So I Watched An Episode of Tom Stuker’s Reality Show…
Next to Ryan Bingham in the movie Up in the Air, one of my favorite frequent flyers happens to be Tom Stuker. For those that may not know, in 2011 Mr. Stuker reached the 10 million mile mark on United–and of the bonafide, excruciating butt-in-seat kind. If that wasn’t enough, he went out and flew 1 million last year alone.
Which was certainly enough to earn lucky Tom a signed plaque, a catered party at the airport, and his name emblazoned on one of United’s aircraft. ” I’m flying the Tom Stuker today” sure has neat sound to it!
Anyway, the reason for the intensive travel and the TV show both is Stuker’s highly acclaimed ability to turn struggling car lots into money-making machines overnight. Here are a few impressions I have after watching the first episode of Car Lot Rescue:
-It’s a neat show for folks that like reality TV involving turning around a business, similar to Hotel Impossible and Spike TV’s Bar Rescue which I really enjoy.
-The episode I watched involved a car dealership ran by thugs who thought that fighting a customer was the best way to win trust and respect.
In the end, I was wondering how much might be staged as the employees made a 180-degeee change, although…
-Their job security was threatened. In order to teach them hard work and customer respect, he had them work for a hotel as bellboys. If they had failed, they would have been terminated. It was a neat shout out to the loyalty industry. And as I mentioned, I was in disbelief watching them instantaneously turning on the customer service charm.
-Dude is fiery, which I suppose comes with the territory. This surprised me because from some interviews I had seen with him he seemed pretty calm and quiet. He has no problem yelling and cursing out wayward employees.
-He is also incredibly focused at what he does. It’s good to see he hasn’t let the fame and perks/drag of relentless travel phase him.
-The show originally was to be known as “Car Lot Cowboys,” which I liked better, but I suppose it was better for SpikeTV to follow with the “Rescue.” Reference, and it conveys the shows purpose.
-I started kicking myself. It had been announced he would be at the 2011 Chicago Seminars which I attended, and I walked right by him in his famous cowboy hat and didn’t even realize it was him until I saw a photo MommyPoints had taken with him. Would have loved to have met him, but I didn’t realize the hat was his trademark. Shame on me!!
Point Me to the Miles 