How I became a Product Ambassador for DIRECTV

 I never set out to be a product ambassador in an official or unofficial capacity. At the time, I didn’t even know that a simple offer to help would eventually translate to the opportunities I have been given to help so many hotels and businesses over the years.

About three years ago I was working in Missouri and staying at a prominent Hilton hotel. The hotel owns a restaurant which is attached to the hotel. I was in the restaurant enjoying dinner and working on my laptop (Exactly what I am doing tonight in Ohio) when I noticed above the bar there were 10 televisions. Four televisions were hanging on each side of the bar and two televisions at the end of the bar. I also noticed that every other TV was off. If was weird. The bar is full, but 1/2 of the TVs are off? I walked up to the bartender and asked why every other TV was off. Her response was dismissive and she basically said that “Only every other TV works because the DIRECTV is screwed up”. As an employee and Engineer for DIRECTV I offered to call the “888” for them and see if someone could come out and look at that. I had an idea immediately what was wrong and knew it was an easy fix. Her response to me was “We already called and no one came out. We gave up. Were just waiting for the contract to end and we are switching services.” She also made a few other derogatory comments about our company and services provided.

I just stood there, shocked, and said to myself “This is unacceptable. This is not right. We are better than this.” I told the bartender again that I work for DIRECTV and I am staying in your hotel for the week. I told her I am coming back tomorrow before you open to see if I can fix this. She was dismissive but said the manager would be there and if he says it’s ok, then have at it.

I showed up at 330pm the next afternoon and after gaining permission from the restaurant manager, took a look at the Teles and quickly found the issue. The STBs behind the TVs were using Coax cabling that was split with the wrong splitters. DIRECTV Splitters are in the LBand frequency range, and the splitters installed were in the IF frequency range and were not power passing. I had the splitters on my work truck, made the repairs and easily got all 10 televisions working in less than an hour.

I don’t know who installed the splitters at that restaurant. There is no way to tell. I wasn’t there. I am not here in indict any dealer, installer or sub-contractor. I only know what I saw and fixed it. For all I know the restaurant added televisions and splitters themselves. I probably should have called the “888” number and got the supporting dealer on-site. I was already there for the week though and happy to resolve the issue.

A year ago I was in Illinois at another Hotel by Hilton and happened to be there on a Thursday night. I headed down to the restaurant/bar inside the hotel around 600pm for dinner to find the bartender telling me that they were preparing to close for the evening. My simple question was “Why?”. I was told that Thursday was their slowest night of the week because the restaurant across the street had Amazon Prime and they have the NFL game. and this hotel didn't. The restaurant Didn’t generate enough revenue on Thursdays to justify staying open late. This hotel is a DIRECTV for BUSINESS customer, but was unaware that at the time we had #TNFonDIRECTV on Channel #9526. The hotel had no idea. No one told them. I told the bartender that he had the channel and he actually argued with me. I simply told him to grab the remote and check. Low and behold, he was shocked. The staffer punched in the channel and the pregame popped up. Since that time this hotel shows all the Amazon Prime games and do not close early on Thursdays. (Note – I did call this hotel last month and emailed them the NEW channel guide with our updated sports package channels including #9550 for #TNFonDIRECTV)

Again, this post in NOT intended to malign any dealer, sales team, distributor or installer supporting this Hotel. I am merely sharing my experience.

THIS! is when I started asking my host hotels as I travel if they had the channel guide for their service and if they knew what the sports channels were. With permission I will add “QuickTune” channel status to channels that can drive revenue to the Restaurants/Bars. Simply showing the staff how to maximize their evening revenue by making sure they are showing the revenue generating sports channels and showing a value adding benefit to the corporate travelers who stay at their hotel is very satisfying. Helping a hotel, bartender, server, bar back, dish washer, hotel valet, etc. make more money is truly a pleasure. DIRECTV is a value add for hotels, no doubt about it. Unfortunately, I see many hotels that do not understand that it can be a REVENUE GENERATING value add as well.

I have many more stories like the two I have penned this evening. It’s an honor to help Hotel chains and restaurants/bars across this great country of ours make sure they are aware of the programming they already pay for and how they can benefit financially from the great service that DIRECTV offers our customers. Every customer is important, and I remind each one that I meet just how important they are.

Tomorrow is another day, and another city, and another chance to be a Product Ambassador for DIRECTV.

To learn more about John and the work he does for DIRECTV please click HERE. 

The views expressed in this blog post reflect the experiences and opinions of the author only and are not meant to be any official correspondence from DIRECTV, its Dealers, affiliates or any related entities. Copyright John Mac's Travels 2023