Keeping core values

March 3, 2016
A change in name and business model doesn’t necessitate an alteration in attitude. For one, Lake Arbor Automotive and Truck is still owned by founder Dana ToPoel — ever dedicated to environmental and community concerns, and always abiding by his mantra: “do the right thing for you [the customer], every time.”

A change in name and business model doesn’t necessitate an alteration in attitude. For one, Lake Arbor Automotive and Truck is still owned by founder Dana ToPoel — ever dedicated to environmental and community concerns, and always abiding by his mantra: “do the right thing for you [the customer], every time.”

At a glance:
Lake Arbor Automotive & Truck
Dana ToPoel
Owner
Westminster, Colo.
Location
1
No. of locations
24
Years in business
9,400 square feet
Shop size
11
No. of bays
136
No. of customer vehicles per week
www.facebook.com/
lakearborauto

Facebook page
NAPA Auto Care Center, Bosch Diesel Service Center, RepairPal Top Shop, AAA, ASA, BBB, ASE, ADS, North Metro Chamber of Commerce
Shop affiliations

After working at various tire stores and dealerships, in 1992 ToPoel bought his own facility, a failing emissions testing business prosaically called The Emissions Clinic. Taking advantage of the clean air initiatives being encouraged throughout the state of Colorado and his home city of Denver, ToPoel expanded the shop’s capabilities from mere testing to repair, becoming an expert on making cars run clean. He was so successful that he eventually became an advisor to the state.

“Back then we were out of attainment on carbon monoxide,” ToPoel recalls. “And before the days of OBDII they were having trouble with people being able to accurately diagnosis and repair cars. My success rate was very high, like twice the volume of the next best shop. So I worked with (Colorado) to develop their protocols for an accurate diagnosis.”

Demand for his expertise proved a double-edged sword however; by 1995, dissemination of his protocols meant that The Emissions Clinic was out of the gasoline vehicle testing business. “You can either keep being against them or you can find out how to help them,” he rationalized. “I joined forces and said ‘ok, let’s participate in the IRA book, let’s get some training, let’s do the best we can to make lemonade,’ and I managed to do just that.”

Seeing the writing on the wall, ToPoel began a year-long marketing campaign to shift customer focus from testing to repair. “The emissions program is changing, but I’m your guy,” he would say. “If you have any trouble with this emission test, i.e. should you fail it, here’s my card, here’s where to find me, here’s what the new system is likely going to look like. I actually printed out maps showing them how to get to the shop. The following year I was able to mitigate 100 percent of my emissions testing loss with emissions repair.”

The switch to the more serenely named Lake Arbor Auto & Truck occurred when the business moved to its current address in 2006. “There were still a lot of people who couldn’t get past the notion of us being an emissions clinic,” ToPoel acknowledges.

Lake Arbor Automotive & Truck's waiting room

“I had been looking for a building to buy for a long time,” he continues. “Everything at the old shop said ‘no’ — very uninviting. It was in an industrial building with a metal door; we were about 300 feet off the road on a long dirt driveway that led through a big barbed-wire fence. So when I moved into this place, I wanted it to say ‘yes’ — a nice glass front, nice landscaping; when you walk into the front entry, it needed to not just be a wood counter with an old piston for an ashtray, but granite countertops, parquet floors. I found this place in 2005; we started remodeling and moved in November 2006. And since I was moving 2.8 miles north, that was the time to change the name.”

Naturally there was some loss of clientele. “Some people didn’t find me till five years later,” says ToPoel. “But I had spent an enormous amount of money; I sent the entire customer base letters, so a lot of them got it and the 20 percent of the customer base that provides 80 percent of our work followed.”

Of course there was another reason for this retention: ToPoel’s mantra. Admittedly, always keeping the best interest of the customer uppermost in mind can sometimes cost money “on the day,” but pays dividends forward.

“We don’t shout out that we’re honest, fair, accountable and trustworthy,” notes ToPoel. “All of these words are overused in marketing. My philosophy is to quietly go about the business of doing the right thing, so I set up an account called DPRT, Do The Right Thing, and I actually keep track of it. I’ve empowered both of my service advisors on the front counter to make that judgement call — if this doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Any time anything goes wrong, we make a misdiagnosis or the repair failed for some reason, like say a transmission with a 12 month warranty fails after 13 months, we make things right for the customer.”

Owner Dana ToPoel with his ethics awards

They have continued this mantra quietly but noteworthy, as Lake Arbor has won numerous ethics awards from local and national organizations, including the BBB’s prestigious Torch Award for Marketplace Trust in 2010. This in turn caught the eye of an ethics professor at the Jesuit-run Regis University in Denver, who invited ToPoel to be a regular guest speaker.

“He gives me the whole 50 minutes, two classes each semester, four classes per year, and lets me do it any way that I want,” ToPoel reports. “Most of the students want to go out and be self-employed by starting or running a business. My agenda is to give them some real-world examples, what some of the temptations look like and how to pass them up, because in the end it really pays.

“One of the lines I use is, ‘Do you ever think that you’re doing the right thing, but then found you were doing the wrong thing?’ The answer is yes; you can’t do the right thing all the time. But when was the last time anyone thought they were doing the wrong thing and later found out that it was the right thing? Never. You just need to create a culture within your organization to do the right thing. Instead of working to make a profit and then maybe doing the right thing, it needs to be the other way around. If you get caught doing the right thing, even when no one’s looking, word gets out.” 

Sponsored Recommendations

Best Body Shop and the 360-Degree-Concept

Spanesi ‘360-Degree-Concept’ Enables Kansas Body Shop to Complete High-Quality Repairs

ADAS Applications: What They Are & What They Do

Learn how ADAS utilizes sensors such as radar, sonar, lidar and cameras to perceive the world around the vehicle, and either provide critical information to the driver or take...

Banking on Bigger Profits with a Heavy-Duty Truck Paint Booth

The addition of a heavy-duty paint booth for oversized trucks & vehicles can open the door to new or expanded service opportunities.

Boosting Your Shop's Bottom Line with an Extended Height Paint Booths

Discover how the investment in an extended-height paint booth is a game-changer for most collision shops with this Free Guide.