractor Department and he informed me that if I did not take the job I was likely to be dispensed with all together. Needless to say I accepted...unwillingly.

Ford had ceased assembling tractors in Adelaide and the office of the company was still the front office of the factory. The branch Manager was Alf Brooker and my staff comprised Les Salotti the only field man, a temporary loan of David Beak who was a very young lad at the time and dear old Jack Nankervis who was a vehicle service rep who, on a part time basis looked after the tractor side of things. I imagine my appointment offended Les Salotti who would have expected promotion to the position. A point of view, I could both understand and sympathise with. For a few weeks we soldiered on until I got to know the place, and then I moved into an office in the factory which helped me to feel a little more independent.

The factory was not the place in which I could feel important but it was a stepping stone. Unknown to me negotiations were under way to move the entire Ford organisation from there to the city. Along with others I eventually moved to an upper floor of a building in the city and for a short time I felt a little more important. I managed to earn more staff including a secretary and for a while this kept me happy.

Eventually I felt the necessity to have our tractor operation situated in the kind of building that identified us as a separate business. A place that carried some stock, provided a place for dealers to visit and somewhere for us to provide the kind of service that the dealers needed. To cut a long story short we were lucky enough to find an empty vehicle dealer premises which was big enough to handle our business. I put up a proposition to head office which was an attempt to illustrate the kind of place we needed and the kind of results that we felt were achievable. Mr Scott-Mackenzie gave me an immediate go ahead and we were on our way to building a bigger and better penetration of the market in the state of South Australia.

Most of the dealers who still exist will recall the company’s policy of increasing the importance of a dealership where the market was large enough to increase our penetration. This in fact applied to most dealerships in the state. Places like Streaky Bay, Farrell Flat, and more dealers on the river. Dealers all over the state were given a better chance of competing for business and our sales penetration grew. We also appointed sub dealers such as Tumby Bay and Mount Barker, and in general lifted the efforts of our dealers to a point where the South Australian Ford Tractor dealers eventually led the sales penetration statistics.

Perhaps at this point I should thank the staff that I had managed to get together for what was a really great job for the company. The most senior Field Manager was Les Salotti for whom I was always very grateful. In addition Max Kuseff and Ralph Kirkmoe covered two thirds of the state. An appointment that I made was engaging a Business Manager Representative and I have to say that this was the best decision I ever made. Reg Flanagan was the man, and he also got me playing golf on Sunday mornings. He was a great Representative and a real comic. In addition to David Beak who has remained a good friend to this day, and who was another comic rather like Reg. Finally my field staff was complete with the appointment full time of Jack Nankervis.

In the office I had my secretary Elsie Grant who was a very competent lady and two other staff members, the first was Jim Green and the other Col Parker. I am afraid that I have also forgotten the names of the two older men who handled all the stock.

Looking back I wonder if I was as good a boss to them as they were good workers for me.

Probably the most memorable part of my time in Adelaide was not in Adelaide itself. I refer to a trip to America and England for the release of the new Ford tractor models. It was a great flight with an organiser operating the trip for us. Some of the tricks that those South Australian dealers got up to were hilarious. It was a wonderful trip for me marked seriously by the death of my Father some two weeks before we took off. New York was a great experience as was the trip up to the north including the Niagara Falls and the plant in Detroit.

Looking back, I like to believe that I had hosted a higher percentage of dealers who qualified to join the trip than any other State branch’ and If I am wrong don’t tell me. One of my favourite memories is of Gordon Abbot of Streaky Bay ambling around New York dressed in the same clothes he wore at home. This is a trip that I could go on about for pages but I think I had better stop at this point.

Shortly after returning to Australia I was told that I was being promoted and would have to go back to Melbourne. Despite the fact that the job I was given was as Marketing Manager I didn’t want to go, and told the boss so. He, as usual, told me to come over or suffer an end to the job. I had to go of course. I cannot remember exactly when this was but I was so sorry to leave. My old friend Don Mason took my job over and I’m glad to say that we still see one another regularly

I do not think it worthwhile to continue with a brief picture of the rest of my life in Ford, but the next four years or so were both a challenge and a delight for me. I would like to thank every dealer who we represented, and every member of the staff who took part in running the branch.

John Blyth