A 2-foot long gavel sits in the corner of Louis Dakil’s office in north Oklahoma City, collecting dust until its next use. The Thor-sized mallet is only for special occasions, usually a large or notable auction Dakil Auctioneers, Inc. handles. More frequent use would break Dakil’s lectern, a physical and figurative space he’s spent the past 37 years building into one of Oklahoma’s largest auction services.
In a way, the gavel is symbolic of Dakil’s journey, one that started from nothing and navigated through economic hardship in the 1980s to sprout a budding career that has, by his conservative estimates, led to him conducting 5,000 to 7,000 auctions and the opening of a 28,000-square-foot facility on 22 acres.
And to think it all started one day in his bedroom.
“I looked in the mirror getting ready to go to work and I said, ‘God, I’d love to enjoy what I do every day,’” Louis recalled.
A man who spent time in the pipeline and cattle business, working for a clothing distributor, and for the grocery chain Safeway, abruptly changed career paths in a unique way.
His inspiration? A CBS News story about a southern Georgia man who left his career as a road grader to become a prominent and prosperous auctioneer caught Louis’ attention. He pulled out a 5-inch thick phone book in search of an auction school. He found a two-week course, which taught industry fundamentals like chants and counts. Real estate school came next. Soon enough, Louis and his wife, Susan, started Dakil Auctioneers, Inc. in 1983.
At the time, the Dakils collected unemployment checks as part of an unexpected transition — Susan lost her job at Sabine Oil & Gas, and Louis saw his Safeway tenure end. Louis can chuckle about it now, but the opening chapters were hardly glorious. They borrowed an old typewriter and crammed into a windowless spare bedroom of their Village home in northwest Oklahoma City.
The son of a doctor, Louis was a greenhorn when it came to auctions. Six months passed before the Dakils landed their first auction and seven years crawled by until their ledger turned from red to black.
“I knew nothing about it. I went and looked at other successful auctioneers,” Louis said. “I surrounded myself — kind of like iron sharpens iron — and I always went to seminars of people who were on the cutting edge and leading in the industry. I picked out the most successful people to learn from and to help them.”
This came during a time when the Oklahoma economy was struggling to stay afloat. From banks to corporations to real estate companies, few were spared in the financial slaughtering.
The closing of Penn Square Bank in 1982 magnified this. One-fifth of Oklahoma state banks failed and seven of the city’s 10 biggest banks folded, according to a 1989 report in The Oklahoman.
The Dakils twice nearly threw in the towel due to the bleak outlook. They powered through, using their home office to save money on rent and put what they could on cards to extend credit. In turn, they extended financial and personal life rafts to customers who were struggling, fronting money with the goal of collecting it on the back end.
“When we started, our business was a ministry because we would meet people that would come in, they would have everything lost and wanted to take their own lives,” Dakil recalled. “You’d have to say, ‘Hey, this is temporary. We’re going to get this done.’”
During those times, Louis realized self-doubt was the biggest obstacle to overcome. He made it a point to change with the times, adapting to the future with a willing and open-minded approach.
“Our model was a commitment to excellence in our business. We left no stone unturned. We did everything we could for the people that we were privileged to work with,” Louis said. “We’d pray with people, we’d cry with people. We’d get ’er done.”
The advent of the Internet, where customers can now bid across the world, has changed the industry. It was a different business in the 1980s, when Louis initially helped individuals, while also assisting with oil and gas sales.
Individual auctions are still prominent, as Louis estimated 30 to 40% of Dakil’s business is from death, divorce, and retirement. In a stark contrast from the early days, most of Dakil’s auctions aren’t desperate anymore. The current economy is in a much better place. Companies may be looking to re-tool inventory due to growth or offload real estate.
Still, Louis’ favorite auction is oil and gas. He loves the unknown of what it will bring because of the dynamics, expectations, and variables associated with it. Louis enjoys real estate auctions, too, since there is a set date and time. He noted how most people don’t have the luxury of holding property since insurance rates on unoccupied properties are sky high. These variables lend themselves to quick sales via auctions.
“The best part about this is helping other people. People call and the stories you get, whether it’s ‘I’m moving to another state, I’ve retired for my health, I’ve lost a job, I’m sick or I want to buy new equipment.’ You’re just helping other people,” Louis said. “That’s the main thing — being a blessing to someone else. If you get people what they want, you’ll never have to worry about what you want.”
Louis prided himself on operating a business with honesty and integrity, building a reputation through trust and bonds. He felt, when he first started, he would have no competition if he minded his own business. The only competition is yourself since most failures are self-inflicted.
It was that attitude that led to aggressive benchmarks.
“I set goals within 10 years to be city-wide. We did it in three. I set goals to be state-wide, and we did it in seven. Then I wanted to be in surrounding states, and we did it in 10. Then I wanted to be nationwide, and just shortly after that, we were doing sales literally all over the country,” Louis said.
The aha moment didn’t come until 1990, though, when the Dakils consistently brought in revenue to grow the business.
It was at this point when Louis knew he had figured out the business, and he was in it for life.
“When I operated my business, it was like being on a trapeze without a safety net,” Louis said of the first seven years. “Once you learn this is what you want to do, you don’t even have the thought of a safety net. You’re on solid ground. You don’t have to hold on to that trapeze anymore. You know you can make a living and help others in your profession. The auction business is a profession. It’s not a trade.”
The Dakils kept their heads down for the next 10 years until 2000, when they were on firm enough ground to open their current facility on Northwest 114th Street in Oklahoma City. It took years of sacrifice, but the Dakils were finally debt-free a decade ago.
The facility is home to a 500-seat gallery for in-house auctions. These interactions aren’t like on television, which is a common misconception in the industry. In fact, Louis said the auctioning process is a small percentage of the business.
Besides auctions, Dakil Auctioneers, Inc. handles consulting and appraising. A strong fiduciary relationship is a common theme in each division of the company.
“If you don’t have buyers then you won’t attract sellers,” Louis said. “It takes 12 good auctions to make up for one bad one. You want to try and do everything correctly.”
Stories, memorable ones at that, are inevitable when conducting auctions for nearly 40 years. Long before the Internet changed the way the business operated, the Dakils traveled nationwide, plowing through three caravans in the process. Louis has conducted auctions in nearly every Oklahoma county.
Louis recalled several notable stories, like the time they liquidated more than 50 Bargain Times gift stores in an 18-month period. The Dakils and their team would sometimes sell three a day, traveling to nearby cities for the auctions. They also liquidated hundreds of video stores — twice a week for a decade — in states like Arkansas, Louisiana, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Texas.
By far the most memorable auction came during the 1990s when Dakil Auctioneers, Inc. held the first real estate auction for the Resolution Trust Corporation, a U.S. government-owned asset management company established in 1989. They sold more than 200 homes during the course of two auctions.
“Those auctions produced — even with the debacle and the economic downturn — more than 90% of appraisal value, and we sold and closed on all of the homes,” Louis said. “That was probably the most memorable and the biggest kick-start we had.”
His favorite story stems from a recent transaction in 2018 that greatly exceeded expectations.
St. Gregory University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, was bankrupt and in debt, losing more than $2 million a year. The school had oil and gas holdings with a projected value of more than $2 million. The auction brought in more than $10 million, plus funds from an auction held on campus that featured school equipment. The new owner of the building is leasing it to Oklahoma Baptist University.
“That will touch so many lives of getting people education and employment and saving a big part of Pottawatomie County in Shawnee,” Louis said. “This is a big lift to the city of Shawnee, the county of Pottawatomie, and the state of Oklahoma.”
Considering selling some items yourself and want to learn more about what Dakil has to offer? Contact us today, or call directly at (405) 751-6179. To see when our next auction takes place, view our upcoming auctions schedule page.
