More Bad Press For Prime TV...goody, goody!

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justsatellites said:
The latest in the local paper in North Carolina where Prime (oops dishtvnow.com) is located. It's cool, they have quotes for an installer that is planning to put a lien on Prime's customers. Here is the link:

www.thepilot.com/news/040704PrimeTV.html

None of this surprises me one bit. I installed many Prime TV systems, and there were always problems. Most of the time, they centered around Prime giving the customer incomplete information, or downright lying to them. They would tell them ANYTHING to get them to order, knowing that it would be hard for the customer to back out after the system was installed. There have been times when they'd tell customers that they'd get the Total Choice Premiere package for $39.99 a month. Or any number of other creative lies. Good riddance to them.
 
The problem wasn't Prime TV's fault so much as it was a victim of it's own success. I've been in their call center and have watched managers correct the sales reps who are giving bad information. Prime TV / Dish TV Now has extensive training programs where the reps go through days of training, which is allot for selling a Satellite System.

Prime TV's reps are 100% commission they have hundreds of reps. Although having a commission only sales force is the best way to motivate your reps and maximize sales, it does not encourage complete honesty with those that are unscrupulous. So let's do the math:

Even if one in 100 is a bad egg willing to lie and cheat to get the sale, and they do 5 deals a day (low average number) then you are probably looking at 25 bad deals on average a day...
Prime TV is a 7days a week operation so: it's up to 175 bad deals a week, or at 4.5 weeks a month: 788 bad deals a month. Sound's like allot, right? Well we started with less than 1% of the reps setting up bad deals. It's funny how you don't hear about the tens of thousands of satisfied customers. Just the few hundred who are upset.

Now, let's ad some more kettles to the fire. If prime is a 24/7 operation, then it stands to reason that a good percentage of their sales are from customers sitting at home during the work day. I ask those reading this, to think.. Are the majority of these people the type of customers who will accept everything that is told to them , the answer is no. Generally speaking the average daytime customer is looking for a way to screw the system. A good majority of the customers want something for free and will never be happy. This actually isn't a situation reserved for Prime, i've also spent considerable time in small retailers who try their best to offer the highest levels of service and support. They also get bad customers, complaining customers, and unhappy customers who claim they were not told something they absolutely were told. It's just that Prime is the biggest, so they get the largest number of complaints. Satellite isn't the best business to be in if you as a retailer want reasonable customers.

I have respect for the organization. They have created many jobs, increased the penetration of Satellite TV to the American Consumer, and consequently increased competition which has helped all of the products available to us get better.

The managers at Prime TV do their best to make sure the sales are done in an honest way and with full disclosure to the customer. So for the folks at Prime TV I wish them luck in the years ahead with Dish. They are going to need it as Charlie will run them through the ringers if they let him, and their isn't much of an alternative after Dish.
 
I ask those reading this, to think.. Are the majority of these people the type of customers who will accept everything that is told to them , the answer is no. Generally speaking the average daytime customer is looking for a way to screw the system. A good majority of the customers want something for free and will never be happy.

Huh???

I am sorry, maybe I read you wrong, but are you really saying that the majority of people who can call during the day are unscrupulous people who are looking to rip off the company?

Give me a break.

My wife is a stay at home mom. She is anything but dishonest.

A friend of mine is currently out of work, laid off by a large corporation. He is an honest guy.

Another friend of mine works nights.

One of my relatives works 4 hours a day because he is very successful in his business, and woudl rather spend the time with his family.

Your statement was very strange, unless (as I said) I misread you, in which case ignore everything I just wrote.
 
788 "Bad Deals" is "Bad Business" and should not be tolerated.

If commission based sales causes a company to be perceived as dishonest, then it is not the right sales policy.

sto22
 
sto22 said:
788 "Bad Deals" is "Bad Business" and should not be tolerated. If commission based sales causes a company to be perceived as dishonest, then it is not the right sales policy. sto22

The point is They probably have significantly less than 1% bad deals so less than 1%=788 by my ball park guess. I know the satellite industry fairly well, and in my opinion I don't think they are alone. I think that they probably are average for the industry, they just get the most bad press b/c they have the largest chunk of the market.

It's nice to say that comission based sales is probably not the best policy, but that's definately a utopian philosophy and they simply are only compensated by how many satellite systems they get out in the market.

You want a policy that really works, have dish start a reverse comission policy. Currently after a sale the dealer gets aproximately $1 a month in residuals which goes away after 5 years. How about this: .50 cents in residuals per customer per year for the first year, and then climb it up every year by .50. Year two would be $1, year three would be $1.50 etc. Then the bulk of the compensation would come by keeping the customer happy for a long time, and promote good sales and service.
 
Jolard said:
Huh??? I am sorry, maybe I read you wrong, but are you really saying that the majority of people who can call during the day are unscrupulous people who are looking to rip off the company? .

You Did read me wrong, but that's 1/2 my fault, I didn't make myself clear enough. The majority of the people who are calling in are the ones who want something for nothing. That's part of PrimeTV's fault because of how they advertise for service and part Dish & Direct's fault b/c they push the Free equipment aspect of what they are promoting.


Jolard said:
Give me a break.
My wife is a stay at home mom. She is anything but dishonest.
A friend of mine is currently out of work, laid off by a large corporation. He is an honest guy.
Another friend of mine works nights.
One of my relatives works 4 hours a day because he is very successful in his business, and would rather spend the time with his family. .

Still you have in a way made my point. Anyone with any brains knows that if you are a reasonably responsible stay at home mother, you are very busy most of the day. You don't have time to watch daytime TV. The person who is out of work is looking for a job and that in itself is a full time position. The friend who works nights sleeps during the day, and the person who works few hours to spend time with his family is probably spending time with his family. All of your examples are not the stay at home and watch TV all day demographic that is the primary target of the call in ads that Prime and the Satellite companies use.

Jolard said:
Your statement was very strange, unless (as I said) I misread you, in which case ignore everything I just wrote.

I should probably have said that because of the majority of advertising happening during the day, their is a much larger percentage of... well folks who don't work by choice watching and who wish to do as little as possible. Also, another way they advertise the average person they attract to call in is the type of person who is looking for something for nothing.

I in no means meant to say that the average person at home during the day is a bum or unscrupulous. I can only ask you to trust me when I say that if the call center gets 1000 calls, 900 are going to be from people who fit my negative description for the reasons i've pointed out above. The part to me that was so scary was when I learned how many people fit my negative profile...
 
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