No pressure, customer-focused and integration-friendly, DISH’s concierge-level satellite design and installation service takes the load off your workforce.
Satellite TV installation and service is a facet of the smart home environment that may stump some residential integrators. It’s not that the satellite systems themselves are difficult to deploy, but is it worth the hassle? Will it be lucrative or take up too much time and manpower? Do customers still really want satellite given the wide breadth of easily accessible streaming content?
Despite these valid reservations, satellite service is still relatively high on consumers’ must-have lists. “Most people like having the option of being able to flip through channels, and that’s what a service like DISH lets them do,” says Jimmy Smith, operations and IT manager of Sound Concepts in Jonesboro, Ark. “Then there’s the benefit of having the satellite box interoperate with other smart systems in the home. Integration is a lot more complex with streaming devices than it is with a DISH settop box.”
Smith speaks from experience. Sound Concepts has been a DISH dealer for many years, breaking away briefly, but coming back full force when DISH launched its Custom Integration Program in 2016. Developed to simplify satellite installations and service for the CI channel—and without any hard-nosed sales requirements—the program was hard for Sound Concepts to pass up. “We were finally able to provide our customers with exceptional satellite service without turning into a sales-focused company,” Smith says. Since then, it’s been smooth sailing for him and his team of 33 technicians. Thanks to its partnership with DISH, Sound Concepts has grown its satellite business significantly—without adding manpower or increasing truck rolls.
DISH Does the Work, You Reap the Rewards
Time and manpower are two things in short supply in the systems integration market. The DISH Custom Integration Program requires neither, making satellite TV installation an easy item for systems integrators to include in their portfolios. Customers want it, so if you can offer it without any hardship, why not? The program aligns you directly with a dedicated team of highly trained DISH concierge technicians who carry the equipment and handle the installation, setup, and service. It’s up to you to obtain customers. You still retain full control and ownership of the project, as all correspondence channels through you before you hand off to DISH. You can revisit the project to integrate the box with your control systems and remain your customers’ go-to person.
It’s a win-win for everyone: DISH can do its job and generate revenue from service subscriptions, you can outsource the work to a team of highly trained experts, and your clients can rely on you to take care of any service issues that crop up, rather than being put on hold to “speak with the next customer service representative.” The arrangement between you and DISH is completely transparent to the homeowner.
“The DISH Concierge Program streamlines the experience, so the customer doesn’t have to spend hours selecting service packages, coordinating installs, or waiting for installation appointments,” says Tyson Rabani, CEO and founder of GoQAV in Centennial, Col. Smith adds, “DISH has provided integrators with the resources to give a red-carpet experience to their customers. As part of the Custom Integration Program, I get the answers I need immediately. I’ve never been put on hold. It’s this level of support that makes a service like this priceless to the CI industry. Plus, it keeps integrators apprised of all matters at clients’ homes. You know which DISH concierge technician has visited the customers’ home, when, and what they did rather than guessing later on.”
Certainly, relegating labor to an outside firm takes guts, but DISH has built a team of highly qualified, satellite “experts” to assist systems integrators: Professionals like Amanda Wildman, who’s been installing and servicing satellite systems since 2003. Although she operates and owns her own systems integration business and handles her own DISH deployments, under her company TruMedia in Ada, Mich., she and her installation team provide concierge services to fellow integrators. “Our roots are in satellite, so we’ve learned which providers best serve the integration community, and that’s DISH,” Wildman says. “Plus, they are uniquely innovative and keep a pulse of what their customers need and want. They were the first to enable users to skip over commercials and watch content anywhere.” Smith adds, “Unlike other service providers that often supply refurbished boxes, under the DISH Custom Integration Program, we get brand new boxes—just one more way we can assure our customers of a premium entertainment experience.” Both Wildman and Smith look forward to DISH’s next big release: Hopper Plus.
Aligns with Customer-Focused Business Models
For a customer service-minded firm like Sound Concepts, being able to focus on keeping clients happy rather than drumming up new satellite business is one of the biggest benefits of aligning with DISH. “We don’t have the pressure of operating like a retail establishment where our goal is to sign on new satellite customers in order to stay in the program. DISH understands that in the systems integration business post-installation service and keeping existing customers happy is just as important as finding new customers,” Smith says. “We’ve been able to easily roll existing clients into the program, sign on new customers as we get them, maintain focus on our integration business, and continue to serve our customers with the same level of service and support that we always have.”
Meet with the DISH Custom Integration team at CEDIA Expo in Dallas, Sept. 29 – Oct. 1, 2022.
