Welcome

This article was originally printed in the Puget Sound Dealer; written by Mark Cutschall.

Hard work. Practicing the golden rule. And raising two boys to be their best.

All roads to Bob Campbell lead back to these commitments. But you might just miss the man's most endearing trait if you happened to stumble past the sack of potatoes he would rather soon forget.

"Growing up, I couldn't stand to have someone think I was lazy. I just had to work hard," Bob says. "When I was 15, I got a job at Hasty-Tastey, a famous greasy spoon restaurant on University Avenue. I was going to make $1.50 for peeling a 100-pound bag of potatoes. But after an hour of peeling I had hardly made a dent in the bag. Suddenly, a light bulb went on."

The light of logic, and the gift of common sense. Bob Campbell has used these life long tools to build an enduring business partnership, a successful dealership and a personal reputation for fairness and compassion.

A night and day difference.

Arne Nelson knows a little bit about Bob. The two met in 1958 when Arne was working as a mechanic and Bob was washing cars at Campbell Blume Chevrolet in Edmonds. (Bob's father Jim, owned the dealership before selling to Bill Blume in 1961.)

Bob went to the Marine Corps in 1958 and came back in late 1961 and back to the dealership. (by then it was Bill Blume Chevrolet. Bob's father had moved to Centralia to start his own store). Bob and Arne cultivated their friendship during the next15 years and in 1973 the two were offered a chance to buy Bill Blume Volkswagen at the corner of 205th and Highway 99

Recalls Arne, "Knute Qvale, our distributor, gave the okay but commented, 'Partnerships never seem to work.' "

Says who? The new dealership Campbell/Nelson, became, in Arne's words, "a marriage made in heaven." Bob Campbell, the outgoing, people oriented, commercial voice on the radio, and Arne Nelson, the quiet, book-keeper, detail, numbers guy, made their night-and-day differences work.

It's likely that few of their customers knew that Volkswagen actually means "the people's car." The sweet irony is that Bob's common-sense touch with people has been driving the dealership's good will and reputation since day one.

When it comes to relationships, whether its employees, customers or friends, he says, "you have to make deposits before you can make withdrawals. I've always found that if I treated someone with respect, he or she would come back and do things for me. When I built the business, it wasn't predicated on the lowest bid, but rather on people whom I trusted."

"One weekend, years ago, a very dominating customer came in and wanted to know the price of a used Camper we had received in trade. The salesman quoted her a price far less than the Camper's real value. On Monday, after several rounds of phone calls, the woman called me back, irate that she'd been told we weren't going to honor the original price the salesman hadn't been authorized to give.

I called the salesman into my office. He stood in front of me, sweating and red in the face. Did you tell this woman she could buy this camper for $1,700 less than its worth?" I asked. "He looked down at his feet and said, Yes."

"You just saved your job by telling me the truth" Bob replied, then phoned the woman, apologized for the misunderstanding and sold her the Camper at the originally quoted price.

"He can listen to someone and understand that there is something behind their anger. He's able to perceive the situation and look a little deeper into what's really going on, says Bob's son, Kurt.

Loyal to the end.

For Bob, the business of investing in relationships goes well beyond job titles.

"I remember a sales manager. Even though we were the number one Volkswagen dealership in the city, he and I differed a lot. We didn't see eye-to-eye on how to manage people. I hung in there with him for years, then finally had to let him go," recalls Bob. The two men stayed in touch for years and remained friends. "I helped him get a job," says Bob, who one day learned his former employee had cancer. "I spent time with him. It was hard to do. Before he died he asked me to be the pallbearer at his funeral."

"Bob is just real caring about the people here at the dealership," says Brian Lafferty, a Campbell Nelson VW Employee for 26 years and now the parts manager. "Bob hired me as a lot attendant when I was only 16 years old. I had only had my driver's license for three months. Soon after going to work, they sent me up to Bellingham to pick up a car, and it died on the freeway. A cop showed up and called the dealership. When Bob heard the news, he called my mom and told her I was going to be late that night. That's the kind of guy he is."

The same kind of guy who visits infirmed elderly residents at the Crista nursing center in north Seattle once a week. The same kind of guy who wouldn't think twice about picking up the phone if he wanted to talk to you. Long time Campbell Nelson VW receptionist June Schille remembers, "not long after starting work here in 1989, I paged a call, and Bob called me on the phone and said, "June, I can't hear you smiling!"

Why family matters.

What brings a smile to Bob Campbell's face? It's how life's unpredictable road led him into the rewarding everyday company of his sons Kurt and Craig.

In 1990, Kurt then 24 years old, asked his dad for a job at the dealership. "I'll never forget that moment. I didn't hire him," says Bob. "There were a few tense moments. I didn't want to hurt him, but I didn't want him to think he need me for a job. He didn't; he proved it."

"Two and half years later, Kurt became the number two salesman at a dealership in Bellingham, and because he had done such a fantastic job, and because we needed sales help, we hired him."

Younger son Craig, began working at Campbell Nelson VW 20 hours a week while attending college. Steadily, both sons assumed more responsibility. Several years ago, Bob approached Arne about moving Kurt and Craig into managerial roles.

"If this thing was going to work out, it had to work out for him," says Bob. "As a partner, Arnie had to come first. I had to stay out of it. Arne was agreeable, and I said, you are going to set their wages. I want them to meet with you once a week for the next year. They are going to have to sell themselves to you. Before long, instead of Arnie telling them what to do, he was asking them what to do.

Today, Kurt oversees parts and service, while Craig manages sales for the 130-employee company, which now includes Campbell/Nelson Nissan. And because they value time with their supportive wives, Kurt and Craig often call upon their dad to fulfill his role as "the greatest babysitter in the world."

"Kurt and Craig share the same values, philosophy and moral standards Bob and I have upheld for years," says Arnie, who still has a stake in the dealership. "My whole retirement and livelihood depend upon them and how they run the day-to-day operations. That shows my confidence in them."

Bob's lifelong example of character invested in his sons is paying off for the dealership and its surrounding communities. Six local police department enjoy driving VW Beetles, courtesy of Campbell/Nelson VW. The dealership offers a complimentary 15-passenger van to churches and charities. Kurt and Craig continue to invest a large share of their time partnering with local leaders to find ways to bring food, education and spiritual strength to the less fortunate families and individuals. "Our biggest mission," says Kurt, "is to care for our workplace family."

Back in the showroom the coffee is brewing. The intercom crackles with another request, a new appointment, a question that deserves-and receives- a listening ear.

Bob Campbell is happy to oblige. A casual greeting in the customer lounge grows into a conversation. The same eyes that once studied a potato's slowly disappearing skin now size up the needs of a customer, a friend, a stranger, each with something to say. In those moments Bob Campbell lines up his response to people with a modern paraphrase of the Golden Rule: "Treat people the way you would like to be treated."

The kind of common sense wisdom that turns customers into happy campers, forges a lifelong business partnership, keeps employee smiling-and affirms the enduring bond between a father and his sons.