How DISH Network Changed the Game for Installers

by Publisher, eResumes4Vips
(Austin, Waco, Dallas, Fort Worth Texas, USA)

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Earlier, I wrote about my customer service experience with DISH Network. I posted the article within my weekly (free) subscription ezine -- How DISH Network Almost Lost My Business. This site page isn't about beating and banging the drums of that customer service issue. It's about what I discovered during the in-home tech support visit.

DISH NO LONGER USES INDEPENDENT CONTRACTED INSTALLERS

That's right...once upon a time; you ordered DISH satellite or needed boots-on-the-ground tech support, Larry The Cable Guy (or Larrietta) was an independent Joe/Jane with his own truck and equipment. Most of time, they were quick, done, finished. You now have TV service; they rode off into the sunset.

WHAT CHANGED OR HAPPENED NEXT?

My tech support guy (Jason The Satellite Guy) was a W-2 employee of DISH Network; via a subsidiary called Southern Star of Oklahoma City, OK (USA). He was thorough, expert, and service-friendly. The main difference, that I spotted, between he et als (1099 contractors), was that he wore a DISH uniform (polo) and he had a Chevy equipment cargo-van with DISH logo plastered all over.

He had a sophisticated Galaxy Tablet with immediate customer survey feedback and new generation service evaluative data transmission. Moreover, he indicated that CUSTOMERS demanded better on-ground tech support. Hence the conversion from Independents (1099) to Corporate tech employees (W-2).

BOTTOMLINE: Independents, that invested financial resources into equipment, transportation, and their life energy into the cable installation industry, are S.O.O.L (blank-blank-expletive-out-of-luck). Surprisingly, the reverse is usually the case. Tech companies, especially, move from W-2 employees into 1099 independents.

Hmmm, I wonder. Was this conversion a result of meeting Customer expectations, or was this a corporate profit enhancement transformation. I'll wait and see; the jury is still out on this one...