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.
