WildBlue Installers
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ITs less then that now, seems to me. other field pay better and are not decline pay like satellite business. THis is the only business push the long time and experienced techs out from the business.
it depends on who you work for too, would you be selling the systems yourself? If so there is a little bit of a kickback on the actual sale. But the $179 you collect from the customer. It seems like good pay compared to pay some get to dish/direct installs, but Wildblue is also real pickey about their installs, and at least in my experience, they take a bit longer than a tv install89formula said:
birddoggy said:
I cannot speak for wildblue but I get paid the same for Direcway as I would for a 4 room install. Direcway usually takes me 2 hours to complete including customer education. A 4 room systems takes me about the same time but with Direcway I do not have to call and activate the system so that saves some time. Also with Wildblue and Direcway you only have to run 1 line instead of 2,3,or4.
The Tate said:
Yeah, one dual..
You can even do Wild blue faster then, its very simple probably most time consuming thing is putting that damn Raven dish to get here. *Which Direcway from P10 just switch to just recently*
Just install the dish, apply 24 volt to Pointing aid (Provided by WildBlue) that connect to regular DBS meter peak the dish like you would with DBS dish lock it down, reboot modem. Change settings in customer PC and goto any webpage, WB gateway will take you registration page. Enter customer name and password and done. Get customer MAC address so you can log int to tech portal and monitor their signal etc at late time.
No Xpoll, no ACP error, no changing satellites, Lighter dish etc. I install both for somebody else for hourly rate so I don't know the business end of it.
I install for a retailer and I make $125 for a basic Wildblue install. Retailer provides all the wire, connectors, ect. I drive my truck, my gas.
A wildblue installation is priced at $179 by wildblue. Your materials cost maybe $10 for an install. That $125 is not enough if you are an independent contractor.
If you pay your own insurance, have no min income assurance, are not covered under the retailers workmans comp, and have to provide an installation warranty whereas you may have to return FREE OF CHARGE to repair a systems, then you are being screwed at $125.
I charge my retailers $179, cover all materials, and provide no free labor after the install for equipment failure. If the retailer wants to sell that POS, then they should have to pay labor charges when it fails.
I charge $120 / $25 for a Directv or Dish installation with additional for dual coax runs, 2nd dish installations. The retailer tacks on to the customers bill a trip fee which I add to my invoice to the retailer. They start at $5 and average around $15.
Bottom line, if you cannot deposit at least 10% of your monthly income into a savings account to pay the bills when the work slows down, then you are not charging enough.
If you are a contractor, the correct term is, you are not charging enough!!
I know most of you will not distigush the differance between making and charging, but to me there is a world of differance in the attitude of each word. As independant contractors you have three responsibilities.
1 - charge enough to make your business a profit, AFTER you pay yourself an income, and;
2 - Make sure the business earns enough profit so your business can has enough in savings to pay YOU your income even when the business has less cash flow due to seasonal slowdowns or a lull in promotions and:
3 - Make your business can pay you enough income so you can put money away for retirement.
If you, or your business cannot meet these minimum financial obligations, then you seriously need to reconsider what the hell you are doing with your life. If all you are doing is getting by, then please get out of my way. All you are doing is holding down the installation rates for the rest of us.
If fewer installers said yes to sub $179 rates for WildBlue, then the powers that be would be forced to increase installation allocations, or charge the customer more (as it should be anyway).
Just say NO!
Figure out what you, personnaly need to earn. If you are a one person business, figure out how much your business must earn to pay all the business cost, and then be able to pay your income. Estimated average work load and estimate how much per job your business must put in savings to cover baseline business expense and your income for at least 1-2 months. You should expect it to take about 10-12 months to build this business savings to cover that estimated cost.
I know most of you will not distigush the differance between making and charging, but to me there is a world of differance in the attitude of each word. As independant contractors you have three responsibilities.
1 - charge enough to make your business a profit, AFTER you pay yourself an income, and;
2 - Make sure the business earns enough profit so your business can has enough in savings to pay YOU your income even when the business has less cash flow due to seasonal slowdowns or a lull in promotions and:
3 - Make your business can pay you enough income so you can put money away for retirement.
If you, or your business cannot meet these minimum financial obligations, then you seriously need to reconsider what the hell you are doing with your life. If all you are doing is getting by, then please get out of my way. All you are doing is holding down the installation rates for the rest of us.
If fewer installers said yes to sub $179 rates for WildBlue, then the powers that be would be forced to increase installation allocations, or charge the customer more (as it should be anyway).
Just say NO!
Figure out what you, personnaly need to earn. If you are a one person business, figure out how much your business must earn to pay all the business cost, and then be able to pay your income. Estimated average work load and estimate how much per job your business must put in savings to cover baseline business expense and your income for at least 1-2 months. You should expect it to take about 10-12 months to build this business savings to cover that estimated cost.
i agree that for the most part sub-contractors should be making more. That is one reason I no longer am in this line of work full-time.
I now work for the postal service full time, and install as a side job.
Personally i'm fine at $125 an install for Wildblue, as it takes me about 2 hours, the retailer i work for provides all materials, and I personally don't have to gaurantee all of my work. He will pay another installer to go out and fix something if needed. Also he pays for all training (including travel expenses), and he covers my insurance costs.
I work a day or two a week when I feel like making a little extra money, or when he gets backed up on installs. Which, as soon as Wildblue 1 lights up, i'm sure i'll be busy.
I now work for the postal service full time, and install as a side job.
Personally i'm fine at $125 an install for Wildblue, as it takes me about 2 hours, the retailer i work for provides all materials, and I personally don't have to gaurantee all of my work. He will pay another installer to go out and fix something if needed. Also he pays for all training (including travel expenses), and he covers my insurance costs.
I work a day or two a week when I feel like making a little extra money, or when he gets backed up on installs. Which, as soon as Wildblue 1 lights up, i'm sure i'll be busy.
That's exactly how it is here in Tucson except it's $130.00 for standard install. I'm just training now but it seems to me that it pays better than DirectV installs for the time spent and work done.
If you are using the DTV contractor rate many charge as your foundation for thinking $130 is fine for a WildBlue install then you need to learn a few things about business.
Your business should earn no less than $50 an hour for your installation time. This includes travel. The ONLY way you can expand your business is to reach a point where you can hire other installers. If you hire employees, they will cost you at least $25/hour after wages, taxes, ect... Your business must charge TWICE that amount for labor.
At a minimum, your should allocate 3 hours per install. You also need to consider any warranty work, that must be paid to your installer (even if it just you) from the installation fee. 3x$50=$150. Add in materials, vehicle expense, and other expenses and you reach $180-$200, easily.
Wildblue selected the $179 installation rate because they figured this out and knew dealers who used in-house employees would come to the same conclusion. If a dealer has an employee, the dealer assumes 100% of the risk. If there is a warranty service call required, the dealer pays the employee, the gas ect... The dealer pays all materials and assumes all risk.
If a dealer does not generate a steady work flow to justify hiring an employee, then they can hire a contractor. The contractor assumes the role of the dealer who hired the employee. The contractor assumes the risk and expense, and in turn should receive at least the same installation fee the dealer receives.
Side note: IMO, the contractor should be paid even more. I charge $120 + a trip fee (paid by the customer, ranging from $5 to $50) for a DISH or DTV single rx install. The dealer only receives $100 for the install.
Any dealer who has ZERO expense or risk towards the installation and keeps ANY portion of the installation fee for themselves is NOT a dealer I can respect. On the other hand, if they can find a sucker who will work for less, can you really blame them?
There are situations where accepting less than $179 would make sense. I have a deal with my dealers that if they generate decent volume in a month, I give a discount. If I can schedule three installs a day in the same area, they get a 5% discount.
If they generate over 10 installs in a month, they get another 5%, 15 installs a 7% discount, and 20 installs a 10% discount. So if a wildblue dealer had a contract with me, they can earn a 15% discount with decent volume and if I can schedule efficiently. That brings the effective WB rate to $156. But that is OK, because I did not have to drive very far from one install to the next. With gas prices, it works out just fine for me.
I use this same approach for DISH network and DTV installs.
Your business should earn no less than $50 an hour for your installation time. This includes travel. The ONLY way you can expand your business is to reach a point where you can hire other installers. If you hire employees, they will cost you at least $25/hour after wages, taxes, ect... Your business must charge TWICE that amount for labor.
At a minimum, your should allocate 3 hours per install. You also need to consider any warranty work, that must be paid to your installer (even if it just you) from the installation fee. 3x$50=$150. Add in materials, vehicle expense, and other expenses and you reach $180-$200, easily.
Wildblue selected the $179 installation rate because they figured this out and knew dealers who used in-house employees would come to the same conclusion. If a dealer has an employee, the dealer assumes 100% of the risk. If there is a warranty service call required, the dealer pays the employee, the gas ect... The dealer pays all materials and assumes all risk.
If a dealer does not generate a steady work flow to justify hiring an employee, then they can hire a contractor. The contractor assumes the role of the dealer who hired the employee. The contractor assumes the risk and expense, and in turn should receive at least the same installation fee the dealer receives.
Side note: IMO, the contractor should be paid even more. I charge $120 + a trip fee (paid by the customer, ranging from $5 to $50) for a DISH or DTV single rx install. The dealer only receives $100 for the install.
Any dealer who has ZERO expense or risk towards the installation and keeps ANY portion of the installation fee for themselves is NOT a dealer I can respect. On the other hand, if they can find a sucker who will work for less, can you really blame them?
There are situations where accepting less than $179 would make sense. I have a deal with my dealers that if they generate decent volume in a month, I give a discount. If I can schedule three installs a day in the same area, they get a 5% discount.
If they generate over 10 installs in a month, they get another 5%, 15 installs a 7% discount, and 20 installs a 10% discount. So if a wildblue dealer had a contract with me, they can earn a 15% discount with decent volume and if I can schedule efficiently. That brings the effective WB rate to $156. But that is OK, because I did not have to drive very far from one install to the next. With gas prices, it works out just fine for me.
I use this same approach for DISH network and DTV installs.
How are you charging for trip fees for a customers FREE installation. There is nothing non standard about a 1st time visit to a customers house with a scheduled appointment. Some of the FF company's even state in their contract a installation consist of travel to and from customers home.
Simple, we tell the customer they are being charged a trip fee. It is not that hard.
Since and DISH and DTV establish the profit margins and they do not increase profits when gas prices increase we must pass some of the cost towards the customer. Most customers are charged $5-$10. The customers that are in the $20 to $50 areas (45 to 60 miles out) pay the trip charge because there is no one else to do the job, or they want ME to do the install.
Consumers like to talk to the person that will be drilling holes into their home. They cannot get that with DNSC or the HSP's. I spend a few minutes on the phone when scheduling asking the customer if they have any concerns, questions ect... When I am done, they are very comfortable with what I am going to do.
Our sales people sell not only the system, but their company and my services. We provide a better service and an extra few bucks to get that service is an easy sell.
We have never lost a customer over $5 to $10. If we cannot justify $5, then we deserve to lose the customer.
I have signed a few contracts that had those "installation consist of travel to and from customers home" clauses. In those cases, I reduced my coverage area to a 15 mile radius and informed the company of my trip charges to extended areas. Most the time, the company paid the trip charges from their own pocket. Sometimes they had the customer pay more.
I have NEVER signed a contract as is. When you are given a contract, it is NOT in your best interest. You must consider what is best for YOU, and your company, then change the terms to meet YOUR needs. The base rate is often hard to change, but other terms are always on the table.
To many dealers and installers have no clue how to sell these days. You march to the music of DISH and DTV. You are told what you can charge, and are afraid to make a living.
Since and DISH and DTV establish the profit margins and they do not increase profits when gas prices increase we must pass some of the cost towards the customer. Most customers are charged $5-$10. The customers that are in the $20 to $50 areas (45 to 60 miles out) pay the trip charge because there is no one else to do the job, or they want ME to do the install.
Consumers like to talk to the person that will be drilling holes into their home. They cannot get that with DNSC or the HSP's. I spend a few minutes on the phone when scheduling asking the customer if they have any concerns, questions ect... When I am done, they are very comfortable with what I am going to do.
Our sales people sell not only the system, but their company and my services. We provide a better service and an extra few bucks to get that service is an easy sell.
We have never lost a customer over $5 to $10. If we cannot justify $5, then we deserve to lose the customer.
I have signed a few contracts that had those "installation consist of travel to and from customers home" clauses. In those cases, I reduced my coverage area to a 15 mile radius and informed the company of my trip charges to extended areas. Most the time, the company paid the trip charges from their own pocket. Sometimes they had the customer pay more.
I have NEVER signed a contract as is. When you are given a contract, it is NOT in your best interest. You must consider what is best for YOU, and your company, then change the terms to meet YOUR needs. The base rate is often hard to change, but other terms are always on the table.
To many dealers and installers have no clue how to sell these days. You march to the music of DISH and DTV. You are told what you can charge, and are afraid to make a living.
As I said before, I am only training. I am currently a carpenter making $14.00/hr in the Tucson heat so $130.00 per WB install is "learning about business" and an upgrade for me.
