DirecTV will let you turn nearly all jobs to SWiM=TRUE so if you got some job that would be rough to do as a legacy setup, carry the equipment to swim it out and have the job modded as soon as you get there.
Another good idea is to try and get your home address set up to where all the prewired homes are in your area. So when you fill out your app, give them a home address in a zip code that has all the new build in it. You will find that you end up at homes that have RG6 prewires and you aren't crawling around in old filth. This tactic has put me in homes where I'm only running about 20' to 30' feet of coax total to put in a 4 room system.
As far as connectivity goes, Directv would like to see most homes on an internet connection such as the WIFI or broadband deca. These are equipment that have a coax connected to them as part of the DirecTV setup and then have an ethernet or wireless connection to the customer's router. Try to carry wifi decas because if they have cable modem, you will probably be running a wire for that. Broadband decas in general are more reliable than wifi decas because customers change passwords, change routers, change providers, etc., all which can disrupt a wifi deca if they don't program it and that can hurt you if they are switching from cable to phone as part of this change and a day later your wifi deca is no longer responding. For phone, connect up the small jumpers to every phone jack. No phone service...still hook it up. You especially want to do that on a SWM setup because if my understanding is correct, all receivers count if one is connected. On service calls and upgrades, look for phone jacks you can connect up to. I've never ran an actual phone line in order to meet non-deca connectivity requirements but I've always met that metric.
The only real complaint I have is that they push you to sell the DPP protection plan. Sure, you get extra money when you do, but the bar is set so high for that metric. I think they want something like 75%+ on DPP sales. I've never met it. I think guys do the old "sign here and sign here" thing on the paperwork without telling customers that they are signing up for the plan. To me, that's fraudulent and it is actually illegal. I don't have high DPP sales but every one of them was come by honestly and if you asked my customer if they signed up for it, they would tell you they did. I think DirecTV sets the bar so high because techs slam that service in to get their $3 bonus that they think that techs can get 75% honestly. That is utter crap, no sales industry has a 75% close rate. If you can get a 75% close rate honestly without fraud, you should be selling cars and not installing satellite.
Re: What is DirecTV like now?
Member #: 40846
Registered: 9/19/2005
Posted:
1493
Name:
Duane Vick
Name:
Duane Vick
Company:
Self-Employed
Occupation:
Installer
Location:
Phoenix AZ
There are 0 replies to this message
