Looking to become a dish retailer

phaddon

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Dec 4, 2004
45
0
Greenwood,MS
I'm looking into becoming a Dish retailer. I've worked with Dish Network for over 2 yrs. now trained and certified. we have NO local retailers around my area. I see a growing need very soon. can anyone give me the inside track about being a retailer for Dish.
 
Being a retailer is different than being an installer. Make sure you know what your getting yourself into before doing so. If there are no retailers in your area then that could be a great opportunity for you. You probably do wonder in a way why there are no retailers in your area either though. Has there been other retailers in your area in the past and them they go out of business? That could be an indication of different things.

Your on the hook for one year. If the customer disconnects you lose all of your install and commission monies paid to you in some cases but is based on how long the customer stays on. If a customer disconnects even after the one year is up it is counted against you and if you get too many of them total no matter how long they have had their service then they will charge you an additional $50-100 per receiver. You have to pay retailer price for all receivers plus shipping and handelling fees. Sometimes Dish Network does not pay commissions correctly as they should and sometimes you never see all your commission monies. If a customer moves or upgrades and you put in another dish for them then you are on the hook for six months. If the customer disconnects during that period of time then they will not only charge you back for the installation and commission monies they will also charge you back for the dish. If you are in a SuperDish market then they charge you back for the SuperDish in addition to your commission and install monies. That is $150 right there so you can easily go in the hole. You could lose more than you even could have made.

It depends on your market and how aggressive the cable companies are in your area. There could be a reason why there is no retailers in your area. The economy could be as such to where there is a lot of churn, too much for any retailer to survive or you could have found a real good opportunity. A lot of retailers have few chargebacks. You have to make sure you service your customers and keep them happy, that is important. It can be very rewarding if you do not get too many customers to churn and get enough business. Sometimes when one retailer comes in many others will come in your area as well if they see your advertising. Also if the cable company comes up with an agressive promotion they can take a lot of your customers back resulting in high churn rates all of a sudden. If you are in a locals market then that will help your satellite business.

Did I leave anything out?
 
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Everything Stargazer said - only double! :mad:

E* will do EVERYTHING THEY CAN to take YOUR money away from you. :mad:

YOU pay for EVERYTHING up front! E* MIGHT give you some of your money back if your paperwork is PERFECT and they don't (deliberately) lose it. :mad:

Their big push right now is teaming up with the phone companies to undercut the best deal you can get from E*. They have a referral program where IF they give you any customers, they will be low-end - lots of chargebacks. :mad:

They do everything they can to kill your residuals. Even swapping out one of THEIR bad receivers can trigger it. :mad:

The economics SOUND good up front, but the reality is MUCH different.

All that being said, if you work VERY hard, you can make a living.
 
You have to be careful and know what your doing. I have managed to collect most if not all of the money due to me and have been very stern with them if I do not get what I am due. You have to stay on top of them sometimes. I do not think that it is a coincidence that most mistakes seem to be in their favor instead of ours (if its to ours they may correct it months later). You only have 90 days to catch those mistakes that they make and get your money back if you did not get all of your commissions due to you.
 
Stargazer said:
Being a retailer is different than being an installer. Make sure you know what your getting yourself into before doing so. If there are no retailers in your area then that could be a great opportunity for you. You probably do wonder in a way why there are no retailers in your area either though. Has there been other retailers in your area in the past and them they go out of business? That could be an indication of different things.

Your on the hook for one year. If the customer disconnects you lose all of your install and commission monies paid to you in some cases but is based on how long the customer stays on. If a customer disconnects even after the one year is up it is counted against you and if you get too many of them total no matter how long they have had their service then they will charge you an additional $50-100 per receiver. You have to pay retailer price for all receivers plus shipping and handelling fees. Sometimes Dish Network does not pay commissions correctly as they should and sometimes you never see all your commission monies. If a customer moves or upgrades and you put in another dish for them then you are on the hook for six months. If the customer disconnects during that period of time then they will not only charge you back for the installation and commission monies they will also charge you back for the dish. If you are in a SuperDish market then they charge you back for the SuperDish in addition to your commission and install monies. That is $150 right there so you can easily go in the hole. You could lose more than you even could have made.

It depends on your market and how aggressive the cable companies are in your area. There could be a reason why there is no retailers in your area. The economy could be as such to where there is a lot of churn, too much for any retailer to survive or you could have found a real good opportunity. A lot of retailers have few chargebacks. You have to make sure you service your customers and keep them happy, that is important. It can be very rewarding if you do not get too many customers to churn and get enough business. Sometimes when one retailer comes in many others will come in your area as well if they see your advertising. Also if the cable company comes up with an agressive promotion they can take a lot of your customers back resulting in high churn rates all of a sudden. If you are in a locals market then that will help your satellite business.

Did I leave anything out?

well installer I was, I'm now the manager of the regional RSP. we also have the retail side of our compnay but it's a sideline for us. that's why I'm asking. No one at our company will give me insight to the retail side. we have a Dtv retailer in town and several guys that work for contract dtv companies. in the greenwood-greenville DMA there are NO local as of yet. we have good ole Adelphia and Galaxy Cable around here. I'm just looking down the road. Dish and DTV beat the cable companies sooooo bad in price and service.

thanks for the info. now I know what to really think about.
 
E* has put in place some new programs that have helped. With a customer with excellent credit, you only have a 90 day chargeback period. Also, your chargeback is reduced by 25% every quarter, but this can still be a substantial amount with the new receivers. Having top notch installers is a neccessity. There is a good deal of money to be made, but there is a lot to keep up with since they change their promos every 6 months and change the business rules just as much. Check out:

retailer.echostar.com

and browse their public access content for some more info.
 
Chargebacks may be reduced 25% each quarter but they increased the chargeback period which made it in their favor. It was better for the retailers before they made the change. When the company first started it was 3 months then it went to 8 months. The only way the retailer benefits now compared to before is if the customer just happens to shut the service off during months 6-8 where the retailer only loses half of their commissions instead of two-thirds of it. Things go beyond that when you lose the money you have invested in the SuperDish. You might as well say that you lose all of your money and perhaps go into the whole if you live in a SuperDish market and the system gets shut off within 6 months. This is why you need a contract to make your customers sign to keep the service on for 12 consecutive months to protect yourself. If the customer does not want to sign then the customer is not serious enough about wanting the satellite system and its high risk.
 
The 6-8 month period is probably the biggest chargeback time to begin with. And, as I stated, with excellent credit, you have a 90 day chargeback. We only offer a 12 or 24 month DHA, and it gives us the extra $15 DHPP commision, so it works out. We rarely have any chargebacks.
 
Personally I feel the new chargeback period is better than the old one!

Chargebacks can be a bitch, but if you watch who you sell to and don't sell to everyone they can be kept under control!

Being a dealer is not that bad, but you need to have experence. IF you don't have a clue on what your doing, its very easy to run your business into the ground!
 
I have a lot less chargebacks than what I used to have because I have been more careful with who I have been selling to. Claude sure is right about having to know what your doing, you sure can lose a bundle if you do not go about things the right way.
 
You have to be careful and know what your doing. I have managed to collect most if not all of the money due to me and have been very stern with them if I do not get what I am due. You have to stay on top of them sometimes. I do not think that it is a coincidence that most mistakes seem to be in their favor instead of ours (if its to ours they may correct it months later). You only have 90 days to catch those mistakes that they make and get your money back if you did not get all of your commissions due to you.
Out of curiosity I am going thru the process of becoming a retailer, do they send you through background as they do on the fulfillment side of the business
 
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