Einblicke von Undercover Boss bei KOA

This week on Undercover Boss. Morning, it's a great day at DOA. How can I help you? The chairman and CEO of Campgrounds of America, the largest chain of campsites in North America. Hurry back! Goes undercover posing as a former accountant. Ta-da! Hi, I'm Tim. Nice to meet you, Tim. I'm Nathan. His employees think he's on a reality show where he's competing to win funding from an investor to buy his own campground. You sure you want to do this? Come on, man! I don't want to break anything. Road trip! This Eagle Scout will hit the highway in his RV and work side-by-side with employees. While going on the ride of his life, he'll discover who makes his company tick. This is the fun part of the camera. My name is Sadie, and I'm the store manager. You sure don't sound like a manager. How will the boss react when he finds out that the customer isn't always right? You're being incredibly rude to me and I'm trying to help you. You know what? Screw you and your crappy campsite, you idiot. Oh, heck no. Find out next on Undercover Boss. I'm gonna take a few days and do some camping with my friends. Gonna relive my childhood memories and share some new ones with my kids. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, an offering from the University of Illinois. 475 campsites across North America, KOA is the largest campground organization in the world, generating $200 million a year. Trailblazing the way for these 5,000 employees is one man. I'm Jim Rogers, CEO and Chairman of Campgrounds of America. Hey, good morning, Billings. How you doing? KOA is celebrating 50 years of camping. Ah, this is living. In 1962, Dave Drum was a member of the Chamber of Commerce Board in Billings, Montana, and he was hearing about all these calls that people needed for a campground on their way to the Seattle World's Fair. And so they borrowed a franchise agreement from a hotel chain. They built 60,000 campsites at more than 475,000 people. locations. As they say, the rest is history. Hey Sherry. Good morning Jim. It's a great day at KOA. I was born in 49 in Marin County, north of San Francisco. I started with Boy Scouts at the age of five as a Cub Scout. My mom was a Denweather. My father was a Scoutmaster. You have to be an Eagle Scout if they're Rogers. You know, only three percent of all Boy Scouts get to the Eagle Scout rank. I have 10 in my family. In 1972, Campgrounds of America offered me $500 a month to come up up here and be a management trainee and I went home I asked my girlfriend to marry me I drove to Billings Montana 34 years later I was offered the president the CEO job at Campgrounds of America and here I am hey it's a great day at KOA this is Jim I run to this job I can't wait to wake up our business is unlike any other it's not like making widgets the idea is that We want to get people from their backyard to the backcountry. Our mission is to create happy campers that recommend KOA to others. Anybody can stay with us. It's so positive and it reflects the best values of our nation. It makes it meaningful work, which people get excited about, employees get excited about. Hurry back! Wow. I can't control what you do, but I can certainly make some suggestions about what you're going to do while you're out there. I'm Sandy Rogers. I've been married to Jim Rogers for 40 years. You've got to be the humble you. You can't be Mr. K.O.A. Like you are. I am going to be fascinated to watch this. Jim is an Eagle Scout. He's a Boy Scout, and yeah, he's not a good liar. So it's going to be a challenge for him to keep his mouth shut. So you want me to take a lot of pictures so you can enjoy this? I totally want lots of pictures. I've been very aggressive in my time at KOA to dial this company up. We want to go from good to great. This is a people product. We're in the service business at KOA. I want to know what's going on at the front line. I want to see that interaction. I want to see that genuine engagement. And I think it's so important that our employees understand the important role they're playing, not only to the company, but to our country. And that's why I'm going undercover. Ta-da! Ta-da! My disguise is gonna be great. While undercover, I will be Tim Bickford, a recently laid-off accountant. -Throughout my undercover journey, KOA Campground employees will be tricked into thinking they're on a hosted reality show in which they will work alongside Tim and then decide whether he deserves to win the money to buy his own campground. We are here in beautiful San... Cruise California. The woman pretending to be the host of the fake show will keep asking questions about whether Tim deserves to win the money so the campground employees will have no idea that this is secretly Undercover Boss. Here I am, darling. That is incredible. I'm Tim. Take off your wedding ring, because I'm not married to you right now. So when I'm undercover, I'm going from place to place in an RV. Well, what a beautiful day. Yeah. This is a road trip, and here I come. OK, have a great time, Tim Bickford, but come back, Jim Rogers. Wish me luck. I wish you luck. Drive carefully. Road trip! I'm in Stockton, California today, and I'm going to be working with a store manager. Well, the Stockton KOA really has a great location because it serves the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, this is a unique location because it has a marina. So there are 800 boat slips, there's a restaurant, there's facilities for jet skis. The store is always... the registration point for the guests as they arrive. It's sort of the headquarters of the camp. And so you want to know you have a manager that has great interaction with the guests. Morning, Dennis. Good, how are you, hon? There has to be a very positive vibe coming from that store to impact the entire campground. Excuse me. I'm looking for Sadie. Hi, Sadie. Hi. I'm Tim. Nice to meet you, Tim. Nice to meet you. That's a nice shirt there, buddy. We need to get you a name tag. I'm the store manager. So right now, we're just going to open up the store. Want to help me get the coffee started? Sure. We'll put this little deal in there. Put your down. Good morning. It's a great day at Stockton Delta KOA. This is Sadie. How can I help you? Check-in time is at 3 PM, and check-out is at 11 AM. What do you mean? I'm sorry. I don't make coffee ever. I've seen it made. 3 p.m. and 11 a.m. I prefer tea. I didn't want to do anything until you got back. Okay. You're doing it. Just slide it in. See those little slots? And you just push start. Nice. There you go. Wow. And it brews itself. Wow. Tim is definitely very kind of green, very kind of like out of his element a bit. How do you answer? Um... It's a great... Great day at the Stockton KOA. This is Tim. Some enthusiasm. Good morning. It's a great day at the Stockton Delta KOA. Then what do I do when they ask me a question? Answer it. Good morning, Stockton Delta KOA. This is Tim. May I help you? Um, yeah. Do you all have a space for a 45-foot pull-through, 3rd to 4th of July? Let's see here. Hey, hang on. My manager who's here is going to help. I'm just training today. OK. Hi, my name's Sadie. I'm going to help you right now, hon. You said July 3rd, arriving? July 3rd. So you need to pull through. OK, give us just a second. OK, so for this system here, this is called campsite. OK, I always use this system. So let's register you into 368 first. All right. How is that possible? My computer's being a little, a little slow on me. It's a very archaic system. It's not very user friendly. Computer goes down, then the receipts go down, and then we have to reset it. Hi there. Tim can help you. So we're gonna type in F2. Bear with me here. Wow. That one's not turning on. We got a little malfunction here, guys. Front desk to guest services, please. Sadie is immediately overcome by guests, so it's like a tsunami. Just sit down. We're going slow. But she's got a diversity of needs here, and the KOA technology right now is not meeting them. I'm a loyal KOA customer, too. Sorry to make you wait. You kept me on hold for five minutes, idiot. I don't have time for this crap. I'm sorry? Isn't 11 late for check-in? Right, but we have to go down and clean this site. That's ridiculous. All campgrounds are that way. I want to talk to the manager. That's me. My name is Sadie, and I'm the store manager. You sure don't sound like a manager. Yeah, but you're being incredibly rude to me, and I'm trying to help you. I'm just standing there just being a wallflower, and it was just ripping me apart inside. I'm not going to be screamed at, and I'm not going to have someone just sit there and degrade me while I'm... I'm trying to help you. I was trying to help you, and you're still arguing with me, and I'm still trying to help you. Jim Rogers, CEO of Campgrounds of America, is a boss undercover in his own company. Excuse me, I'm looking for Sadie. His employees think he's a former accountant on a reality TV show, competing to win money from an investor to open his own campground. But right now, he's in the middle of phone call chaos at the Stockton KOA. You're sure enough second-managed. I'm not going to be screamed at, and I'm not going to have someone just sit there and degrade me while I'm trying to help you. I was trying to help you, and you're still arguing with me, and I'm still trying to help you. He's not in, but I can transfer to his voicemail. You're welcome. So that's something that happens. That's normal. It's every day. Every day. $275 out of 20. It's very common to have customers that are going to be difficult. Sadie handles it. Thank you very much. You're very welcome. At the same time, she was paying a attention to me and paying attention to guests. Sadie, thank you. You're welcome, Mark. Have a good one. You know, that's a special kind of person that can do that and maintain her cool. OK, so we're doing the fishing boat for two adults and four kids? How long? Two days. I'll meet you down there. I'll just get you down there. Appreciate it. I have a guest up here that's renting a boat right now. Would you please help me? OK. If you need something, just call Sandy. She'll help you out. Probably good for you to get out of the office for a few minutes. Oh, this is my favorite part right here. We got life vests under here. This is a live well. You be doing any fishing? Okay. Start her up. Ah, piece of cake. Piece of cake. You guys are good to go. Thank you, Sadie. Yep. So you're responsible for boat rentals too? Yeah. Have you been on a boat before? Yes, but it's been a while. Okay. You want to take it out, take it for a spin? Oh, that would be fun. Hey Bella, how are you, hon? Doing good. The minute I'm, well right now I'm going to school, but when I wasn't going to school, the minute I was off work, I was on the water. Where are you going to school? I'm going to school in Sacramento for skin therapy. Oh really? Eventually I'd like to. to kind of move into that. Well, I put my heart, my sweat, my blood, my tears into everything that I do here. The appreciation isn't there because I work my ass off. I just think that those little things were appreciated a little bit more than then I would feel a lot better about getting up every morning and, like, be more excited to come to work. I was disappointed that she feels unappreciated. It is essential that we attract and retain more people like Sadie. So was your family outdoorsy? I just, I've always been kind of a tomboy. I've always been outdoorsy. You know, I've always wanted to kind of be out in the fresh air and whatnot. Were you the oldest sister? Yeah, five girls and one boy. You have a big family. There's even more than that. My mom actually had two more after my dad. and my dad and her separated, so there's actually 11. So are you still connected with your mom? My mom left, actually, when I was five. Oh, OK. You know, when we went into foster care, I was the mom. They let you go with your sisters into the same family? Not necessarily. We were in one foster home all together for about eight months at one time. But after that, we were all split up. Sadie's had a tough life. She, you know, was a foster child early. She lost her mom at a very early age. And yet, she's got a comp- She's got a confidence about herself. She maintains her cool. She's polite. She reinforces the KOA brand better than I do because she's living it every day in front of a guest. Perfect. Good work. Nice landing. 007 007 The Ventura Ranch KOA in Southern California and I'm gonna be going into housekeeping today. Southern California is the biggest camping market in the world. The Ventura Ranch KOA is right next to Los Angeles so it's a marquee location for us. Hey, I'm looking for Nathan. That's me. KOA has a great reputation for its cleanliness, and so it's important that people that are doing the housekeeping role provide a good job. What I do here is I help with activities, maintenance, and housekeeping. I think we're going to head down to the zip line. How does that sound? Oh, I don't know. A zip line? So this is our zip line pavilion. You know, we have smaller harnesses. We have harnesses for more full-sized people. Are you proposing that I'm going to ride this? Are you excited? I'm nervous. I think Tim, to be successful in this, should experience what it's like for other people to be out there doing it. And it's going to set him up for success. Do I need to call my wife? Whoa. So this is an 800-foot zip line. From pole to pole. Should I start praying now? I've had a fear of heights all of my life. So jumping off the edge of a cliff, connected to a harness and a piece of wire that's, I've told is safe, that it's not something that I enjoy. But I decided, when I decided to be Tim, that I was going to live Tim. So I'm just going along for the ride. Oh, that's good. Just going along for the ride. Green light on line one, please. Green light on line one. Are you ready? Well, I've got to go. I'm not sure I... Three, two, one. Catch. Did you get a souvenir or anything? Uh, a bad hairdo from the helmet. I'm trying to be out here to do things I've never done before, and I'm just going to add the zip line to it. So we're going to just proceed down here to our glamour cabin. A glamour cabin. Where we had our guests check out just a little while ago. Everything's glamorous at KOA. Go ahead and take one of those. Our guests were nice enough to leave us a lovely mess. So we'll move into the bathroom. And so we'll make sure we get the toilet and everything. Oh, are you kidding? I love cleaning toilets. I said I wanted to get right down to the front line. Well, the front line is that toilet. Porcelain. That's where the rubber meets the road. Let's get the brushes and stuff. I'd be happy to wash the mirrors. All right. I think, actually, I left most of the cleaning rags. So I'm going to have to run back. Uh-oh. I'll be right back with some towels. All right. You should arrive inside of a cabin with the necessary tools, chemicals, towels, sheets, to get the job done. I'm in there ready to clean, and the They had to return to the housekeeping area to get supplies. It became apparent that there was some confusion in the preparation for the day's job. So really we just wiped down all the mirrors with ammonia. I use it on the toilet also. It totally kills all the bacteria and everything. Okay. So same thing with just the ammonia? Yeah, because it doesn't leave any kind of residue or anything. I was surprised that there was one universal cleaning material and it was just the same that I just used on the mirrors. So do the counters with... with the ammonia? Yeah, we'll do the counters with the ammonia. There indeed are different products that should be used to clean the toilet versus clean a sink. It's like using Windex to clean your toilet bowl. I'm not a chemist, but I think that can be done better. And I'm taking the same towel that I used on the floor of the shower and cleaning the countertops in the kitchen. That's wrong. OK, so trash. The salt and pepper, I guess we can save for another guest. So if you find something in the.. cabins? We do have a lost and found. I mean, if it was a, you know, an iPhone or a value. Absolutely. But I found a s'more kit with, you know, two bags of graham crackers, two bags of marshmallows, and it went straight to my kids. Okay. So there are some perks at times. You have kids then, huh? I have three. Oh, whoa. I don't get a lot of downtime. How long have you been married? I just had my two-year anniversary. Oh, congratulations. Thank you. We're still in our young family stage. Uh-huh. So we're running out of time. We got people coming to check in in about an hour. So we'll shoot on over. You got your radio? I do. It's in my pocket. Uh-oh. Radio malfunction. One of the key values that I learned by being a Boy Scout is to be prepared. And as I watched Nathan in action today, he was always going off for additional supplies. He was always leaving or going back to the cart. And the housekeeping supply area... is a distance away. So you think about the time that's taken, we've got a lot of work to do. This is the glamor tent. And if you wanna go ahead and do the bed, I'll come back with some sheets. Okay. All right. See you in a sec. I'll be back in about 10 minutes. No worries. Today with Nathan, was educational. My principals are do a job right the first time, and I wasn't allowed to do that today. And Nathan, he was short of supplies. He didn't have them with him. How we doing? Got this folded right. So this one is actually a throw blanket. OK. So I'll run back over, and I will grab a spread. I didn't notice when I was in here before. We need to whip the housekeeping program into shape up here. Coming into this undercover journey, I knew I would gain additional insights about KOA from both our guests and employees. After meeting Sadie and Nathan, it's become clear to me that we have some work to do. I hope in my next job that I'll learn more about what we can do to help our employees with their jobs. And look, I always have said that in the race for excellence or the race for great service, there is no finish line. We will always have work to do. That's what you have to do in the hospitality business. Coming up, the boss gets diggy with it. You sure you want to do this? Come on, man. I don't want to break anything. Chicken ain't nothing but a bird, Jim. We gotta learn this stuff. Okay. Whoa. And later, Jim hears the hard truth. You don't care about these people. You're just caring about, hey, are we, how much money are we making? Wow. Today we're at the Williams KOA in northern Arizona. We're very close to the Grand Canyon. So this location is more of an on-the-way KOA. It's an overnight park. And so there's that continual churn during the season. There's always an international crowd. There's always people visiting from all over. Hello. Hello. I'm looking for the owners. All right, I'll get her. Thank you. Hey, Mom. The owners here at the Williams KOA are new. It's a mom-and-pop operation, as we might say. They've been here a year. The best thing that I could see today is a new owner that is eager to move in. to improve the business that you hate to come into a situation where they haven't got the spirit of wanting to take on the challenge. Good morning. Good morning. How are you? I'm Tim Bigford. Hi, nice to meet you. And what's your name? I'm Lori. This is my daughter Madison. Nice to meet you. Oh, you're part of the family too? This is my 14-year-old. Nice to meet you, Madison. All right, I have my radio. Need me, call me. All right, have you ever drove a golf cart? A long time ago. All right, well, it's automatic. It's simple. We're going to go find Bruce. So we're going to go straight. All right. Bruce is my husband, and he handles everything on the outside. Okay, so all you have to do is turn it on. Just turn it on. Oh, you don't need that. All right. Hit the gas. You're good to go. It's always nice when you're going past a camper, just say hi. Hi. Hi, guys. How are you today? Hi, guys. Hello, puppies. Hi, puppies. I mean, did you just decide to jump into camping? This job is Not for the weak or the faint at heart. If you would have asked us last season, we would have sold it for a dollar. That's how stressful it was. Digging out sewer lines, cleaning toilets, cleaning up throw-up. Sometimes little kids lose it in the swimming pool. And those aren't baby... There's a perception of running a campground, it's just really easy. You just collect money and, you know, you take the rest of the day off. But when they're working, they're working 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week. It's all in. All right, well, let's go and I'll introduce you to Bruce. OK. And if we need to, if you, oh, you hit the, you got to watch the buttons there, bud. All right, pull it towards you. Ah, there you go. All right. This is my husband, Bruce. How you doing, Tim? Tim, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, sir. All right, Tim. All right, Tim. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. All right, you guys have fun. When Tim first walked up, I'm thinking, well, he looks like an office worker, maybe a pencil neck geek. He's been indoors most of his life. He's definitely in for a rude awakening being in this lifestyle. So what's next? Tearing down a beetle-infested tree. A tree, huh? Right, I don't get to ride in a tractor very often. Crash course in tractor. Biggest thing, don't run, the camper's over. 80 is not turning out. Since we purchased this KOA a year ago, we've added a large playground. We've added a... I could have done that extra cabin up there, so we're up to like 20 cabins now. I plan on putting a go-kart track right here. If I put the go-kart track here. You've got a lot of plans. Yeah, I got three. That could be seen from the road. That'll be good. That's why it's going right there. It's a never-ending job. There's always improvements to be made. We're just going to dig in here, break all these roots, and we'll just tip the tree over. What I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a shot at the controls, see how you do. OK. So away from you is out. Gorge is digging. Away from you, Gorge is digging. I'll trade places with you. Oh, boy. Tim's got to throw out the accounting books and get out in the field and get dirty. It's part of owning the campground. You sure you want to do this? Come on, man. I don't want to break anything. Chicken ain't nothing but a bird, Tim. We got to learn this stuff. OK. Here we go. This is the fun part of the camera. Ha ha ha! Two left ones, pull it towards you. Okay, now the one with the switch up. I got something there. Keep it a little bit more this way so we don't pollute that rock next door. Okay. This is like the best ride of the day. Disneyland. I mean, it's like, whoa. Step on your right pedal and dump it. Boys play with those kinds of things, but to actually sit in one and move the handle and watch the thing go and dig, actually dig. It's a boy's dream. Batch, I want to get to the stop a couple times. Thank you. Oh, you're a natural. All right, I'll trade you spots. Okay. Thank you. You bet. All right, let's just push this baby over now. That was cool. That's good enough. Let's do the rest with a chainsaw. All right, let's do it. What kind of hours you work as an accountant? You know, I'm about a 40 or 50 an hour. 40 or 50 hours a week? Yeah. Well, that's about half a week around here. That's the hardest part with my kids, because we're used to going away in the summer and boating and stuff. And I feel like we ignore them and don't get to have the fun we used to have. Where would you go? Lake Paul, go boating. Oh, just to go have fun. Yeah. Oh, last year was tough. Last year I wondered, this is the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life. My life, it's a hands-on job and you gotta strive to make it better. I mean a lot of people fall into the routine that that putt-putt golf right there is good enough for example. To me that putt-putt golf sucks. As soon as we get time we'll start at the shack, move our way over and it'll be a nice 18 hole golf course there. Bruce is a get it done guy. I think he'll build the golf course. I think he'll build the go-kart track. It's gonna be on the front of their property. It's gonna send the message to all those thousands of people that are driving by. This is a fun place. Until we're the best KOA in the United States, I won't be happy. Really? I'll go to my grave trying. Well, you have a good vision. You have a good goal. I would say that both Lori and Bruce have the spirit of operation, and they're willing to learn. This is a partnership. We call them franchisee partners. I think we have things that we can do for them to help them be successful and build a great brand. You know how to do it. I'll tell you what, at this point, you've got the ability to get your feet wet a lot more in the campground business than I did when I started. Today I'm at the Santa Cruz KOA and I'm going to be working with guest services. The responsibility of guest service is not limited to one job. Every day there's a different list of things that need to be done on a campground, whether it's carpentry, whether it's whether it's electric, whether it's plumbing. Good morning. Good morning. How are you today? I am good and I am looking for Paul. Okay, and you are? Tim Bickford. Hi Tim, my name is Shawn. Nice to meet you. Let me just give Paul a call and I'll have him meet you. Thank you very much. All right. This is a flagship KOA, and it runs a very high occupancy throughout the summer. I am looking forward to doing some dirty work today. All right. Well, here's Paul. I'm Tim. Tim, pleasure to meet you, Tim. My name's Paul. Nice to see you. Sean's husband. Oh, really? Yes, Sean's husband and wife team. Oh, nice connection. My first thought was he looked like he just stepped out of the accounting office. Yeah, the parted hair. Yeah, the hair kills me. Yeah. You know, I don't like judging people. people, you know, by their physical appearance. But if I was picking teams for a pickup football game, I would not pick Tim. All right, we're off. We're going to head up here. That's where our lodges are located. We do curbside pickup. I'll get these items here. Nice. And we just throw them in the back of our wagon. OK. Now, you see, we got a little cleaning to do here. OK. Now, what you're going to do, use that metal thing to scrape off that down there. OK, yep, yep. All right, flip it over. OK. You want to use the wire brush. OK. So how often would you do this kind of thing? Would you scrape this every day? Every checkout. No matter what your duty is in this campground, it's all about the guests, especially those right there, the kids. Hi, guys. Having fun? That's what we want to hear. The results show in the guest reviews. We get some really good reviews here. Oh, you have to tell me. This campground, for the first time ever, last year received what they call the Founders Award. The Founders Award, our top award in the system. Only about 10% of our campgrounds qualify with their guests for that special award. Hi, folks. How you doing? Hi, Joanna. Hi. How are you? How are you? Doing good, thank you. All right, those guys checked it. It's clean and ready. Go ahead, Front Dash. Could I please have four bags of? All right, we're going to head down to the store. Well, you're in very good shape. All right, as you see, that's 162. Here's 163. Hi, how are you, sir? Doing good. We got four bags of ice here for you. Where would you like that? Just sit on the table. Sit on the table? Very good. Appreciate you bringing it. Oh, well, just so you know, any tips that we get, We'll put it into the Care Camp Fund. I don't know if you're familiar with KOA Care Camping at all. KOA sponsors campgrounds that are strictly for kids with cancer. Oh, OK. So that's where your money's going, just so you know. You enjoy the rest of your stay, OK? The kids thank you as well. What a nice program. Awesome program. You see those things on TV all the time. Yeah. So how did you find this job? After our kids graduated high school, we started looking into what we wanted to do with our lives. Before that, I worked at a meat packing plant for about 15 years, and for about four years, I worked at a printed circuit board manufacturing plant. I wish I'd have known about this work many years ago. I would have started much sooner. OK. All right, Tim. Welcome to my wife, Shawn, and I's home. Get a drink of water for you. thirsty? Sure, I am thirsty. All right. My wife and I sold our house in 2005 when our two sons graduated high school. My mother had cancer in her lungs, stage four. We moved in with Ma, and we were her permanent live-in caregivers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 10 months, the last 10 months of her life. My mother always taught me, make sure money is low on your priority list. Her point was, make sure that Other things in life, family, friends, the enjoyment you get out of what you do for a living are high on your priority list. Paul just shared with me his whole philosophy of life, from his parents'death to the values that they imparted upon him. He has that sort of attitude that the world needs more of, and being sure that you're taking care of the ones that you love and having the family. This is what we talk about, genuine engagement. Uh... You know, if your goal is to operate a campground, do me a favor. Any employees that you have, if they are performing well, show your appreciation to them. KOA was having their annual meetings here, so all these people who are in charge, none of them came around to shake our hands or say, you know, hey, what a great job you guys did last year. Wow. That's all it takes. All I ask is that people out there who own campgrounds realize what these folks have given up. To work for you. Like with us specifically, we're from Pennsylvania. We have two granddaughters. We've only seen the granddaughters once since we've left Pennsylvania. Sorry, I get a little emotional. I'm frustrated that a guy that loves us as much, and the fact that we had to take the time to visit with the folks that made it happen. Next stop, trash dumpster. These are the little things that are going to make a difference in our business. We have some work to do, you know, to be sure that they feel that they've been recognized for what they've accomplished. Alright! You know the hardest part about this job? Is knowing that the beach is right down here right now and I could be on a surfboard. Being undercover has put me through emotional gymnastics that I did not anticipate. Goodbye, Tim! We use the word genuine engagement in our mission statement. I've learned this week a little more what that means. I personally am going to take away the sensitivity that has been heightened being Tim. I need to provide more time to listen. The gym is back. It used to be you'd say that you were an Eagle Scout, you know. No, I am an Eagle Scout. It's not something I did, you know, 30 years ago. It's something that I am now. I want to be sure that I leave KOA better than I found it. And that means continually finding ways to improve, to do whatever it takes to make the people of KOA successful in what they do. Coming up, the employees think they're coming to give feedback on whether or not Tim deserves his own campground. I got the impression he's probably better in the office than he is out in the field right now. How will they react when they find out that Tim is really Jim? I'm the chairman and CEO of Campgrounds of America. We brought the people that I worked with to Sedona, Arizona, because it is just the perfect place to talk about the future of KOA. The people I worked with think they're going to meet with an angel investor to give feedback on my performance. They have no idea why they are really here. Good afternoon. Nice to meet you, Nathan. Nice to meet you. Well, I understand you've spent some time with an individual that's seeking some of my investment. Yes. Tim. That's correct. I got the impression he's probably better in the office than he is out in the field right now. OK. I have to be honest. You look very familiar to me. Why is that? You look a little bit like Tim. You could be brothers. I'm not sure. I'm the chairman and CEO of Camp Grounds of America. I'm Jim Rogers, and I was Tim. Okay. What's going on? You're on undercover boss. Are you serious? That's where we're at. I'm just, I'm in shock right now. I had no idea. I just, I knew something was weird about the whole thing. Is that a fact? Yep. You're kidding. No, I'm not. Okay. Paul, I wanted to say thank you personally. I appreciate all that you do every day. And I know our guests do too because they're the ones that decided that that Founders Award ought to be yours. We just do what we can for the guests. We love the guests. We love you too, okay? I wish I could box you up and send you all over the system. But you know, the time that we sat and you talked to me about these KOA Care Camps that help support camps for kids with cancer. And I want to make a $50,000 contribution to Care Camps this year in your name. That's fantastic. I'm going to give you a tip. Yeah, $50,000 tip, right? Yeah, it's going in the jar. It's an honor. It is definitely an honor. And, you know, I have to tour your home. Yeah, it's our home. I'd like to give you $10,000 to help you fix up whatever you want to work on, you name it. Thank you. Your grandchildren. It's really important that you and Sean get back to see your grandchildren in Pennsylvania. So I want to give you another $10,000 to make that trip possible. Thank you. Thank you. I thank you so much. You don't know how much this means. Thank you so much. You are so welcome. What Jim's done for us is just amazing. Spectacular. It's really true when you put your heart and soul into something, it does come back to you. It truly does. We're on undercover, boss. Are we really? He's giving us $10,000 so we can go home and see the girls. Oh. I'm going to see the kids. Nathan, I spent a little time watching you as a housekeeper. When I worked with you, I saw chaos in housekeeping. You were running back and forth to pick up things. You're using different chemicals across the board. And it just seemed like that there probably had a more efficient way to do that. So I'm going to make arrangements to send you up to our training grounds. We have our company-owned properties where they're training new kind of concepts. And one of things we're working really hard on is housekeeping. And I want to. Be sure I take care of your cost of your trip and pay you while you're there. Oh. And hopefully you'll come back with some new ideas and maybe give us a few. If you're willing, are you okay with that? That'd be outstanding. Oh, great, great. You know, you got me on that zip line. You probably don't know this, but I have a fear of heights. And I was scared to death to really jump off that board, and you pushed me. I want to give you 5,000 bucks, and I want you to take your family to a theme park that has thrill rides. Are you serious? I'm serious. Wow. Thank you. That's really a big deal. Thank you. I had no idea that I was getting duped by my undercover boss. Hopefully, I can give him some good feedback, and maybe I'll learn something myself. Bruce, Lori, you are two precious franchisees. You guys are so hardworking. And the only way I could get out and get to know great employees like you is to do it undercover. I love that button-up shirt all the way to the top. All you need was a pocket liner, and you'd be the professional geek. Looking at you and all the ideas you have, I think the accommodation side of your business is going to grow. I think there's a real opportunity there. And so I want to give you $25,000 to buy another deluxe cabist. Holy cow. This is the craziest thing ever. Well, if you're going to be the best KOA in the system, you're going to have to. Yes, thank you so much. I am just in awe here. You both are very hardworking owners. And it's true of most couples that are working like this, entrepreneurs, but you don't get enough time away. And I think you mentioned Lake Powell. And so I want to give you $10,000 for a vacation at Lake Powell. I want you to go down there and rent a high-end houseboat and bring the whole family. Would you enjoy that? Oh, I'd go crazy on that. Would you? That's crazy. This is fantastic. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for what you did for Tim. Thank you for what you do for KOA. I look forward to watching you grow. New cabin. We appreciate that. It makes it worth it. It makes it just worth everything that we have done. We won't stop until that's the best KOA around. I can guarantee you. Sadia, you obviously express great pleasure with what you do. I love it out there, yeah. I know that you're frustrated by some of the things you're seeing on our system. Yeah, oh yeah. It's been a bit of a pill sometimes. I can assure you that we are making improvements. We are building proprietary software. that only KOA will have, and we'd love to get to it as quickly as you would. You touched on a subject that was, you know, fitness-related and skin care. Yeah. I'd like to create a task force at KOA that pursues that opportunity of developing those kinds of locations, those kinds of facilities throughout KOA. And I'd like you to help us do that. Are you willing to do that? Yeah, for sure, definitely. When we were out on the boat, it was very clear to me that you had a family that you would love to share. You know, some of your joy of the water. I'd like to give you 5,000 bucks to get your family to come spend a week and let them just enjoy and see what you love so much. My family? Your whole family. So wait, so my whole, you're paying for my whole family to come to the KOA and just have a day of... No, we're gonna have a week. A week? We'll put them in the deluxe cabins, we'll feed them, we'll just treat them, you know, first class guests. And, you know, we'll get you off that week and be sure that everybody has a great time and you're in the middle of it. I don't know, I'll be able to get off work for a whole week in the summer. Let me figure it out. I'm the boss. Okay. Okay. All right. And you talked about school. I'm going to give you $50,000 to cover the various things that you want to accomplish now and in life. Me? You. Really? Are you serious? I am. To do what? Just for my schooling and everything? Everything. Come back. Oh sure. I'm speechless. I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say. I don't even know what to think. I just... I'm just so happy. I'm on top of the world. This is amazing. I'm proud of the people that I met this week. I'm honored to be in the position that I am. I'm extremely proud to be the chairman and CEO of Campgrounds of America. I felt that when I arrived, it was a good company. I wanted to make it great. My mom and dad always said, I've got to leave the campsite better than I found it. But I think about that every day, because at the end of the day, I want to do my best, and I want to do a good turn daily, and this week has helped me do that. We use the word genuine engagement in our mission statement, genuine engagement with our guests. I've learned this week it's better for me to go spend intense time with a small number of employees than to try to speak to 250 at a big meeting. And I think that if we can think that way as individuals, not only is our company going to do well, but so is our country. Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode. A new episode of CSI New York is next, only CBS. Next Friday, when the president of Moe's Southwest Grill goes undercover. You have to multitask. Be happy the whole time that you're doing it. He's taking some heat. Hurry up. I had a restaurant at one time, so I know how to use a knife. You are just a ding-dong. And seize him a moment. I'm the president of this brand, and I'm actually evaluating your performance right now. New Undercover Boss, CBS, next Friday.

This week on Undercover Boss. Morning, it's a great day at DOA. How can I help you?

The chairman and CEO of Campgrounds of America, the largest chain of campsites in North America. Hurry back! Goes undercover posing as a former accountant. Ta-da!

Hi, I'm Tim. Nice to meet you, Tim. I'm Nathan.

His employees think he's on a reality show where he's competing to win funding from an investor to buy his own campground. You sure you want to do this? Come on, man! I don't want to break anything. Road trip!

This Eagle Scout will hit the highway in his RV and work side-by-side with employees. While going on the ride of his life, he'll discover who makes his company tick. This is the fun part of the camera.

My name is Sadie, and I'm the store manager. You sure don't sound like a manager. How will the boss react when he finds out that the customer isn't always right? You're being incredibly rude to me and I'm trying to help you. You know what?

Screw you and your crappy campsite, you idiot. Oh, heck no. Find out next on Undercover Boss. I'm gonna take a few days and do some camping with my friends.

Gonna relive my childhood memories and share some new ones with my kids. Headquartered in Billings, Montana, an offering from the University of Illinois. 475 campsites across North America, KOA is the largest campground organization in the world, generating $200 million a year.

Trailblazing the way for these 5,000 employees is one man. I'm Jim Rogers, CEO and Chairman of Campgrounds of America. Hey, good morning, Billings. How you doing?

KOA is celebrating 50 years of camping. Ah, this is living. In 1962, Dave Drum was a member of the Chamber of Commerce Board in Billings, Montana, and he was hearing about all these calls that people needed for a campground on their way to the Seattle World's Fair. And so they borrowed a franchise agreement from a hotel chain. They built 60,000 campsites at more than 475,000 people.

locations. As they say, the rest is history. Hey Sherry. Good morning Jim. It's a great day at KOA.

I was born in 49 in Marin County, north of San Francisco. I started with Boy Scouts at the age of five as a Cub Scout. My mom was a Denweather.

My father was a Scoutmaster. You have to be an Eagle Scout if they're Rogers. You know, only three percent of all Boy Scouts get to the Eagle Scout rank. I have 10 in my family. In 1972, Campgrounds of America offered me $500 a month to come up up here and be a management trainee and I went home I asked my girlfriend to marry me I drove to Billings Montana 34 years later I was offered the president the CEO job at Campgrounds of America and here I am hey it's a great day at KOA this is Jim I run to this job I can't wait to wake up our business is unlike any other it's not like making widgets the idea is that We want to get people from their backyard to the backcountry.

Our mission is to create happy campers that recommend KOA to others. Anybody can stay with us. It's so positive and it reflects the best values of our nation.

It makes it meaningful work, which people get excited about, employees get excited about. Hurry back! Wow.

I can't control what you do, but I can certainly make some suggestions about what you're going to do while you're out there. I'm Sandy Rogers. I've been married to Jim Rogers for 40 years. You've got to be the humble you. You can't be Mr. K.O.A. Like you are.

I am going to be fascinated to watch this. Jim is an Eagle Scout. He's a Boy Scout, and yeah, he's not a good liar. So it's going to be a challenge for him to keep his mouth shut.

So you want me to take a lot of pictures so you can enjoy this? I totally want lots of pictures. I've been very aggressive in my time at KOA to dial this company up.

We want to go from good to great. This is a people product. We're in the service business at KOA.

I want to know what's going on at the front line. I want to see that interaction. I want to see that genuine engagement.

And I think it's so important that our employees understand the important role they're playing, not only to the company, but to our country. And that's why I'm going undercover. Ta-da! Ta-da!

My disguise is gonna be great. While undercover, I will be Tim Bickford, a recently laid-off accountant. -Throughout my undercover journey, KOA Campground employees will be tricked into thinking they're on a hosted reality show in which they will work alongside Tim and then decide whether he deserves to win the money to buy his own campground.

We are here in beautiful San... Cruise California. The woman pretending to be the host of the fake show will keep asking questions about whether Tim deserves to win the money so the campground employees will have no idea that this is secretly Undercover Boss.

Here I am, darling. That is incredible. I'm Tim.

Take off your wedding ring, because I'm not married to you right now. So when I'm undercover, I'm going from place to place in an RV. Well, what a beautiful day.

Yeah. This is a road trip, and here I come. OK, have a great time, Tim Bickford, but come back, Jim Rogers.

Wish me luck. I wish you luck. Drive carefully. Road trip! I'm in Stockton, California today, and I'm going to be working with a store manager.

Well, the Stockton KOA really has a great location because it serves the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, this is a unique location because it has a marina. So there are 800 boat slips, there's a restaurant, there's facilities for jet skis.

The store is always... the registration point for the guests as they arrive. It's sort of the headquarters of the camp.

And so you want to know you have a manager that has great interaction with the guests. Morning, Dennis. Good, how are you, hon?

There has to be a very positive vibe coming from that store to impact the entire campground. Excuse me. I'm looking for Sadie.

Hi, Sadie. Hi. I'm Tim. Nice to meet you, Tim. Nice to meet you.

That's a nice shirt there, buddy. We need to get you a name tag. I'm the store manager.

So right now, we're just going to open up the store. Want to help me get the coffee started? Sure.

We'll put this little deal in there. Put your down. Good morning. It's a great day at Stockton Delta KOA.

This is Sadie. How can I help you? Check-in time is at 3 PM, and check-out is at 11 AM. What do you mean? I'm sorry.

I don't make coffee ever. I've seen it made. 3 p.m. and 11 a.m. I prefer tea.

I didn't want to do anything until you got back. Okay. You're doing it.

Just slide it in. See those little slots? And you just push start.

Nice. There you go. Wow. And it brews itself. Wow.

Tim is definitely very kind of green, very kind of like out of his element a bit. How do you answer? Um... It's a great... Great day at the Stockton KOA.

This is Tim. Some enthusiasm. Good morning.

It's a great day at the Stockton Delta KOA. Then what do I do when they ask me a question? Answer it.

Good morning, Stockton Delta KOA. This is Tim. May I help you? Um, yeah.

Do you all have a space for a 45-foot pull-through, 3rd to 4th of July? Let's see here. Hey, hang on.

My manager who's here is going to help. I'm just training today. OK. Hi, my name's Sadie.

I'm going to help you right now, hon. You said July 3rd, arriving? July 3rd. So you need to pull through. OK, give us just a second.

OK, so for this system here, this is called campsite. OK, I always use this system. So let's register you into 368 first. All right. How is that possible?

My computer's being a little, a little slow on me. It's a very archaic system. It's not very user friendly.

Computer goes down, then the receipts go down, and then we have to reset it. Hi there. Tim can help you. So we're gonna type in F2. Bear with me here.

Wow. That one's not turning on. We got a little malfunction here, guys.

Front desk to guest services, please. Sadie is immediately overcome by guests, so it's like a tsunami. Just sit down. We're going slow.

But she's got a diversity of needs here, and the KOA technology right now is not meeting them. I'm a loyal KOA customer, too. Sorry to make you wait. You kept me on hold for five minutes, idiot.

I don't have time for this crap. I'm sorry? Isn't 11 late for check-in? Right, but we have to go down and clean this site. That's ridiculous.

All campgrounds are that way. I want to talk to the manager. That's me.

My name is Sadie, and I'm the store manager. You sure don't sound like a manager. Yeah, but you're being incredibly rude to me, and I'm trying to help you.

I'm just standing there just being a wallflower, and it was just ripping me apart inside. I'm not going to be screamed at, and I'm not going to have someone just sit there and degrade me while I'm... I'm trying to help you. I was trying to help you, and you're still arguing with me, and I'm still trying to help you.

Jim Rogers, CEO of Campgrounds of America, is a boss undercover in his own company. Excuse me, I'm looking for Sadie. His employees think he's a former accountant on a reality TV show, competing to win money from an investor to open his own campground. But right now, he's in the middle of phone call chaos at the Stockton KOA. You're sure enough second-managed.

I'm not going to be screamed at, and I'm not going to have someone just sit there and degrade me while I'm trying to help you. I was trying to help you, and you're still arguing with me, and I'm still trying to help you. He's not in, but I can transfer to his voicemail. You're welcome.

So that's something that happens. That's normal. It's every day.

Every day. $275 out of 20. It's very common to have customers that are going to be difficult. Sadie handles it.

Thank you very much. You're very welcome. At the same time, she was paying a attention to me and paying attention to guests.

Sadie, thank you. You're welcome, Mark. Have a good one.

You know, that's a special kind of person that can do that and maintain her cool. OK, so we're doing the fishing boat for two adults and four kids? How long? Two days.

I'll meet you down there. I'll just get you down there. Appreciate it. I have a guest up here that's renting a boat right now. Would you please help me?

OK. If you need something, just call Sandy. She'll help you out. Probably good for you to get out of the office for a few minutes.

Oh, this is my favorite part right here. We got life vests under here. This is a live well.

You be doing any fishing? Okay. Start her up.

Ah, piece of cake. Piece of cake. You guys are good to go.

Thank you, Sadie. Yep. So you're responsible for boat rentals too? Yeah. Have you been on a boat before?

Yes, but it's been a while. Okay. You want to take it out, take it for a spin?

Oh, that would be fun. Hey Bella, how are you, hon? Doing good.

The minute I'm, well right now I'm going to school, but when I wasn't going to school, the minute I was off work, I was on the water. Where are you going to school? I'm going to school in Sacramento for skin therapy.

Oh really? Eventually I'd like to. to kind of move into that.

Well, I put my heart, my sweat, my blood, my tears into everything that I do here. The appreciation isn't there because I work my ass off. I just think that those little things were appreciated a little bit more than then I would feel a lot better about getting up every morning and, like, be more excited to come to work. I was disappointed that she feels unappreciated. It is essential that we attract and retain more people like Sadie.

So was your family outdoorsy? I just, I've always been kind of a tomboy. I've always been outdoorsy.

You know, I've always wanted to kind of be out in the fresh air and whatnot. Were you the oldest sister? Yeah, five girls and one boy. You have a big family. There's even more than that.

My mom actually had two more after my dad. and my dad and her separated, so there's actually 11. So are you still connected with your mom? My mom left, actually, when I was five. Oh, OK. You know, when we went into foster care, I was the mom.

They let you go with your sisters into the same family? Not necessarily. We were in one foster home all together for about eight months at one time.

But after that, we were all split up. Sadie's had a tough life. She, you know, was a foster child early. She lost her mom at a very early age. And yet, she's got a comp- She's got a confidence about herself.

She maintains her cool. She's polite. She reinforces the KOA brand better than I do because she's living it every day in front of a guest.

Perfect. Good work. Nice landing.

007 007 The Ventura Ranch KOA in Southern California and I'm gonna be going into housekeeping today. Southern California is the biggest camping market in the world. The Ventura Ranch KOA is right next to Los Angeles so it's a marquee location for us.

Hey, I'm looking for Nathan. That's me. KOA has a great reputation for its cleanliness, and so it's important that people that are doing the housekeeping role provide a good job. What I do here is I help with activities, maintenance, and housekeeping.

I think we're going to head down to the zip line. How does that sound? Oh, I don't know.

A zip line? So this is our zip line pavilion. You know, we have smaller harnesses.

We have harnesses for more full-sized people. Are you proposing that I'm going to ride this? Are you excited? I'm nervous.

I think Tim, to be successful in this, should experience what it's like for other people to be out there doing it. And it's going to set him up for success. Do I need to call my wife? Whoa.

So this is an 800-foot zip line. From pole to pole. Should I start praying now? I've had a fear of heights all of my life.

So jumping off the edge of a cliff, connected to a harness and a piece of wire that's, I've told is safe, that it's not something that I enjoy. But I decided, when I decided to be Tim, that I was going to live Tim. So I'm just going along for the ride.

Oh, that's good. Just going along for the ride. Green light on line one, please. Green light on line one. Are you ready?

Well, I've got to go. I'm not sure I... Three, two, one.

Catch. Did you get a souvenir or anything? Uh, a bad hairdo from the helmet. I'm trying to be out here to do things I've never done before, and I'm just going to add the zip line to it.

So we're going to just proceed down here to our glamour cabin. A glamour cabin. Where we had our guests check out just a little while ago. Everything's glamorous at KOA. Go ahead and take one of those.

Our guests were nice enough to leave us a lovely mess. So we'll move into the bathroom. And so we'll make sure we get the toilet and everything.

Oh, are you kidding? I love cleaning toilets. I said I wanted to get right down to the front line. Well, the front line is that toilet.

Porcelain. That's where the rubber meets the road. Let's get the brushes and stuff. I'd be happy to wash the mirrors. All right.

I think, actually, I left most of the cleaning rags. So I'm going to have to run back. Uh-oh. I'll be right back with some towels.

All right. You should arrive inside of a cabin with the necessary tools, chemicals, towels, sheets, to get the job done. I'm in there ready to clean, and the They had to return to the housekeeping area to get supplies.

It became apparent that there was some confusion in the preparation for the day's job. So really we just wiped down all the mirrors with ammonia. I use it on the toilet also. It totally kills all the bacteria and everything.

Okay. So same thing with just the ammonia? Yeah, because it doesn't leave any kind of residue or anything. I was surprised that there was one universal cleaning material and it was just the same that I just used on the mirrors.

So do the counters with... with the ammonia? Yeah, we'll do the counters with the ammonia.

There indeed are different products that should be used to clean the toilet versus clean a sink. It's like using Windex to clean your toilet bowl. I'm not a chemist, but I think that can be done better.

And I'm taking the same towel that I used on the floor of the shower and cleaning the countertops in the kitchen. That's wrong. OK, so trash.

The salt and pepper, I guess we can save for another guest. So if you find something in the.. cabins?

We do have a lost and found. I mean, if it was a, you know, an iPhone or a value. Absolutely.

But I found a s'more kit with, you know, two bags of graham crackers, two bags of marshmallows, and it went straight to my kids. Okay. So there are some perks at times.

You have kids then, huh? I have three. Oh, whoa.

I don't get a lot of downtime. How long have you been married? I just had my two-year anniversary.

Oh, congratulations. Thank you. We're still in our young family stage. Uh-huh.

So we're running out of time. We got people coming to check in in about an hour. So we'll shoot on over. You got your radio? I do.

It's in my pocket. Uh-oh. Radio malfunction.

One of the key values that I learned by being a Boy Scout is to be prepared. And as I watched Nathan in action today, he was always going off for additional supplies. He was always leaving or going back to the cart. And the housekeeping supply area... is a distance away.

So you think about the time that's taken, we've got a lot of work to do. This is the glamor tent. And if you wanna go ahead and do the bed, I'll come back with some sheets. Okay. All right.

See you in a sec. I'll be back in about 10 minutes. No worries.

Today with Nathan, was educational. My principals are do a job right the first time, and I wasn't allowed to do that today. And Nathan, he was short of supplies. He didn't have them with him. How we doing?

Got this folded right. So this one is actually a throw blanket. OK.

So I'll run back over, and I will grab a spread. I didn't notice when I was in here before. We need to whip the housekeeping program into shape up here. Coming into this undercover journey, I knew I would gain additional insights about KOA from both our guests and employees. After meeting Sadie and Nathan, it's become clear to me that we have some work to do.

I hope in my next job that I'll learn more about what we can do to help our employees with their jobs. And look, I always have said that in the race for excellence or the race for great service, there is no finish line. We will always have work to do.

That's what you have to do in the hospitality business. Coming up, the boss gets diggy with it. You sure you want to do this?

Come on, man. I don't want to break anything. Chicken ain't nothing but a bird, Jim.

We gotta learn this stuff. Okay. Whoa. And later, Jim hears the hard truth. You don't care about these people.

You're just caring about, hey, are we, how much money are we making? Wow. Today we're at the Williams KOA in northern Arizona. We're very close to the Grand Canyon. So this location is more of an on-the-way KOA.

It's an overnight park. And so there's that continual churn during the season. There's always an international crowd.

There's always people visiting from all over. Hello. Hello.

I'm looking for the owners. All right, I'll get her. Thank you. Hey, Mom.

The owners here at the Williams KOA are new. It's a mom-and-pop operation, as we might say. They've been here a year.

The best thing that I could see today is a new owner that is eager to move in. to improve the business that you hate to come into a situation where they haven't got the spirit of wanting to take on the challenge. Good morning.

Good morning. How are you? I'm Tim Bigford.

Hi, nice to meet you. And what's your name? I'm Lori.

This is my daughter Madison. Nice to meet you. Oh, you're part of the family too? This is my 14-year-old. Nice to meet you, Madison.

All right, I have my radio. Need me, call me. All right, have you ever drove a golf cart? A long time ago. All right, well, it's automatic.

It's simple. We're going to go find Bruce. So we're going to go straight.

All right. Bruce is my husband, and he handles everything on the outside. Okay, so all you have to do is turn it on. Just turn it on.

Oh, you don't need that. All right. Hit the gas. You're good to go.

It's always nice when you're going past a camper, just say hi. Hi. Hi, guys.

How are you today? Hi, guys. Hello, puppies. Hi, puppies. I mean, did you just decide to jump into camping?

This job is Not for the weak or the faint at heart. If you would have asked us last season, we would have sold it for a dollar. That's how stressful it was.

Digging out sewer lines, cleaning toilets, cleaning up throw-up. Sometimes little kids lose it in the swimming pool. And those aren't baby...

There's a perception of running a campground, it's just really easy. You just collect money and, you know, you take the rest of the day off. But when they're working, they're working 12 to 14 hours a day, seven days a week.

It's all in. All right, well, let's go and I'll introduce you to Bruce. OK.

And if we need to, if you, oh, you hit the, you got to watch the buttons there, bud. All right, pull it towards you. Ah, there you go. All right. This is my husband, Bruce.

How you doing, Tim? Tim, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, sir.

All right, Tim. All right, Tim. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. All right, you guys have fun.

When Tim first walked up, I'm thinking, well, he looks like an office worker, maybe a pencil neck geek. He's been indoors most of his life. He's definitely in for a rude awakening being in this lifestyle.

So what's next? Tearing down a beetle-infested tree. A tree, huh? Right, I don't get to ride in a tractor very often. Crash course in tractor.

Biggest thing, don't run, the camper's over. 80 is not turning out. Since we purchased this KOA a year ago, we've added a large playground. We've added a... I could have done that extra cabin up there, so we're up to like 20 cabins now.

I plan on putting a go-kart track right here. If I put the go-kart track here. You've got a lot of plans.

Yeah, I got three. That could be seen from the road. That'll be good.

That's why it's going right there. It's a never-ending job. There's always improvements to be made. We're just going to dig in here, break all these roots, and we'll just tip the tree over. What I'm going to do is I'm going to give you a shot at the controls, see how you do.

OK. So away from you is out. Gorge is digging.

Away from you, Gorge is digging. I'll trade places with you. Oh, boy.

Tim's got to throw out the accounting books and get out in the field and get dirty. It's part of owning the campground. You sure you want to do this?

Come on, man. I don't want to break anything. Chicken ain't nothing but a bird, Tim.

We got to learn this stuff. OK. Here we go.

This is the fun part of the camera. Ha ha ha! Two left ones, pull it towards you. Okay, now the one with the switch up.

I got something there. Keep it a little bit more this way so we don't pollute that rock next door. Okay. This is like the best ride of the day. Disneyland.

I mean, it's like, whoa. Step on your right pedal and dump it. Boys play with those kinds of things, but to actually sit in one and move the handle and watch the thing go and dig, actually dig.

It's a boy's dream. Batch, I want to get to the stop a couple times. Thank you.

Oh, you're a natural. All right, I'll trade you spots. Okay. Thank you. You bet.

All right, let's just push this baby over now. That was cool. That's good enough. Let's do the rest with a chainsaw. All right, let's do it.

What kind of hours you work as an accountant? You know, I'm about a 40 or 50 an hour. 40 or 50 hours a week?

Yeah. Well, that's about half a week around here. That's the hardest part with my kids, because we're used to going away in the summer and boating and stuff. And I feel like we ignore them and don't get to have the fun we used to have.

Where would you go? Lake Paul, go boating. Oh, just to go have fun. Yeah. Oh, last year was tough.

Last year I wondered, this is the dumbest thing I've ever done in my life. My life, it's a hands-on job and you gotta strive to make it better. I mean a lot of people fall into the routine that that putt-putt golf right there is good enough for example.

To me that putt-putt golf sucks. As soon as we get time we'll start at the shack, move our way over and it'll be a nice 18 hole golf course there. Bruce is a get it done guy.

I think he'll build the golf course. I think he'll build the go-kart track. It's gonna be on the front of their property.

It's gonna send the message to all those thousands of people that are driving by. This is a fun place. Until we're the best KOA in the United States, I won't be happy.

Really? I'll go to my grave trying. Well, you have a good vision. You have a good goal. I would say that both Lori and Bruce have the spirit of operation, and they're willing to learn.

This is a partnership. We call them franchisee partners. I think we have things that we can do for them to help them be successful and build a great brand. You know how to do it. I'll tell you what, at this point, you've got the ability to get your feet wet a lot more in the campground business than I did when I started.

Today I'm at the Santa Cruz KOA and I'm going to be working with guest services. The responsibility of guest service is not limited to one job. Every day there's a different list of things that need to be done on a campground, whether it's carpentry, whether it's whether it's electric, whether it's plumbing. Good morning. Good morning.

How are you today? I am good and I am looking for Paul. Okay, and you are?

Tim Bickford. Hi Tim, my name is Shawn. Nice to meet you. Let me just give Paul a call and I'll have him meet you.

Thank you very much. All right. This is a flagship KOA, and it runs a very high occupancy throughout the summer. I am looking forward to doing some dirty work today.

All right. Well, here's Paul. I'm Tim. Tim, pleasure to meet you, Tim. My name's Paul.

Nice to see you. Sean's husband. Oh, really?

Yes, Sean's husband and wife team. Oh, nice connection. My first thought was he looked like he just stepped out of the accounting office. Yeah, the parted hair. Yeah, the hair kills me.

Yeah. You know, I don't like judging people. people, you know, by their physical appearance.

But if I was picking teams for a pickup football game, I would not pick Tim. All right, we're off. We're going to head up here.

That's where our lodges are located. We do curbside pickup. I'll get these items here.

Nice. And we just throw them in the back of our wagon. OK. Now, you see, we got a little cleaning to do here. OK.

Now, what you're going to do, use that metal thing to scrape off that down there. OK, yep, yep. All right, flip it over. OK.

You want to use the wire brush. OK. So how often would you do this kind of thing? Would you scrape this every day? Every checkout.

No matter what your duty is in this campground, it's all about the guests, especially those right there, the kids. Hi, guys. Having fun?

That's what we want to hear. The results show in the guest reviews. We get some really good reviews here.

Oh, you have to tell me. This campground, for the first time ever, last year received what they call the Founders Award. The Founders Award, our top award in the system.

Only about 10% of our campgrounds qualify with their guests for that special award. Hi, folks. How you doing?

Hi, Joanna. Hi. How are you?

How are you? Doing good, thank you. All right, those guys checked it.

It's clean and ready. Go ahead, Front Dash. Could I please have four bags of?

All right, we're going to head down to the store. Well, you're in very good shape. All right, as you see, that's 162. Here's 163. Hi, how are you, sir?

Doing good. We got four bags of ice here for you. Where would you like that? Just sit on the table. Sit on the table?

Very good. Appreciate you bringing it. Oh, well, just so you know, any tips that we get, We'll put it into the Care Camp Fund. I don't know if you're familiar with KOA Care Camping at all. KOA sponsors campgrounds that are strictly for kids with cancer.

Oh, OK. So that's where your money's going, just so you know. You enjoy the rest of your stay, OK? The kids thank you as well.

What a nice program. Awesome program. You see those things on TV all the time.

Yeah. So how did you find this job? After our kids graduated high school, we started looking into what we wanted to do with our lives.

Before that, I worked at a meat packing plant for about 15 years, and for about four years, I worked at a printed circuit board manufacturing plant. I wish I'd have known about this work many years ago. I would have started much sooner. OK.

All right, Tim. Welcome to my wife, Shawn, and I's home. Get a drink of water for you.

thirsty? Sure, I am thirsty. All right. My wife and I sold our house in 2005 when our two sons graduated high school.

My mother had cancer in her lungs, stage four. We moved in with Ma, and we were her permanent live-in caregivers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for 10 months, the last 10 months of her life. My mother always taught me, make sure money is low on your priority list. Her point was, make sure that Other things in life, family, friends, the enjoyment you get out of what you do for a living are high on your priority list.

Paul just shared with me his whole philosophy of life, from his parents'death to the values that they imparted upon him. He has that sort of attitude that the world needs more of, and being sure that you're taking care of the ones that you love and having the family. This is what we talk about, genuine engagement. Uh... You know, if your goal is to operate a campground, do me a favor.

Any employees that you have, if they are performing well, show your appreciation to them. KOA was having their annual meetings here, so all these people who are in charge, none of them came around to shake our hands or say, you know, hey, what a great job you guys did last year. Wow.

That's all it takes. All I ask is that people out there who own campgrounds realize what these folks have given up. To work for you.

Like with us specifically, we're from Pennsylvania. We have two granddaughters. We've only seen the granddaughters once since we've left Pennsylvania. Sorry, I get a little emotional.

I'm frustrated that a guy that loves us as much, and the fact that we had to take the time to visit with the folks that made it happen. Next stop, trash dumpster. These are the little things that are going to make a difference in our business.

We have some work to do, you know, to be sure that they feel that they've been recognized for what they've accomplished. Alright! You know the hardest part about this job? Is knowing that the beach is right down here right now and I could be on a surfboard. Being undercover has put me through emotional gymnastics that I did not anticipate.

Goodbye, Tim! We use the word genuine engagement in our mission statement. I've learned this week a little more what that means. I personally am going to take away the sensitivity that has been heightened being Tim.

I need to provide more time to listen. The gym is back. It used to be you'd say that you were an Eagle Scout, you know.

No, I am an Eagle Scout. It's not something I did, you know, 30 years ago. It's something that I am now. I want to be sure that I leave KOA better than I found it.

And that means continually finding ways to improve, to do whatever it takes to make the people of KOA successful in what they do. Coming up, the employees think they're coming to give feedback on whether or not Tim deserves his own campground. I got the impression he's probably better in the office than he is out in the field right now.

How will they react when they find out that Tim is really Jim? I'm the chairman and CEO of Campgrounds of America. We brought the people that I worked with to Sedona, Arizona, because it is just the perfect place to talk about the future of KOA.

The people I worked with think they're going to meet with an angel investor to give feedback on my performance. They have no idea why they are really here. Good afternoon. Nice to meet you, Nathan. Nice to meet you.

Well, I understand you've spent some time with an individual that's seeking some of my investment. Yes. Tim.

That's correct. I got the impression he's probably better in the office than he is out in the field right now. OK. I have to be honest. You look very familiar to me.

Why is that? You look a little bit like Tim. You could be brothers. I'm not sure.

I'm the chairman and CEO of Camp Grounds of America. I'm Jim Rogers, and I was Tim. Okay.

What's going on? You're on undercover boss. Are you serious? That's where we're at. I'm just, I'm in shock right now.

I had no idea. I just, I knew something was weird about the whole thing. Is that a fact? Yep. You're kidding.

No, I'm not. Okay. Paul, I wanted to say thank you personally.

I appreciate all that you do every day. And I know our guests do too because they're the ones that decided that that Founders Award ought to be yours. We just do what we can for the guests.

We love the guests. We love you too, okay? I wish I could box you up and send you all over the system.

But you know, the time that we sat and you talked to me about these KOA Care Camps that help support camps for kids with cancer. And I want to make a $50,000 contribution to Care Camps this year in your name. That's fantastic.

I'm going to give you a tip. Yeah, $50,000 tip, right? Yeah, it's going in the jar. It's an honor. It is definitely an honor.

And, you know, I have to tour your home. Yeah, it's our home. I'd like to give you $10,000 to help you fix up whatever you want to work on, you name it. Thank you. Your grandchildren.

It's really important that you and Sean get back to see your grandchildren in Pennsylvania. So I want to give you another $10,000 to make that trip possible. Thank you.

Thank you. I thank you so much. You don't know how much this means. Thank you so much. You are so welcome.

What Jim's done for us is just amazing. Spectacular. It's really true when you put your heart and soul into something, it does come back to you.

It truly does. We're on undercover, boss. Are we really? He's giving us $10,000 so we can go home and see the girls. Oh.

I'm going to see the kids. Nathan, I spent a little time watching you as a housekeeper. When I worked with you, I saw chaos in housekeeping. You were running back and forth to pick up things.

You're using different chemicals across the board. And it just seemed like that there probably had a more efficient way to do that. So I'm going to make arrangements to send you up to our training grounds.

We have our company-owned properties where they're training new kind of concepts. And one of things we're working really hard on is housekeeping. And I want to. Be sure I take care of your cost of your trip and pay you while you're there.

Oh. And hopefully you'll come back with some new ideas and maybe give us a few. If you're willing, are you okay with that?

That'd be outstanding. Oh, great, great. You know, you got me on that zip line. You probably don't know this, but I have a fear of heights. And I was scared to death to really jump off that board, and you pushed me.

I want to give you 5,000 bucks, and I want you to take your family to a theme park that has thrill rides. Are you serious? I'm serious.

Wow. Thank you. That's really a big deal.

Thank you. I had no idea that I was getting duped by my undercover boss. Hopefully, I can give him some good feedback, and maybe I'll learn something myself. Bruce, Lori, you are two precious franchisees.

You guys are so hardworking. And the only way I could get out and get to know great employees like you is to do it undercover. I love that button-up shirt all the way to the top.

All you need was a pocket liner, and you'd be the professional geek. Looking at you and all the ideas you have, I think the accommodation side of your business is going to grow. I think there's a real opportunity there.

And so I want to give you $25,000 to buy another deluxe cabist. Holy cow. This is the craziest thing ever. Well, if you're going to be the best KOA in the system, you're going to have to. Yes, thank you so much.

I am just in awe here. You both are very hardworking owners. And it's true of most couples that are working like this, entrepreneurs, but you don't get enough time away. And I think you mentioned Lake Powell.

And so I want to give you $10,000 for a vacation at Lake Powell. I want you to go down there and rent a high-end houseboat and bring the whole family. Would you enjoy that?

Oh, I'd go crazy on that. Would you? That's crazy. This is fantastic. Thank you so much.

Well, thank you for what you did for Tim. Thank you for what you do for KOA. I look forward to watching you grow.

New cabin. We appreciate that. It makes it worth it. It makes it just worth everything that we have done.

We won't stop until that's the best KOA around. I can guarantee you. Sadia, you obviously express great pleasure with what you do.

I love it out there, yeah. I know that you're frustrated by some of the things you're seeing on our system. Yeah, oh yeah.

It's been a bit of a pill sometimes. I can assure you that we are making improvements. We are building proprietary software. that only KOA will have, and we'd love to get to it as quickly as you would. You touched on a subject that was, you know, fitness-related and skin care.

Yeah. I'd like to create a task force at KOA that pursues that opportunity of developing those kinds of locations, those kinds of facilities throughout KOA. And I'd like you to help us do that.

Are you willing to do that? Yeah, for sure, definitely. When we were out on the boat, it was very clear to me that you had a family that you would love to share.

You know, some of your joy of the water. I'd like to give you 5,000 bucks to get your family to come spend a week and let them just enjoy and see what you love so much. My family?

Your whole family. So wait, so my whole, you're paying for my whole family to come to the KOA and just have a day of... No, we're gonna have a week.

A week? We'll put them in the deluxe cabins, we'll feed them, we'll just treat them, you know, first class guests. And, you know, we'll get you off that week and be sure that everybody has a great time and you're in the middle of it.

I don't know, I'll be able to get off work for a whole week in the summer. Let me figure it out. I'm the boss.

Okay. Okay. All right. And you talked about school. I'm going to give you $50,000 to cover the various things that you want to accomplish now and in life.

Me? You. Really?

Are you serious? I am. To do what? Just for my schooling and everything? Everything.

Come back. Oh sure. I'm speechless.

I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say. I don't even know what to think. I just... I'm just so happy.

I'm on top of the world. This is amazing. I'm proud of the people that I met this week.

I'm honored to be in the position that I am. I'm extremely proud to be the chairman and CEO of Campgrounds of America. I felt that when I arrived, it was a good company. I wanted to make it great.

My mom and dad always said, I've got to leave the campsite better than I found it. But I think about that every day, because at the end of the day, I want to do my best, and I want to do a good turn daily, and this week has helped me do that. We use the word genuine engagement in our mission statement, genuine engagement with our guests. I've learned this week it's better for me to go spend intense time with a small number of employees than to try to speak to 250 at a big meeting. And I think that if we can think that way as individuals, not only is our company going to do well, but so is our country.

Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode. A new episode of CSI New York is next, only CBS. Next Friday, when the president of Moe's Southwest Grill goes undercover. You have to multitask. Be happy the whole time that you're doing it.

He's taking some heat. Hurry up. I had a restaurant at one time, so I know how to use a knife. You are just a ding-dong. And seize him a moment.

I'm the president of this brand, and I'm actually evaluating your performance right now. New Undercover Boss, CBS, next Friday.

Transcript for:Einblicke von Undercover Boss bei KOA

Transcript for:
Einblicke von Undercover Boss bei KOA