A&E’s ‘It’s a Living’ shows Chopper’s chops

Kirk Baird

Monday, Sept. 23, 2002 | 8:23 a.m.

Whether you love him or hate him, there's no doubt car salesman Chopper is a success.

You don't go from washing cars at 14 to general manager of one of the biggest dealerships in the state (Towbin Dodge) at age 27 without doing something right.

It's little wonder, then, why A&E is profiling Chopper in a new show, "It's a Living," which debuts at 9 tonight with a two-hour episode. The show can be seen locally on Cox cable channel 32.

The focus for the program is sales. The show chronicles a busy Saturday with Chopper and some of his sales personnel at the dealership, along with a top Mary Kay cosmetics saleswoman in Dallas.

But it is Chopper who steals the show.

And why not? He's had enough experience as host of the Towbin Dodge infomercial, "The Chopper Show," which can be seen frequently on various Las Vegas cable channels.

The show has made him a semi-celeb around town, to the point that he prefers to keep his birth name a secret mainly for his son's sake, he said.

It's also because Chopper is a character. It is a persona he created specifically for his TV show, using the nickname he was given because of his habit of "chopping" a seller's price in half when he would buy a used car.

"I love cars," he says. "I love used cars especially."

And others who run the dealership took notice. They already had an infomercial running, but by Chopper's standards the show was boring.

When he was first approached to host the show, he declined.

"I said 'It's not my personality. I would be a nerd on TV,'" if he did it their way, Chopper said. "I didn't want to do it because my friends would make fun."

But Chopper's supervisors eventually convinced him otherwise. His only stipulation was, as the host, that he be allowed to act his own way.

"And my way is not very conservative," he acknowledged.

But his way had results.

Six years ago Chopper began hosting the show. In February of '98, he moved over as used-car manager at Towbin, a new car dealership struggling with sales.

Soon after he took over the used car sales department, the numbers significantly improved, while new car sales remained low.

It wasn't long before he was promoted to general sales manager, a position which oversees the entire sales department. A few months later, Towbin Dodge became the No. 1 Dodge dealership in the state.

And a year and half after that, Chopper was promoted to general manager.

Word of his unorthodox -- and successful -- approach to car sales made its way around the industry. Earlier this year A&E was tipped off about Chopper while the network was scouting out possible subjects for its new series.

When they contacted Chopper, the full-time promoter realized the show would be extra exposure for both the dealership and, to a lesser degree, himself.

In addition to his work at the dealership, Chopper hosts a radio show from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays on KVEG 97.5-FM, and has his own hip-hop CD, "Chop-Chop."

But it was the chance to show viewers car salesmen aren't all bad that intrigued him the most.

"It shows people we're normal guys," he said. "It shows people the other side to what we do."

The show begins early in the morning on a Saturday with Chopper addressing his sales crew, as he always does.

The meeting is a big rah-rah session to pump up the sales staff. Saturday is the biggest sales day for car dealerships, with up to 75 percent of weekly revenue generated.

Chopper also addresses what needs to be improved.

The rest of the show focuses on the salesmen -- some veterans, some rookies -- as they haggle with customers over car prices and options in an effort to make the big sale.

Sometimes the salesman succeeds, as marked by a customer smashing a gong in the middle of the sales floor. Other times, though, the customers don't make the deal, which means the salesman has wasted a morning spent in negotiation.

Watching "It's a Living" shows a lesson to be learned: Sales can be painful.

"Sales is a very up-and-down business," Chopper said. "But so is my personality. I'm an up-and-down guy."