Santa Doesn’t Visit Car Dealerships

Posted on December 1, 2012 by Arnold Tijerina

Coming from a retail background, I can attest that working in sales at a dealership is hyper-competitive. The whole ‘hero to zero’ mentality is meant to motivate salespeople and not let them mentally back off or take the next month easy because they were top salesperson and/or got a fat paycheck. Now, I know that there are some dealerships where this environment doesn’t exist now as it’s been a little while since I actually sold cars but I do know that this environment exists in many stores to this date.

What made me think of this was when a friend was thinking of planning a ‘Secret Santa’ and ‘cookie exchange’ for the holidays. I had no idea what she was talking about which boggled her mind. You see, these things just didn’t exist in retail. I never wanted to give presents to other salespeople nor did I ever receive any. Now, I’m a pretty giving person. I like giving people gifts and making their days a little brighter, it just never happened. Yes, there were times when I was given Christmas bonuses by employers and, while I appreciate money, it doesn’t ‘feel’ quite the same as being given a gift that took some thought regardless of how much the gift cost.

I remember, in my early days in retail when I was a green pea, literally ducking staplers that a sales manager was throwing at me. Public verbal lashings, which included many curse words, weren’t uncommon. Finding innovative ways to take other salespeople ‘off-the-market’ was encouraged and bragged about. Skating another salesperson was commonplace and arguments over customers and deals were daily occurrences.

Learning that these holiday activities not only existed but were fairly common in workplaces was foreign and it made me reflect on just how much I missed out on in my life. We all talk about the high turn-over of salespeople in dealerships and try to find ways to increase employee retention but I don’t think I’ve ever read, or heard, about a dealership cultivating and encouraging an environment like this. Sure, I’ve heard the whole ‘work as a team’ speech many times but, ultimately, that sentiment lasts only until the next deal dispute happens.

The spirit of the holidays, and a conversation with a friend, saddened me. I sincerely hope that my sharing sparks thought in those still out there in the retail sales environment missing this just as I did.

For many salespeople in retail environments, it’s not beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Road Trip Recap – Day 1 and 2

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Arnold Tijerina

Well, here I sit at 4:30am Central time. Since it’s dark outside and I’m drinking hotel bathroom coffee, (yuck) I thought I’d write an update on my trip to North Carolina so far.

First, and very important, I did have concerns about my new Chrysler 200′s ability to tow the 4×8 U-Haul trailer across the country. Now that I’ve driven roughly 1100 miles with it, I must say that I’m quite impressed. It’s pulling that fully loaded trailer with ease. The ride is very smooth and comfortable and the engine has plenty of power for those hills. The iPod connection and satellite radio have certainly come in handy as well. Jamming out to Air Supply and the Bee Gees has certainly enhanced the experience and entertained me (just kidding.. well, at least about the Air Supply and Bee Gees part.. it was actually MC Hammer and Paula Abdul).

Day 1 was one of our shorter days. Started in Moreno Valley, CA and the goal was to reach Flagstaff, AZ. There was no need for directions since it’s only one freeway all the way from CA to NC. The drive was monotonous but relatively short compared to the days to follow. Started at about 9am and arrived in Flagstaff at about 5pm. Along the way, the heat steadily rose until it was 115 degrees outside. I ended up actually experiencing this when I had to stop in Needles, CA for a fill up. If you are ever traveling that way, do NOT stop in Needles. I felt like I was being robbed with gas prices almost $5/gallon. Even in CA, gas has been steadily dropping to under the $4 range. Anyways, que sera sera. As we passed the exit to the Grand Canyon, there was an incredible urge to visit but having been there before, I knew that the little bit of time that could’ve been spent there just isn’t enough to truly appreciate it.

Watching and interacting with the people who have been following #atrt on Twitter was fun and entertaining. Day 1 was on Sunday so there wasn’t a whole bunch of interaction. It was still fun and was a nice way to journal my experience and keep my wife in the loop. It was also the first time I’ve truly tested out FaceTime. Since I won’t be seeing my family for quite some time, I’m encouraged to know that I can still see and interact with them visually. It will probably lessen the home-sickness I’m sure I’ll experience.

Day 2 started as a beautiful day in Flagstaff. There was about 600 miles to drive yesterday – the goal being to arrive in Amarillo, TX at a decent hour. Of course, there were two time changes in store so, while the actual driving time ended up being about 9 hours, Amarillo didn’t appear until roughly 8:30pm Central time. The scenery along the way was awesome, especially some of the vistas in New Mexico. An interesting sight was a car pulled over on the side of the road with two police cars in New Mexico. The car literally had the hood, trunk and every door wide open as well as the entire back seat on the shoulder of the road and the cops were systematically dumping every item in the car on the roadside shoulder… emptying the suitcases piece by piece. I dont know what that person did but that would’ve truly sucked.

I can attest that the Escort 9500ix radar detector I bought for the trip has certainly come in quite handy. It has easily and consistently been ID’ing police miles before I spot them. It’s been very consistent with not a lot of false alarms. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who may like to drive a little faster than they should be.. even those who happen to be pulling a U-Haul trailer (not that I know anyone who would do that).

Near the end of the trip, I was getting pretty cranky but once I arrived at the hotel that went away. My legs have been killing me the whole trip. It absolutely didn’t have anything to do with my attempt to show-off in front of my friends Saturday by doing a squat with my 260-lb friend on my back. Nothing whatsoever.

The videos and pictures I’ve been making and posting on various social networks has been a lot of fun. Engagement picked up on Day 2 since it was a work day (not that anyone uses Twitter or Facebook during work hours). I found several interesting places to take pictures with my 3 birds hitchhikers, including pulling over on the shoulder in front of the “Welcome to Texas” sign where they got to perch on the cowboy hat I seldom got a chance to wear in California. Other than that, there wasn’t a plethora of fun places to take pictures along the way (unless you consider cactus “fun”).

I got to give away a highly-coveted special edition “Viva Los 3 Birds” t-shirt to the person who tweeted the origin of “3 Birds” in the 3 Birds Marketing name. (In case you didn’t know what it is, it plays off the phrase “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. The philosophy at 3 Birds is that, while a bird in the hand may be valuable, why not have all 3 birds instead of only one. The most common misconception about the name is that the 3 Birds represents the 3 founders – Layton and Kristen Judd and Len Wohadlo.)

There’s another 600 miles in store for the drive today with the goal being to reach Little Rock, AR at a decent hour (and safely). I hope you have been following along, have enjoyed the pictures and videos and will continue to participate on Twitter following and tweeting to hashtag #atrt I have more shirts ad prizes to give away today so pay attention and participate.

Thanks for the read! I’m excited about reaching my new home in North Carolina and beginning my new position as Social Media Strategist & Policy Manager with the awesome staff at the 3 Birds corporate office. As they say, its the people that make the company.

Tip: Why (and How) You Should Buy Facebook Stock

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Arnold Tijerina

[UPDATE 5/22/12: According to this article by AllFacebook.com, Facebook has reversed course and decided not to issue paper stock certificates so this whole article just became a fantasy.]

First, a disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor in any way, shape or form. What I AM is an entrepreneur so take this advice from that standpoint. There is never a guarantee of future value but this is why I think it’s a good investment.. if bought in a certain way.

Today, Facebook held its IPO to much media attention, speculation and became the largest IPO ever in the history of IPOs. There is a ton of advice saying that the opening cost is overpriced, to wait, etc. and that its a bad initial investment. I disagree but only from the perspective, and using the method, I describe below.

When a popular company has an IPO, they can choose whether or not to allow investors to obtain a physical stock certificate or not. Most companies do not and, if they do, its for a limited time. Facebook chose to allow investors to request and obtain physical stock certificates.

I’ve been selling things on eBay for over 14 years and I’m always on the lookout for things to sell and make a profit so I thought about this and did some research.

When Apple had its IPO in 1982, shares cost $22 each. They also offered the option to buy a physical certificate. Without any consideration for the current market value of that share, the actual certificate itself has a market value of almost $600 on eBay. Say you bought 100 shares and asked for individual certificates. The certificates ALONE would make your initial investment of $25/share ($2500 after adding a few dollars for the certificate) worth $60,000. If you actually retained ownership of the stock itself, without consideration for any stock splits or anything else, the shares themselves would be worth $53,259 (value as of May 18 at 12:00pm PST). You can retain ownership of a stock and sell the actual certificate so your initial investment with physical shares is suddenly ~$113,259. Yes, it took 30 years to make this but it’s still a VERY healthy return on your investment.

Let’s say you really don’t want to retain ownership of the shares as an investment. You buy the shares and order the physical certificates. Wait a couple months to receive the certificates, then sell the shares. Let’s say the shares have tanked and they are only worth $10 each at that point. You’ve recouped $1000 of your initial $2500 investment so you’ve lost $1500 BUT you still have 100 stock certificates which are, at this moment, worth $60,000. So your $1000 investment netted you $59,000. Best case, the share price is up and you can make a profit on the initial investment and, again, still have the actual certificates, in this case, for no investment.

People like collectibles and owning a piece of history. If you’re going to buy the stock anyways, pony up the extra couple of bucks a share (Make sure to get individual shares on each certificate rather than multiple shares on one certificate to maximize the potential future sale as people are buying the certificates themselves. There is no difference in value between a certificate that is for 1 share or 100 shares.) and have the extra potential return.

Other examples:

Pixar – IPO 1995 share price $47 – certificate value today $400 (certificate purchased in 2006 – 11 years after the IPO)
Harley-Davidson – IPO 1986 share price $11 – certificate today $210 (purchased in 1999 – 13 years after the IPO)

My guess is that a certificate purchased on (or near) the actual IPO date would be worth more to a collector in the future (as in the Apple stock certificate example). I also believe that the initial stock shares will be signed by Mark Zuckerberg based on similar past IPO certificates.

Of course there’s never any guarantee that the certificate will be worth anything in the future and this is certainly a long term investment whether you keep the shares AND the certificates or just the certificates. Whichever you decide to do, there’s more POTENTIAL in having the certificates then in not having them. In addition, due to the high demand for the stock itself, I don’t believe Facebook will be offering paper certificates for very long so you could have a narrow window to take advantage of this.

Most stock certificates won’t sell like this, of course. The examples I use are exceptions but I believe Facebook will fall into this category. If an old AOL floppy disc (that were everywhere “back in the day” and that they mailed to everyone once a week, it seemed) can sell for almost $10,000 on eBay… well, you get my point.

Either way, in my opinion, it’s kind of cool to own a piece of history.

NADA 2012: Day Four Recap – Final Day

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Arnold Tijerina

By Day 4 of NADA, I was totally wiped. Between walking the exhibit hall, networking, and night-time adventures, I didn’t have a lot of gas left.

Day 4 in the exhibit hall had me looking for some cool swag for my daughter. Not many booths had “kid” swag (lighty-blinky things, etc. A lot of footballs but not much else). In my treasure hunt, I managed to get a caricature done courtesy of Jack Behar and the VisuallyLinked booth, a DealerTrack 1/24 scale die-cast car, some autographs with Playmates at the Aspen Marketing booth and more.

I managed to make it until I won this huge bear from the CUDL booth:

Walking around the exhibit hall with that huge bear got me a mixture of strange looks, smiles, queries as to how I was getting it home (I drove) and monetary offers but I was taking this home to my 5-year old daughter. (Man, was I a hero when I got home.) In the end, at about 2:30, I had to go back to my hotel room just to drop this off. I took a load off my feet and **BAM** I was out. I woke up right as former President George W. Bush was speaking. I was bummed to miss that.

I was invited to dinner with 3Birds Marketing that evening and we went to a delicious Thai restaurant. Afterwards, I needed to make a stop at the Caesars Palace Forum Shops. As the store closed its doors, they allowed someone in to shop privately. It happened to be Floyd Mayweather Jr.!! It was him and I, the store employees and his bodyguards (although I dont know why he needs bodyguards). Got to say “Hi” to him but I succeeded in restraining myself in asking for a picture with him.

After that, it was off to the Imperial Palace Karaoke Club. I typically visit at least once every time I’m in Vegas and it so happened that, earlier that day, Shaun Raines of DrivingSales tweeted out an impromptu industry karaoke party. Some of the 3Birds Marketing crew were there as were some ReachLocal people. It was a blast, as always. Rob Fontano KILLED the songs he sang. Dude even had a freakin’ harmonica in his pocket and played it during his songs. Are you kidding me?!?! I’ve NEVER seen someone whip out a harmonica during karaoke. Check it out:

Then, Shaun stepped up and did a duet with the DJ:

Great people. Good times.

To summarize, this NADA was the best experience I’ve had at a conference and the first major industry event in the last couple of years in which I wasn’t working in some way or another. Between all the celebrities, events, parties, swag, gifts from heaven, networking, and sessions…. I sincerely felt charmed the whole time. Thank you to NADA, God, the Lucky Charms leprechaun, and all those that made this convention so wonderful for me.

If you’d like to see some of the pictures I took (102 on display), you can view them HERE.

Oh, and remember that eBay Motors party I told you about in my Day Two Recap? I’ll leave you with some ice, ice, baby.