Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin “Arby” Arbogast.
Hi Justin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi there! I’m Arby the Car Guy! I’m 34, and I have a beautiful family that includes my wife Tifany, and our four kids Skyeli, Okalynn, Kyler, and Ellie. We have 3 dogs – Paisley, Harliegh, and Hazel that we love so much. We live in Syracuse Utah and I have been here basically my whole life. We love camping and nature, but also love staying at home and being together.
I specialize in helping people find and purchase their dream rides! I’m a next-gen specialist who is leading the charge with Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid, and Electric Vehicles! We also have a pre-owned lot for gently loved vehicles. I tailor a customized experience for you, making sure you invest in the perfect ride for you and/or your family.
My story is a long one, but ultimately its conclusion is that I enjoy helping people, and the titles I have held along the way are all inclusive of that. I have a desire to be better every day, and to help better others’ lives. I started helping others back in High School. Our School Resource Officer at the time, Scottie Sorenson suggested to me one day that I join the local Weber County Explorers program at the Sherriff’s office.
It was basically a junior deputy program that allowed students to do various Police training, ride-along, and other events within the Sherriffs office alongside sworn officers of the law. It was cool to get to see the ins and outs of how public service worked. Eventually, that program led me to the “dark side” as some would say, and I flipped sides to become a Firefighter. It was there that I fell in blazing love with helping others and realizing there could be a career path in the medical field. What a lot of people don’t realize is that as a Firefighter, it’s not just Jaws of life and Structure Fires.
There are way more medical calls, at least in the little city I was in. it’s every day “I tripped and fell” calls to advanced lifesaving measures and bringing in life-flight. Partnered with my desire for high-paced thrill and excitement, the medical field was calling my name. After a few years and the lack of commitment from a particular city council, our beloved Fire Department was on the rocks and soon news came that the council was dropping fire services in-house and contracted with a much larger county service.
So I picked up a gig at a local medical supply store called Medsource and began repairing Medical Equipment that I had become familiar with as a Firefighter. These included oxygen concentrators, mobility equipment, assistive technology aids, and more. My work ethic is excellent and was passed down from my parents who showed me not to quit until the job was done, and then some.
That resonated with the owner, Richard Spainhower, and my shop manager Russell Williams. The two of them helped elevate my career to new heights. I eventually became the lead tech for Medsource and compiled three jobs into one. I asked one day, “Why do we have a delivery driver pick up these wheelchairs from the patients, and then bring them all the way back to the shop for repair?” I added, “Not to mention, we have a driver in the area only one day a week.
These Patients are going a whole week without their wheelchairs while they are in for repairs? Why not schedule the easier repairs out in the field?” What happened the next week forever changed me, as our delivery driver was let go. I was crushed. I didn’t intend for him to have to part ways with the company. He was a little older, and the justification behind it was that he did not want to perform these repairs out in the field.
He enjoyed his daily route of dropping off equipment and bringing it back as he had done for years. I made a promise to myself that day, that if I had come up with a plan for better efficiency, I would find a role for every valuable member of the team. Once that move was made, I sat down with management and we came up with a schedule, a route, and repairs that could be performed out in the field. These started out as smaller repairs at first.
A handbrake on a manual wheelchair here, an armrest on a power wheelchair there, and every now and then a battery replacement on a powerchair or patient lift. As we started the transition, I was able to perform more and more repairs faster and faster. Less patient wait times, happier insurance reps that didn’t have to wait weeks on end for paperwork, and a shop that saw less space wasted on sitting chairs.
We were kicking butt and taking names in the service department and had seen incredible numbers. We soon took over delivery of the respiratory equipment and oxygen tanks for the company (luckily, that driver was retained haha). I was doing 3-5 major repairs a day, on top of running equipment across the entire state. Things were good!
I eventually started developing great relationships with each and every one of my patients. Over time, they all became friends and I knew that the equipment I came to fix or drop off to them was life-changing for them. An oxygen concentrator, creating medical-grade oxygen out of thin air, keeping my friends oxygen at safe levels.
That was on me to make sure I kept it going. Several paraplegic patients, relied on me to make sure their specialty-built power wheelchairs could function on their advanced sip-and-puff controls, based on my knowledge of programming. I was proud of the fact that I could help keep all this equipment going and increase their quality of life.
It was at Medsource that I was introduced to Sales. After years and years and hundreds of referrals from patients and doctors I knew from deliveries, being behind the scenes as a service guy, I was finally promoted to the sales team.
My first task was to bring them up to speed on social media. We didn’t even have a Google page. I got the ball rolling on all of the pertinent sites at the time and we saw pretty good success on social media sales and people saying they found us there or on Google. A simple change led to more success and eventually I saw myself rise to the top of the sales board. I was able to turn up the heat a little bit and secured some state contracts that led to even more success for us. I had great relationships with my patients.
Many have passed, but some are still alive to this day. I have come to this day to call me and ask me who I recommend for their next piece of equipment. A few of them have even come to support me at Wasatch Front Kia in my newest career path. These are lifelong relationships that I cherish.
I had a great leader in Richard keeping me motivated. He helped me love the work and love the success that came with it. Eventually, Richard was ready for retirement and we merged with a much larger medical supplier. I still have chats with Richard every now and then, but I don’t think he realizes how much his support and belief in me helped me to where I am today.
I was excited about the opportunity when we merged, I thought with a larger corporation I could help secure larger contracts and produce even more quality of life for even more of my patients and friends. I learned real quick that sometimes bigger is not always better. I went from great success to barely get by. You see, this larger company was just that – because of the way they handled their finances and inventory, they had more growth over time and they controlled everything.
I’m not saying that is a bad way to do business, because they are still open to this day so it must be working – but when you are dealing with real human beings, sometimes it doesn’t matter what the insurance says. If you need to spend the extra few dollars on a better piece of equipment to improve someone’s life dramatically, and there’s still plenty of meat on the bone for profit, you take less meat to make sure everyone eats.
A by-the-book way of micromanaging and unnecessary progress meetings led to less enjoyment of my career and more of me not giving it my all. Once I realized that I was no longer enjoying my job, it became a strain on not only myself but the rest of my family. I hung on by a thread for a year or so, and eventually, Medicare came in with competitive bidding – aka taking the majority of the meat off that profit bone for those managers – meaning they would spend less and less on patient care. I had to get out of there before things got ugly and eventually took a job as a project manager for a local restoration company.
I grew up with a construction background, so it was a pretty easy transition. I managed a company that did disaster cleanup and rebuilds. With that job, there were more hours involved and I was gone a heck of a lot more. The strain that was caused by me no longer enjoying work and life, led to less work and life balance and even more of a disconnect from my family life. Eventually, caused by far my largest mistake in life and I stepped out of my marriage.
There, my world came falling apart. I lost everything. My marriage spiraled out of control and we were divorced. I had to start from scratch after just losing our dream house. I felt like I let my entire family down and I eventually quit my job as a project manager. I moved into my sister’s basement and felt as if the world was ending. I had to still make sure my 4 kids were taken care of and my bills were paid – but I had no idea how I was going to do it. I didn’t want to go back to work in medicine and I definitely did not want to go back into doing construction.
Basically, at the time my hobbies were sports, cars, and nerding out on history. I thought of looking into something that involved journalism, or even better sports journalism. I applied to a few local newspapers and news channels to see about getting into something and never heard back. I thought of ways I could make money doing something involving local history but came up blank. I kicked a few manager applications in at some retail stores and office places but didn’t hear much.
Then one day, I was browsing job postings one day and saw an ad for Wasatch Front Kia. They needed some help in the service department, so I threw in an application. I had bought my last few cars from them, and I still took my vehicles to them for service. I loved the service I always received there and I knew that if I could deal with cars all day I would likely enjoy it. I didn’t hear anything for a few days so I called in to see if they got it. I was told the Service Manager was reviewing apps, and if he liked me I’d get a call.
A few days later I got a call and set up an interview, I had a service and sales background and this position required both. I hadn’t worked on cars in an actual shop, but I’ve done my fair share of mechanic work. I used my medical repair past as a strength, as well as a structured sales background, and eventually proved to be the best candidate. I was offered and immediately took the position.
After my first day, I was hooked. The day I started, I remember walking into the shop for a tour and I smelled the shop smell. That greasy, gasoline, gear oil, and gunk smell that comes with it brought back so many memories. I had grown up with several of my family members being entrepreneurs. My Dad and Uncles shared some property that housed two shops, one big one for my Dad’s paint business and one giant two-story auto repair facility.
It was there as a kid I fell in love with getting my hands dirty, ripping things apart, and putting them back together again. Tinkering with cables and adjusting things to make the engine roar – let me tell you as a kid, having full access to whatever tools you want and a pile of junk cars to tinker on, you can come up with some crazy stuff haha!
I was in love with work again. I felt like I belonged there. Before too long, my world was slowly rebuilding itself. I had a job playing with cars, I was making solid money and I was building new relationships with new friends. My kids loved the fact that I got to see and play with all the new cars and before they knew it they were just as entrenched with the job as I was.
They asked all the questions about all the cars and all the projects we had going on. They also became friends with the techs and dealership staff. We were all immediately accepted as family and the more I learned about the ins and outs of the job, the more success I saw. I feel the same way about cars as I felt about an oxygen concentrator delivering much-needed oxygen. If I saw or spotted a problem, I’d be able to show my clients how and why they needed to take care of the issue.
I became obsessed with showing my clients what was wrong, rather than just telling them. With more knowledge of their vehicle and what was going on with it, and taking the time to explain it in layman’s terms, I was able to increase sales. Not only did I have extremely happy clients, but I also had happy management too!
The more I got to know my clients, the more our friendships would build, and the more success we would see. I become divulged in any books on working in a service department and how to become better. I was able to have great months after great months and I was feeling like I was finally on the way up. I built a great relationship with the sales department and we had what felt like a pretty seamless system in place for what they needed in the back.
Unfortunately, with everything going on outside of work in my life, my divorce, custody battle, and other various life hurdles, I was drinking heavily. On the nights I didn’t have my kids, I was drinking profusely. The more success I had led to more celebration outside of work. The nights got later and later, the sleep got less and less. I was still crushing it at work, and performing as well as I thought I could have – but I had one problem – the lack of sleep and late nights partying led me to limp into work late.
At first, it was 5-10 minutes. Then it was 20-35 minutes. Then it was an hour. I felt untouchable because I was still producing record numbers, I hit every category in customer service, and I stayed later and justified my being late by me staying later. After several warnings, I came up with a plan. What if we had a two-shift system? Where one guy comes in a few hours later and the other guy gets to leave a little earlier.
So there it stood, I was able to now come in at 10. Heck of a lot better than the 7:30 that was required before. I got this! Well, I thought I had it, but knowing I had a few extra hours, led to even later nights. Then I started being late for the 10 am shift. I gotta admit – Kyle dealt with a lot of crap before canning me.
I remember the day I was pulled into his office. He said I had met my quota for warnings, he had to let me go. I was devastated, I assumed that because of my performance I was all good. I was far from wrong. Luckily, I developed a pretty good relationship with the sales department, and they were short a guy. So they arranged for me to be transferred rather than let go completely.
I started in sales and my first month was tough. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be, after all, I never thought I’d be a car salesman. I tried to find ways to be creative but didn’t feel like anything was working. After a month or so of looking for candidates, I was asked if I wanted to go back down to the service department for a fresh start. I immediately agreed because I was more comfortable in service.
Things were going well for a few months until again they weren’t. A few more months of success there led to more and more drinks and eventually right to being late yet again. After a two-day streak that included a weekend, I was met Monday with news that I was being let go. This time for real.
I again went into a frenzy. I had just lost the best job I felt I ever had, I’m no longer working or bringing in income so I had to do something. I started a little media agency. I had a few clients that had some big-ticket purchases so I was able to get by. But the more success I had doing my own thing, led to less structure for me. I’d have a great sales and productive day one day, and then spend the next day sleeping in.
I figured since I crushed it one day I might as well take a day off. It ended up getting a little worse for me. As I had a client close, I’d just take the rest of the week off. I just couldn’t find any structure myself and felt that I needed a little more motivation. I stopped drinking heavily and started eating better, cutting sugar from my diet, trying to get my life back on track, yet again. I had to make some major life changes to be where I wanted to be.
After 3 long months away from Wasatch Front Kia, I limped back into the sales department with a goal. I told myself that if I could convince them of one more opportunity, I would not let them down. I met with our GM Chevy Dominguez and spilled my guts about wanting another shot. I was told to meet with the Sales Manager Brandon Wilde to see if he was willing to give me a shot. I promised them that if they did, I’d make it worth their time. I just needed that structure and motivation to get me back on track, and after all, if I could still play with cars I would love my work.
Since I have been in the sales department, I have been able to help hundreds of families into new cars. I have relished the opportunity and have become laser-focused on providing the right vehicle for the right reasons. I have had clients come in and know exactly what they want and we make it an easy transaction. I’ve had clients who have no idea what they want, and then spent upwards of 7 hours helping them see all the options and make an educated decision.
I’ve also had clients that have been in life-changing accidents, and they want to get a similar model to what saved their life. I help all situations, so plenty of tears have been shed in my office for first-time buyers, and those with less than perfect credit that have tried everywhere to get approved.
The point of all those examples is that at the end of the day, each time I can help get someone into a new car, I get to hear their stories. I get to meet their families. I get to see what motivates them and what is important to them. I have met several families and clients that have turned into lifelong friends of mine. I appreciate the art of discovering what drives people and hearing about life goals and different stories about how folks have overcome obstacles.
When I am connecting with a client I care deeply about what they are saying and I am genuinely interested in hearing what they desire in life and in a reliable vehicle. I spend countless hours researching makes and models and stats and info on all models, so I can be a go-to source for anything and everything automobile related. My clients enjoy stopping by for a cup of coffee to say hi and asking about the new and new in the auto industry.
Since I stopped drinking, I’ve been able to take life by the horns. I have seen dramatic improvements in my daily life and my goals have been reached in leaps and bounds. I am since re-married to my beautiful wife and I was able to get my family back together. We have made major strides in our relationship and we have never been stronger.
I’ve seen great success as a senior sales consultant and I have made significate strides in bettering my career. I have hundreds of happy clients out there that send so many referrals and I’m so thankful for each and every one of them. I pay for referrals, so that definitely helps, but knowing they trust me to make sure that their friend or relative is taken care of means the world to me.
I hope to continue to build many friendships moving forward and meet many great new people!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been the smoothest road. But I have learned that every failure is a great foundation to rebuild on for success. I have had many failures, but if not for them would not be the man I am today. I’m thankful for failures and hurdles in life as they help me realize there are many ways to navigate life!
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I help people find the right solutions for their needs and travel. Some need a small commuter car with no options, and some need a large people-mover loaded with all the bells and whistles. My specialty is helping differentiate between models, options, and functionality and helping folks make an educated decision on what they are going to invest in.
What sets me apart from others is my drive to help others, not just to make a sale. I know that as long as my client is my number one priority everything will take care of itself. I want people to know they can trust someone in an industry that is known for less than truthfulness. Transparency and knowledge for the clients are what make for a much better experience.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk is needed in life. I took a risk heading into an industry that I knew didn’t have the greatest reputation. Next to politicians, car salespeople are the 2nd most disliked profession in the world. That was a risk I knew I was taking going into things. But knowing I can provide a completely different experience and make car buying fun and informative, I knew the risk was worth it. So far, it’s been the right decision.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/arbythecarguy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arby.carguy.3
Image Credits
Kiamedia.com
