field technician

service technician

field manager

satellite technician

operations coordinator

Satellites Unlimited Inc.

You get out of it what you put into it.  This job isn’t for everyone.  The big money comes later and it seems that most people aren’t willing to do what it takes to get to the big money.  I assure you though that it’s not that difficult.  

I was skeptical at first getting paid by the work order.  It turns out that for people who are hard workers and responsible and can manage their time and are driven to exceed goals, this job is for you.  I was a salaried employee working 50-80 hours a week for the same measly check every 2 weeks prior to this job.  I spent the time learning the technical aspect but also the customer service/sales aspect of the job and have been able to make almost twice as much money in about half as many hours per week.  

Now, I can’t stress enough that you have to put the work in to be successful.  I have been with company for over 3 years and have enjoyed it.  Most days I look forward to having the opportunity to do the job.  I truly like what I do.  I work extremely hard every day though.  I come home sweaty and dirty almost every day.  

There are many skill sets that are important to being successful here.  You must be a people person and be able to communicate clearly.  Time management, personal responsibility and self motivation are other qualities that will help you succeed.  You have to be able to get comfortable offering products and services.  We do hang TVs, install Google Nest products (most are really easy to install), install Dish Network TV services and many other awesome products.  

The company provides as much support as you need as long as you show them that you are putting forth your full effort.  There are so many ways to make money that it’s hard to keep track of them all.  Your fellow techs are always willing to support you as well.  

What other job to you get to dictate how
much money you make?  If you aren’t motivated by money though I would say to look at an hourly job stocking shelves or making burgers.  If you’re satisfied with the minimum $15 an hour then I really think there are easier ways to live in poverty.  But if you want unlimited potential to consistently bring home 80-90k a year in a profession that we are willing to teach you, then give us a shot.  

What is the best part of working at the company?
Company truck you can take home. A chance to make decent money if you are a really good sales man. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Having to deal with heights, attics, and  crawl spaces under trailers, the intense pressure to sell to everyone all the time. Very early inventory restock once a week followed by a full work day.  The equipment you install hardly ever works right. Worrying about damaging the customers property, they will charge you a two days wage if you do. Working in difficult situations in poor weather. There is a lot stressful about this job. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The managers are usually very nice and often helpful. There is an intense pressure to sell. So you are working like two jobs at once, the technician and the salesman. I wouldn’t expect to have much of a life outside of work. This job will use you up daily. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You have to be at your first appointment by 8 am sharp even if it’s an hour or more away. They don’t tell you about your schedule for that day usually until 6am sometimes 7am.  You drive to each appointment with very little information and never really knowing what you are in for. A lot of jobs can be rather difficult and take way more time than you are estimated. You are expected to bring in the surround sound unit, set it up and sample it for every customer, then do your work, which often times is a complete installation of the satellite dish, run cable through the attic or under the trailer, drill holes, attach the cable to the walls using screw brackets, set up the equipment inside on the customers tvs (which sometimes aren’t functioning properly), wait an hour or more for the system to set up while you awkwardly make conversation with the customers, pressure sell them on home security, bad satellite internet, cell phone services and various other “smart home” devices for their residence.  If you sell them on it, you often have to install that as well. You have to log out of every job, like three times on three different applications, and make sure that any equipment you used or sold is marked off your inventory.

Overall
I have worked for a few different companies that contract with Dish. This is the most reliable company that is going to do things by the book and teach you the right way. There are things I think they could improve on with training new people but all in all I feel like this company cares. 

I wrote this because I see a lot of bad reviews about the sales part of the job. I do understand the point of views because I used to think the same way. I was being challenged away from my comfort zone.  I just wanted to give people another perspective to think about because offering services is part of the satellite installation process with Dish. You won't make it if you have a bad attitude. It is like that for anybody that works with Dish doing thier fullfillment work. 

This company has a different perspective as for offering the added services. They don't teach you to be a slimy salesman in training. They teach you to look for a need and not to be a salesman but a product expert and explain the benefits of that need you found during your installation (ie: tv mount, surge protector, remote skins, indoor/outdoor security cameras, electronic door locks, etc). It is stuff to enhance the home. It's really not that bad. I don't see it as being a salesman. It's like carpet cleaning business. You go there for a basic carpet cleaning but you see and smell animal urine so you offer an additional product based on a need. Your not really being a salesman. Your just an expert at solving problems and offering solutions. It is all how to view this job. If you treat it this way you don't see it as selling. This is how you succeed with this company. Some techs make 6 figures with a company vehicle, tools, gas card, benefits, stock ownership, etc. But they are doing more than just installing satellites. 

This company has good values and treats employees more than a statistic compared to other smaller contract companies and larger ones like Southern star. I highly recommend this job if you are trainable and can adapt to a changing environment.

Honestly, there are some good managers and people in the company, I was treated fair but let me tell you, you will be a salesman/technician/tech-advisor/ computer work/ and a bunch of other roles while getting paid a "salary". By "salary" what it means is that you will be paid per job by units and if a 3 bed house pay 20 units SUI will keep some of that 20 units and pay you the rest , they may keep 10 of the 20 units or 5 of those 20 units it all depends on the job. There's also unit pay tiers 1-5. Tier 1 pay $1.95 per unit - tier 5 $2.70 per unit. Not only do they get paid contractor pay they keep units from their techs. Dish pay 100$ for the first receiver and then 25$ any additional receiver. Don't expect to go in and think you'll have a great work-life balance, most likely you will get the worst days off and will have to work on the weekends( busiest days). They treat Friday, Saturday, and sundays as some type of luxury where you can only have if you bring in an x amount of revenue for the company EACH month and also you have to keep an excellent metric. (Your metric is your quality, csat, shs (over priced products you need to sell) , trouble calls, r12s, QAS and some other performance.) YOU are responsible for all inventory in your van and also for any receivers that you brought from customers houses. If YOU lose anything YOU will be charged with no remorse. They will audit you before you get paid to charge you for any missing items. Lots of chargebacks! They keep you in a rush on loadouts and throw a bunch of inventory on you that is easy to lose track of. Don't expect to go home early. Don't think that because you're done for the day you can focus on your family lol you're always working. You'll be contacted to sign off on QAS and what not. Last but not least, keep your ASP above $20 ( the amount of money made per workorder) if you don't want to receive a bunch of calls asking why you ain't selling and a bunch of questions and eventually getting fired for not selling. Good Luck!

A typical day is 7-5. Once a week you loadout at the local office at 5:30AM. When we are busy you will will work until 6 or 7 PM on some nights due to pull ahead work orders to catch up booking. They do require you to pick one of your off days to work a 6th day on the first or last week of the month.
The new management team is great, the FSM's go above and beyond for us as techs and do everything they can help. They send out our individual metrics, coach us, praise us, and give us constructive criticism when needed. If we make a large sale, they set aside a day to install it for us so that we don't lose work on the day of.
A lot of the senior techs are more negative due to the fact that on site sales are a major part of the job and they do not like it. The senior guys also do not like to assist the newer techs in the field because that is not the culture that they were used to working in before the previous management team was established. 
The hardest part of the job is starting out. It takes a good 9 months for the job to be very rewarding and for a new hire to fully understand how everything works. If you will stick it out and listen to the FSM's, you will be successful. Do not give up on the job because I made my first 40K and then my first 60K as an employee here and I will make my first 80K as a tech with SUI!
The most enjoyable part of the job is the recognition you receive for a job well done and the company pays you for everything that you do (hooking up internet to the Hopper, On Site Sales, Retail sales, Safety, Tech of the month/quarter, etc). Also we are ESOP, we own the company. You get uniforms, a van, gas card, tools, and equipment... FREE. No 1099 junk. BCBS insurance too. You are payed for what you do, the effort you put in reflects your paycheck.
Also, if you lose tools or equipment, you will be charged to replace it... so do not lose anything! 

PROS:
Van, gas, & most tools are provided. Fellow technicians are a great group of guys, lots of comradery. You get paid "kind of" to travel throughout the state and see new places. A decent starting point for inexperienced folks fresh out of high school.  FSMs (supervisors) are always trying to help you. 2 weeks of paid training.   

   CONS:
1-to-5 hours of unpaid driving everyday, you are only paid to drive between jobs, the 1st & last job of the day doesn't count, No company-provided phone, just an ancient tablet, yet you are required to call all your customers, which means all these random people have your personal phone number. No free/discounted TV or internet services. Front & driver facing cameras in your van track every movement. Corporate policies change every week. Managing the inventory on your van requires a convoluted spider web of apps that never seem to work right. In the unlikely event that you figure it all out, someone from corporate will move things around when you're not looking and make it seem like items are missing. Despite the position being called "Field Technician", you are in fact, first and foremost, an in-home Polk Audio speaker salesman. Your paycheck & ability to move up are based largely on how many surround-sound systems you sell, rather than how well you install satellite dishes. The greatest salesmen in the company are the executives, constantly pushing corporate propaganda and boasting about being the best of the best while telling tales of great things to come. The corporate culture is bursting at the seams with hollow hype. Very limited and expensive benefits. Horrible scheduling, you might work 16 hours one day, and then be told to stay home the next, with no notice. This place is a revolving door. There's a reason why despite only having a handful of employees in this state, they're somehow constantly hiring. People believe the hype, take the bait, then jump ship.

This job has so much potential, but it's not for people that have to be micromanaged. Managers will almost always be hired from the pool of existing techs. Upwards mobility is very possible here and you can make really good money if you are willing to put the work in. 

Management is awesome at my office. They are genuinely there to help you succeed. I've never been talked down to or threatened by management. They treat you as an equal and if you are a straight shooter who doesn't play games and lie they will bend over backwards to help you. 

They provide you with everything you need and the rest is up to you. This is not a "punch the clock and run it out" kind of job. You can come in and put in no effort and make no money and go nowhere, but for people who are driven to succeed this job will unlock their potential. 

Most customers are nice, but sales is involved so people who can make a friend wherever they go will do well here. In the event that a customer is not so pleasant, as long as you do what you're supposed to do management will have your back every time. 

SUI is employee owned and it shows. Everything they do is about the employees. I've heard from a lot of jobs that they consider their team to be family and that they put their workers first, but it wasn't until I was hired at SUI that I saw that in practice. It's genuinely a good company to work for and as I'm nearing two years I still believe it's the best thing that ever happened to me as far as my career and livelihood goes. 

This is not a job... this is a career! This is a great company with a lot of future. What you can realistically expect starting out is 4 weeks of training with 4 different lead technicians, you will see every part of the job and shown how to be successful in each part. Once training is complete, you can expect some longer days simply due to being new at the job. It will take at least 9 months to fully understand and begin to master the job of a satellite technician. Take advantage of the hourly pay to fully understand the job and get good at it. Take advantage of the slower days to pair up with experienced techs and pick their brains/LISTEN! During the busy season, you will be asked to work an extra day on the first and last weeks of the month. We work in the elements, but we do it safely, no exceptions. There’s a good bit of driving with the position, you’re not always by your house. On site sales is a big part of the job and you are required to meet a goal every month. We do everything we can to help you with this metric and try our best to make you successful in sales. A lot of the sales part is purely effort and finding what the customer can benefit from. The new management team does everything we can to make you successful, ask any current tech in our office. We can’t help past managements shortcomings, but we have vowed to be the best this office has ever had! If you want to work hard and be greatly rewarded for the effort you put in, this is a job for you! 

When I first started this job it was great. They were very family first and worked with me for important dates off. They helped me understand and grow and there was no problem they wouldn't address. I could ask for more work or go home when I finished my route. It was nice being paid by the job not the hour. They gave you options on how you wanted to earn money whether it be through sales, commission, or just completing lots of work. 
They then proceeded to fire all general managers so they couldn't hear grievances anymore. They had a major corporate takeover and turned us to door to door salesmen that repair and install satellite equipment. They will force you to drive for 5+ hours a day unpaid and get home late. They have unrealistic sales goals and if you don't sell enough they will micromanage you to the point of misery. You will have people that you've never met make horrible decisions without considering the situation in the field. The field managers can't take care of things because they're overworked now. The field service reps you have to talk to make constant mistakes you have to clean up. I used to love this job with a passion, but it's gone down hill due to corporate guaranteeing they can't take criticism. 


Job was easy for me , made plenty of money. Sales were easy for me worked a total of 6 years for this company. But constant change in management is a killer. Each manager came in thinking they were the real deal but in reality they weren’t. They do not answer phone calls because corporate is constantly breathing down there neck about sales. That is the goal ! Sales ! Sales! You don’t even have the time to install what you sale because your next job is 80 miles away, they say they got your back and will help the customer get it resolved and never even calm them. They want to pad their numbers so corporate will shut up! Majority of the customers you go to are in a bad mood. Except on new connects where the customer is getting new service. The whole management team in the Montgomery office are not fit for the job , they are there for a paycheck and it proves itself. They do not care about quality I promise. They are full of lies. I recommend staying away cause you will want to quit soon ! The turnover rate annually last year was over 400%  , so to think that I am just one of the disgruntled employees , think again. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Field technician 551 salaries reported	$24.67 per hour
Service technician 558 salaries reported	$15.00 per hour
Field manager 4 salaries reported	$54,000 per year
Satellite technician 11 salaries reported	$60,000 per year
Operations coordinator 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour

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