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Golden Sky Recruits Sales Force at MDU Workshop Growing rural DirecTv programming distributor Golden Sky Systems put out a call yesterday for satellite dealers looking for new revenue opportunities in apartment and condominium complexes. Though the idea of putting satellite TV in apartments is not new, Golden Sky outlined in an SBCA workshop on multi-dwelling units a comprehensive plan dealers can follow--whether they work with Golden Sky or on their own--to evaluate prospective building owners, pitch a satellite service plan to them, install the system, and sign up subscribers. The added benefits Golden Sky brings, if dealers choose to work with the company, are financial and technical planning support and buying power with DirecTv, said Rich Muller, a financial consultant working with Golden Sky. "If you adopt the systems that we're presenting here today, it will guarantee you profitability for your company," he said. With more than 25 percent of U.S. homes in MDUs, "This is a great growth market. We think that the cable companies have fallen asleep" on issues such as serving the customers and protecting their contracts with building owners, Golden Sky Vice President of Marketing and Sales Bill Gerski said. Reminding local building owners and property managers that their cable contracts are not eternal is one prime way of tracking down new business, Gerski said. However, serving the MDU market requires far more extensive planning, financial forecasting, and leg-work than selling satellite TV to single-family homes, he said. Because of that, Golden Sky believes signing up 20 to 25 percent of the residents in an MDU with a competing TV provider is a good success level, Gerski told dealers. Those just getting into the MDU business should look for initial buildings that are small, owner-occupied units, DirecTv Vice President Gene Gonzalez said, because MDU sales agents have had the highest success rate in those venues. Seeking New Viewpoints, Retail Council to Reorganize The SBCA Retail Council voted Tuesday to overhaul its structure to encourage membership from new types of retailers. The plan, which will be up for approval by the SBCA Board of Directors when it meets in November, is designed to increase the number of viewpoints and ideas heard on the council and help attract new members to the association's entire retail segment, Retail Council member Rik Hawkins said. The council will likely shrink from more than 20 members to about 14 offering two seats each to seven different types of retailers, he said. The council expects to attract more groups such as Associated Volume Buyers, represented on the council by President Bob Lawrence since last year. The council members "have been real aggressive in recognizing that this is going to be a CE business," Lawrence said, arguing satellite dealers can both learn from and work with other retail chains. The Retail Council is also developing a new mission statement to put its expanded outlook into words, Hawkins said. The group hopes the change will also help attract more diverse types of retailers to the annual industry trade shows, which Lawrence argued can be more valuable than some dealers think. "If everybody who came to the show took away just one new idea and implemented it, their business would vastly improve," he said. (click on the ad below to visit advertiser's web site) PREVIOUS PAGE NEXT PAGE   July 24 daily   July 25 daily         Please direct questions about this site to general.mail@satbiznews.com q 1999 Satellite Business News Inc. All rights reserved.