Undercover Boss (2010) s02e03 Episode Script
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Male announcer: America is struggling to shake off the recession.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week, we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, the president and CEO of DirecTV, America's largest satellite television service, poses as an out-of-work salesman looking for a job.
- I'm Tom.
Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
The boss will trade in his private jet and boat for a headset and a power drill.
- Is it all the way down? - No.
It's just not set up for a left-hander.
You've got some fast learners, and you have some just ain't gonna never catch on.
While working on the front line, he'll get an insider's look at his own company.
- Oh, you've got a GPS.
- You got a GPS.
- The company provides that? - No.
Be prepared to describe to us how the dish was aligned.
Waiting in front of the customer for someone to answer the phone that long is unacceptable.
And he'll discover the unsung heroes that make his company run.
Oh! I just want to make sure that I'm able to give back, because I feel like, you know, I've come out of so much.
That's good.
She's just got amazing inner strength.
How will his co-workers react when they find out he's really the boss? And how will it change their lives? I wasn't being entirely straight with you.
Find out next on Undercover Boss.
DirecTV is the largest satellite television service in the United States and Latin America, broadcasting more than And at the head of this $23 billion company is one man.
I'm Mike White, and I'm CEO and President of DirecTV.
- Good morning, Erin.
- Good morning, Mike.
- How are you? - Good.
Anybody looking for me? - Not yet.
- Thanks.
There's less than a handful of companies that know how to put satellites in the sky in the world, and DirecTV is the largest.
We have 16 satellites that orbit the Earth more than 22,000 miles in space that provide the service to 26 million customers across the Americas.
The unique thing about DirecTV is it's both a technology company and a media company.
And both of those worlds are constantly changing.
My job is to make sure we continue to innovate all the time.
And it also means how I build a talented team of people that can lead this company for the next generation.
This is the annual review we do on both kind of the consumer-brand strategy and the product.
Yeah.
I didn't start in the TV business.
I started in management consulting at Pepsico.
I was recruited to DirecTV six months ago.
I majored in English literature and Russian in college, so I'm not a technologist.
This is a very complicated business, and I've still got a lot to learn.
Unh! So cute.
My wife Sue and I got married very young, and had three kids-- our oldest daughter, Laura, Jennifer, our youngest, and my son Paul.
Oh, Coco, run fast! My son had some difficulties in high school with addiction, and thank goodness he's doing great.
Trying to cope with a child who has a drug problem, I would say that was certainly the biggest challenge that I've had as a parent.
I grew up in an Irish-Catholic family as the oldest of eight kids.
My dad was in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and always was taught the importance of responsibility and hard work.
Unfortunately my dad passed away quite young, so he's not with us.
It was a fairly quick six weeks from the time he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver till the time he passed away.
It was a very emotional experience for our family.
You know, he taught me so much, and really was the role model I guess I'd like to say, you know, I just hope I can live up to his standard.
Shirts.
Another pair of pants.
I hope he's not gonna be installing dishes on the roofs and things like that.
He's just not good at that kind of thing.
You know, I'm still the new kid on the block, so I think the timing is ideal for me to go undercover now.
Hopefully this will be a great opportunity for me to learn more about the business.
But I'm most excited about getting to meet people on a one-to-one basis, where I can get a sense of who they are and what makes them tick.
And what we might do that ticks them off.
- I have to go.
- Good luck, okay? That's gonna be an invaluable insight for me in trying to lead this company of 23,000 people.
While undercover, I'll be posing as Tom Peters, an unemployed salesman from Falls Church, Virginia.
My co-workers are being told that they're participating in a program where two people compete for one job opening within the company.
Yeah I think that'll do.
Hey.
Good morning, Tom Peters.
Of all of our sites across the country, this one, in Bessemer, Alabama, is the best at technical training.
I'm eager to find out what makes it so much better than all the rest of our locations.
Phil, from DirecTV.
Nice to meet you.
How are you, Phil? Just great, sir.
So you're my new trainee for the day.
- Yes, sir.
- This job is very simple.
Just gotta do a lot of troubleshooting, pay attention to detail, and we're gonna go out on the road.
Okay.
Good to go? In a technology-intensive company like DirecTV, it's inevitable that technical problems will arise.
The key to our remaining successful lies in our service technicians' ability to deal with those technical problems both efficiently and effectively.
So we check all our connectors on a service call.
- Yeah? - They might be loose.
- Oh, yeah.
- Okay, let's go back out.
Let's go back out.
Okay, crawling through an attic, most of the time I hate doing it.
- Yeah.
- Uh-oh, see? That's why you have to have one at a time.
You don't wanna step through-- yeah, I would've been through the floor on that one.
When we get on the job, I will walk you through everything.
I wanna make sure you feel comfortable.
- Okay, Birmingham.
- Oh, you got a GPS.
Got a GPS.
It's good to have them in your truck.
The company provides that? No.
This is one of--that you'll have to buy yourself, because they not gonna supply a GPS.
Okay.
At a minimum, we should be providing each installer a GPS system for their truck.
I don't know how you'd find your way around to all these homes without a GPS system.
So it seems to me that's something we ought to think about.
When you go to a customer's house, always be positive.
- Yep.
- And confident.
Even if you don't know what you're doing, talk like you know what you're doing.
- Hey, how you doing? - How are you? My name is Phil from DirecTV.
- This is our trainee, Tom.
- Good morning.
How are you, Tom? I'm Sherri.
Nice to meet you.
Dog not gonna bite, is he? Well, he's been known to bite an ankle or two.
How many receivers do you have that's having problems? Just one.
And I need to tell you something before you bend over there.
That the cord shocked my husband and then me.
- Okay.
- The night before it went out, it just--the mote--the picture came and went a couple times.
First thing we're gonna do, we're gonna go check your dish.
- We got three rungs up.
- Yep.
You're good to go, one-by-one.
Yeah.
There you go.
That's why we got three rungs, so when you get up at the top you have something to grab up on.
Oh! Let's see what we got.
The first thing we wanna do-- we wanna check can I get some signal? You can go ahead on and step on down.
There we go.
Searching for satellite.
See how it's jumping in and jumping out.
Mm-hmm.
So that's telling you what? Put your hand on it.
Not supposed to be that way, right? Mm-mm.
You got a box? Oh, my bad.
I usually keep everything stocked, but since we're having a shortage of HD receivers, I didn't have that many.
It's a common problem, it happens every day.
People run out of equipment.
Hey, what up, man? You got an HD receiver? Hey, Paulie, I need an HD receiver.
Didn't nobody have an HD receiver this morning? Who you say you got that receiver from this morning? Uh, who else work in this area? Hey, you got an HD receiver? Phil is incredibly customer-sensitive.
He wants to solve the problem.
And he's not gonna let go until he gets that problem fixed.
Let me check and see if he got one.
Eventually did find somebody.
They should be here in 15 or 20 minutes with the receiver that we need.
So we should be in business.
Yep.
There we go.
- Got it tight? - Yes, sir.
And now hit it one more time.
Oh, yay.
We have picture.
So this is wonderful.
Ms.
Sherri, we thank you for your patience.
Hope that everything is satisfactory to you.
- Take care.
- Thank you.
Have a good day.
Phil did a great job.
Very polite, very professional.
He went out of his way to call around to find somebody to get us the box that we needed.
But it shouldn't have been that difficult.
Did you grow up in Alabama? - Grew up in Alabama.
- Yeah? My mom and dad got divorced when I was 6 years old, so my dad was-- never was around.
So growing up, didn't have that stability.
The first time I get with my friends, they offered me some beer, they offered me some reefer.
Went from smoking reefer to snorting cocaine.
Oh, jeez.
And then turned into a crackhead, and lived on the street for a year and a half.
You know, my son had difficulties growing up, in high school.
How did you change? Let me tell you, I'm drunk.
Been drinking all day.
I run a red light.
Guy hit me.
And that's how I got this hole on the top of my head.
Wow.
I got out the car crying, blood pouring out my head.
And the moment I looked up, there's a lady in a long white robe, long white hair.
She said, "the lord sent me here for me to tell you everything will be fine.
" Wow.
Uh-huh.
It's a good thing, you know, to be there for kids because a lot of kids goes through life and doesn't have a father.
Yep.
I let them know I'm proud of them, I love them.
And we go through it like that.
Phil is amazing.
He just somehow kind of took control of his life, and changed.
And to be doing what he's doing, making a difference, he really is fantastic.
Back to the warehouse.
What a day, what a day, what a day, what a day.
Tom, Tom.
Coming up Severe weather threatens the safety of the boss' co-worker.
Whoo! Y'all hear that? It's not safe up there.
Gotta go.
And later Mike slips up and offends a customer.
How are you today, sir? It's not a sir.
Mike White, President and CEO of DirecTV, is a boss undercover.
His employees think he's part of a television show where two people are competing for one position within a company.
His journey continues in Las Vegas.
I'm here to work a shift at one of our warehouse facilities.
The key to its success lies with the warehouse technicians.
Each day they need to make sure that the warehouse has the right inventory so that the trucks have the right equipment on them when they leave for their jobs in the morning.
I wanna see if this warehouse is having any similar inventory issues like we saw in Alabama.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
- Looking for Ryan.
- Yeah, that's me.
- Hey, Ryan, Tom.
- Nice to meet you, Tom.
- How are you? Nice to meet you.
- Pretty good.
SoYou need to get your clothes? - Yes, sir.
- Okay.
Got a hat.
You're gonna be sweating a lot, so - Great.
- Your shirt and shorts.
I tend to talk fast and I tend to walk fast.
This is our warehouse.
Basically, anything on this side is your receivers.
Everything on this side is all your parts to make sure that these things work properly.
Techs come through and they're going to order these parts.
Basically, everything on here is--what we're responsible for is to get it out to them.
Get it out to them.
How many techs you got working out of here? - 108 techs.
- Yep.
But no techs are allowed in the cage.
They are not allowed past this line right here.
Got it.
Got to follow the rules with Ryan.
These are adekas.
You do not give out more than five.
This is a swm lnb.
This right here is slimline.
Slimline.
Now this is a big difference.
Do not confuse the two.
Okay.
Ryan is a meticulous person.
He's very organized.
I was kinda getting the general feel of where some of the stuff was, but there's probably But he's got it nailed.
Even though it says an under eave adapter - Yeah.
- This is the rafter mount.
- How do you know that? - You just know it.
It was a bit overwhelming.
Think I was tracking most of that.
Just driving in now.
We have to try to get everybody out of here by 8:00.
Because that's their first appointment, is 8:00.
Yay, we actually get to do something today.
Just hold on to this.
Yep.
And I'll let you go through it.
- Four power inserters, 21 volt.
- Correct.
- Is that these? - Yep.
You can just throw it in there, don't have to be gentle.
- I need four two-ways.
- Nope.
- Nope? - These are-- those are the multi-switches.
One under eave mount.
That's a biggie.
So I'll probably carry that separate.
- Lightning speed, buddy.
- I know.
We're working on your paper, calm down.
When the technicians start coming in fast, you put a little pressure on yourself, because you know the longer it takes you to get that stuff out of the warehouse, the more unproductive the tech is.
But at the same time, it's important that you're accurate.
- No.
- Is this the-- this is the ka/ku swm, right? - No.
- No? Where is the ka/ku swm lnb again? - Remember the green dot? - Oh, the green dot.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tom, for some reason, he couldn't grasp the difference of the swm lnbs and the standard lnbs.
Nope, swm.
Slim? - Swm.
- Slim.
He just kept grabbing the wrong one.
Yep.
If Tom continued doing that, he probably wouldn't last very long.
No HD receivers until Thursday.
Ryan, we're out of power.
Okay, that's it.
No power surgers, and no monopolls, no tripods.
- How am I supposed to work? - Yeah.
There were a few key things that we were out of, then Ryan told me that the truck only comes once a week, on thursdays, for the delivery.
Well, today's Tuesday.
What about the decas being out? These guys don't necessarily know how to order what they need.
It's basically like a kid in a candy store.
You see it, you want it, you want it, you want it.
Is that a systems-- computer systems problem, or? No, it's just they hoard.
If everybody worked together and understood what everybody else's job entails - Yep.
- Then you wouldn't run into problems like that.
If you're short of a certain item and the techs hear about it, then you naturally wanna get enough for yourself and your customers.
And certain techs kinda have more receivers than others.
And then they have to start calling each other, and it's chaos.
Something to kind of look into.
Now it's clean-up time.
Hey, Tom, you ever been on a trampoline? - Yep.
- You wanna be on one again? Because we have to compact our cardboard, which hasn't been picked up yet.
We're overflowing quite a bit.
What, are we climbing up there? Yep.
Be very, very, very careful, because it's not a short fall.
Basically just trying to get it down as much as possible.
Whoa.
Be careful, there are voids.
Fun, isn't it? Fun.
- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah.
- I guess that's good.
- All right.
Hey, Ryan, there's boxes over here that have DVRs in it.
Oh, I shouldn't have done that.
- You all right? - Yeah.
I have degenerative disc disease.
Basically from birth, my cartilage in my spine was deteriorating, so they had to fuse my back.
- Oh, back is tough stuff.
- Four vertebraes together, and eight screws, and two titanium rods.
My wife had scoliosis.
But she had her surgery in the late '50s.
Ow.
And she was in a body cast for nine months.
I was out of commission for about seven months.
- Seven months, wow.
- But I have two boys that I have to support.
Oh, do you? Yeah, I have twin boys.
- Twins.
- Almost three.
Twins, Bryce and Bradley.
How do you make the hours work? You're here at 5:00? Well, about 5:30.
- And you get home when? - About 3:30.
- Yep.
- So what I do is my ex-wife, after her work, she picks up the kids at around 3:00, goes home and has them while I'm at work.
And as soon as I get off work here, I go to her house, pick up the kids while she's at work.
And we do that six days because I work six days a week.
- That's not easy.
- No.
But they're my life.
Yeah.
Ryan is an amazing person.
And what he's doing to support his two kids And at the same time hold a job, and deal with his health problems-- that's a lot for anybody to try and juggle.
And yet, he's still organized and disciplined.
And boy, I really admire what Ryan's doing.
Bradley and Bryce.
Let's see, that's them making faces.
Oh, man, they're cute.
I must say, today, it was a long day.
Whoo.
Two days in the field, I gotta tell you.
I'm missing my family, and--and I'm tired.
You know, Ryan reminds me a lot of my son Paul.
My son's also a single dad.
It's not that easy.
I'm so proud of the person that he is and the dad that he is.
He's doing great now, and now I think he's found what he wants to do in life, which is to counsel kids that have addiction problems.
And you know, I really admire that.
I'm here at one of our facilities in Alabama to try my own hand at installing our service.
Are you Tequilla? Yeah.
- I'm Tom Peters.
- How you doing, Tom? - So nice to meet you.
- You too.
Looking forward to working with you today.
- Well, all right, there.
- It's critical that the installation is done right the first time.
All right.
And that we leave a great impression on the customer.
If we do that, we have a good chance to keep that customer for life.
I guess we off to our first job.
All right.
Let's go.
This your first time? First time on an install, Tequilla.
Oh.
How long have you been with the company? Going on three years with DirecTV.
I started off in Georgia.
You're from Georgia originally? - I'm from Indiana.
- Your family still in Indiana? - Yes.
- Yeah.
I got a family reunion to go to today.
Don't let me slow you down.
I don't wanna get in the way.
I'll help do anything I can.
Oh, no, we're gonna get it done.
- Hi.
- Morning.
What it's like being a woman as a tech is very frustrating, because most of the time when I come, they be like, "uh, someone coming with you?" What I'm a do is I'm a go out and see where I'm put the dish.
Or they be le, "uh, are you customer service?" And I'm like, "no, I'm your technician.
" You know how to take it off? - Uh - Uh-uh.
- No? - Like this.
Ooh, it's hot.
Hold on, let me show you.
Yep.
Oh, then slide it down.
I got it.
Uh-uh.
That ain't how you carry it.
No? This is a big ladder.
You gotta lay it on your shoulder.
She's strong like a bull.
That ladder must weigh 25 pounds, and she kinda schleps that off the truck like it's nothing.
I'm different.
I'm a different breed of female, you know.
We gonna put it right here.
Why don't I come up and you do the first one, and then I'll watch you, and then I'll do the second one? Uh-uh.
We both can't fit on the ladder.
No, no, I'll get on the roof.
- No.
- No? - Uh-uh.
- Okay.
I don't get off my ladder.
You're not supposed to get off your ladder.
Okay.
You dropped one of the long bolts, so It's okay.
- I'll get it up to you.
- Uh-uh, uh-uh.
Only one person on the ladder.
The installation is a significant investment of time and money to get it done right.
Making sure the dish is mounted right, that the wiring is right, is critical.
All right, I'm a let you come up-- all right.
And put the other four in.
I got it.
Whoa.
Is it all the way down? I think I got it.
Look like it's about to rain.
You want me to do it? No.
It's just the You can unloosen that.
That bolt right there in the middle.
- This one? - No, no, no.
The one in the middle.
Where your hand is at.
This is not set up for a left-hander.
It's hard work putting that dish in.
And we're trying to get it done before the weather gets worse.
Think that's right.
I have no clue what I'm doing half the time.
I'm learning as I go, and I'm trying to be a good student.
You got some fast learners, and you have some that ain't gonna never catch on.
You can come on down.
I'm a go up there and finish up.
Is that rain? - Yeah.
- Oh, man.
We better finish up.
Whoo! Y'all hear that? I really was getting nervous 'cause Tequilla was bound and determined to get this finished and to get the dish adjusted properly.
- Lord.
- Finish it up quick.
- Jeez.
- It's not safe up there.
In the middle of a thunderstorm handling wires.
Gotta go.
Whoo! Whoo! Y'all hear that? Jeez.
It's not safe up there.
Gotta go.
Whoo! - Think we wanna-- - lord.
- Finish it up quick.
- Jeez.
This is the end of the outside.
- Good.
- Whoo! Oh, man, it feels so good in here.
Let you make this one.
You open it like that.
Yep.
Now you go at least three or four times forward-- - oops.
- And then go back.
It'll go on its own.
And then pull? - Make sure it--got it? - Yep.
- And pull it.
- Tequilla is a good teacher.
And once you get it, you'll start getting faster.
She let me do things, and that's the best way to learn.
But I probably slowed her up a little bit, I'm afraid.
Oh, you don't have to do all of that.
Look, you just do it like this.
He helped.
But if I was by myself, I would've been done.
Here, put that on here.
How we doing on time? I know you have your family reunion later.
Depends on how long it takes to actually activate the receiver.
If that TV's working or not.
We're storming bad.
It make the signal strength go down.
It ain't gonna let me activate.
All right, jeez, ain't nothing we can do right now.
Maybe I can call and get a waiver.
You've reached DirecTV's installer activation line.
Get a waiver.
If the maximum signal strength isn't achieved due to bad weather, a technician can request a waiver so the signal strength can be adjusted remotely at a later time.
If you are requesting a waiver, be prepared to describe to us how the dish was aligned to ensure proper procedures were followed.
The tech is, in many ways, our most important asset.
And we shouldn't have them waiting-- much less waiting in front of the customer-- for someone to answer the phone that long.
Luckily, Tequilla did a good job staying patient and keeping the customer calm.
I apologize, but they're running a little bit behind.
I don't know if I could've done the same.
Thank you for holding.
I'll go ahead and Grant you the waiver, due to bad weather.
Bye-bye.
We gotta do a better job supporting the techs.
Waiting that long for a waiver is unacceptable.
It's definitely on my list of things to follow up on.
- Nice to meet you.
- It was a pleasure meeting you.
Nice to meet you.
Thanks for the business.
So do you think you're gonna make your reunion? - I gotta go back home.
- Yeah? I'm like a hour and a half away from here.
And I gotta get dressed, then dri--I don't know.
I don't know if I'm gonna make it.
DirecTV's 35 call centers take over a 120 million phone calls a year.
After working with Tequilla, I've already seen that there are some issues with our techs calling in.
Today, I'm here at our service headquarters here in Denver, Colorado.
I wanna make sure our customers aren't having similar problems.
Looking for Chloe.
I'm Chloe.
Nice to meet you.
Looking forward to spending time with you today and learning a little bit about the business and how this works.
Yes, okay.
This is our system.
We call it Rio.
You have to make notes each time somebody calls in, that way the next person is aware.
We have scripts for almost everything.
Most of our calls are searching for satellite signal, or it's to activate an additional receiver.
So I'll just take some calls-- okay.
And then just kinda go through.
All right.
Thank you for choosing DirecTV, my name is Chloe.
How are you doing today? I'm fine, thank you.
And how can I assist you today? Our HD box won't light up or do nothing.
I just need to set up a box that we just received.
Not getting any signal.
Okay, we definitely do apologize about that, and I'll be more than glad to take care of that for you.
Go ahead, and on the back of the receiver, there is a detachable power cord.
- Okay.
- Detach it, and then reconnect it.
Okay.
You probably see a receiver id and an access card number.
Yes.
I just need the last four numbers, please.
- 0-4-0-5.
- So I'm gonna go ahead and activate it now.
You know, in good customer service, you wanna have someone who is really positive and customer-oriented, but also, someone who solves their problem.
- Yay, you did it, Alyse.
- Awesome.
All right, thank you so much for calling in.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
Thanks, same to you.
Okay.
- You're good.
- Oh, thanks.
You're so quick on all that stuff.
And I kinda of followed what you were doing.
It's easy.
You know, mostly it's about using your personality, keeping the customer calm.
- Yeah.
- Now, did you wanna try taking a call? Sure.
So we try to keep all our calls under ten minutes.
So that helps manage-- oh, so I'm not on the phone for 30 minutes.
You're managing their expectations.
- Right, exactly.
- Yeah.
I'll navigate, and then whenever you feel like you don't know, I'll help you figure it out, okay? Good--good morning, thank you for calling DirecTV.
My name is Tom.
Right.
- How are you today, sir? - It's not a sir.
Ma'am, I'm sorry about that.
I'm going to place you on a brief hold.
I was so into my little opening spiel, that I just said "sir" and it was a ma'am.
- Okay? - Just put her back on.
How do I-- oh, you just press hold.
Thank you for holding, ma'am.
I can't get channel 2 or 4.
Are you getting any kind of severe weather in your area? Thunderstorms or anything? No.
- No, um - Watching the golf, just stopped.
Um I totally understand that, and, um - You know what? - No, no.
Just give me one moment here.
Chloe was there typing literally almost word-for-word what to say.
If--we're going to send out a service call, ma'am.
- Okay.
- No, no, I said "if we're going send out--" oh.
You know, we would have to charge you $49.
95.
No.
I pay every month.
Right, I understand.
Customers can realize that you're not confident.
They will take advantage.
I thought this was your equipment.
- The dish and the cabling-- - uh-huh.
Are Are yours.
We would have to charge you for that, unfortunately.
Okay.
- Okay.
- Yeah, I know.
I screwed up.
Yeah, when you-- I just got a little flustered.
When they call in, I always ask for their name.
Like, "oh, do you mind if I go ahead and get the name?" Because then when they tell you the name, usually you know.
Yeah, yeah.
You know? All right, did you wanna take another one? Try one more.
All right, you can do this.
Here we go.
All right, here we go.
Thank you for calling DirecTV.
My name is Tom.
How are you today? Well, I'm a little frustrated.
I have no signal sign on my television.
Okay, we're just gonna walk together through the troubleshooting steps.
Good, that's what I want.
Go ahead and press the input button.
We wanna cycle through all the inputs, please, sir.
Okay, no signal.
Can you check that HDMI cable cord? - It's tight as it could be.
- Okay.
Do you have any extra cables? I do.
I'm working on it.
That's all right.
Take your time, I'm right here with you.
Don't worry.
Hey, I got it.
You got it? Oh, that's great news.
Thank you so much for your help.
- You have a great day.
- You too.
Thank you, sir.
- Look how good you did.
- Yay! We did all right, huh? These are tough jobs, these call center jobs.
They're a different kind of toughness than climbing a roof in But here, you've got the stress of being at that desk and needing to try and find a solution to customers who are oftentimes very frustrated because the television plays an important role in their lives.
Do you normally work sundays? Yeah, I have school on tuesdays and thursdays.
You're doing this, what, to pay for the tuition, or? I had a scholarship, but that one's already ran out.
I'm a political science major because when I was younger, I actually was in Foster care.
- Oh.
- For about over a year.
And just wanted to make sure that whatever career I go into, I'm able to give back.
Because I feel like, you know, I've come out of so much.
- That's good.
- So - Well, that sounds exciting.
- Yeah.
That sounds exciting.
So what do you wanna do when you get done? I was hopefully thinking of starting my own business, maybe.
Or going to law school.
Yep.
I don't know what I wanna do first.
I don't know, we'll see.
She's a very self-disciplined person.
And yet, at the same time, has this incredible personality and ability to put adversity behind her, and stay focused on who she is.
She's just got amazing inner strength to be able to do that.
I hadn't kinda worked this kind of work since I was 21.
It's a sobering reminder of kinda how many people make this company go.
And it's our call center agents, and our technicians, and our warehouse people.
They're the heroes.
My dad always taught me the importance of connecting with people, whatever station in life they come from.
But the adversity that each of these folks has overcome Just is awe-inspiring.
That's what this week's been all about.
So maybe it's a bit of a tribute to my dad.
I hope.
A little bit.
Coming up Mike summons his employees to company headquarters.
I'm nervous.
I'm, like, anxious.
I don't know what's going on.
How will they react when he reveals his true identity? I'm Mike White.
And I'm the CEO of DirecTV.
My week undercover has finally come to an end.
It's been an amazing week.
I have to say One thing's for sure, I have a much better appreciation for what our front line has to do.
I'm very excited to tell my senior staff about the experience I just had.
Hey, guys.
Hey, there.
- Hello.
- Nice to see you all.
Things are good? Yes.
Anybody here hear anything? You couldn't have done something too bad because we don't have a lot of calls.
I had no clue what I was doing.
Yeah.
In any event, it's been an interesting week for me.
It's certainly opened my eyes.
And I saw some incredible strengths for our company.
Nice.
But I'd also say there are a few areas that I think we've got some opportunities for improvement.
All right.
I was most surprised to find a number of opportunities for us to improve the productivity of our techs.
It was a little embarrassing.
We sat on hold in front of the customer-- we must've been on hold for 20 minutes.
So I think we need to take, Ellen, some of our call center disciplines and figure out what's going on when our own techs can't get through Sure.
At the rate they should.
I was surprised to find that some of our techs are buying their own GPSs.
We are absolutely supposed to be providing the tools.
Something's not working right there.
- Okay.
- We got some inventory issues that we gotta go to work on, 'cause techs were going bananas trying to find receivers.
You got my support, whatever it costs.
I don't care about the budget.
We're gonna make a difference on that issue.
Okay.
I'm really excited to bring the employees I worked with in here to Los Angeles and reveal my true identity to them.
I'm nervous.
I'm, like, anxious.
Don't know what's going on.
I feel that Tom got good potential to attain the job and go forth and be great.
Oh, my God.
- You recognize me? - Tom Tom.
I'm actually Mike White, and I'm CEO of DirecTV.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Thinking back of how I had you jumping on cardboard.
Yeah, that's great.
It's nice to see you.
- So you're not Tom.
- I'm not Tom after all.
All right.
Tequilla, you're a terrific employee, I gotta tell you that.
Thank you.
I was just so struck with the strength that you bring to that job.
So there are a couple things I wanna do.
First of all, we formed a women's leadership exchange at DirecTV a number of years ago.
- Okay.
- And we don't have any female techs on the steering committee.
Well, we do now.
Oh.
- You're the first.
- Well, am I? I think you can bring a new and different perspective to that group that will make us a better company.
Ooh, lord! All right.
Second thing I had in mind is I think you were a little stressed out that afternoon.
And my guess is it was 'cause you were missing your family reunion.
You missed it 'cause I was slowing you down, and I know that.
Well, you said it.
So you know what I'm gonna do? - What? - I'm paying for a family reunion, and I want you to fly your mother in for it.
- Quit playing.
- I'll write the check.
Gonna make me cry.
Okay, I appreciate that.
It's hard for a female to do her thing without getting appreciated.
It meant a lot.
That's all I can say.
It really does.
Ryan, I learned a lot watching you.
You do a terrific job running that warehouse.
- I appreciate that.
- And I think you had a number of ideas about better coordination between the techs and the warehouse folks across the company.
Yes.
You know, I'd like to ask you to meet with our vice president of supply chain and share some of your observations about how we can improve the warehouses across the company.
I appreciate that.
Thank you very much.
The other thing, I got a question for you.
When are your twin boys' birthday? - August 21st.
- Well I want you to go and put together the most fantastic birthday party that they will never forget.
Magicians, jumpy things, the entire nine yards, and I'm gonna pay for it.
Oh, thank you very much.
And I wish them a very Happy Birthday.
I appreciate that very much.
You always want the best for your kids.
And then you have to figure out how you're gonna do it.
And now you just made it possible for me, so I appreciate that very much.
Being a single parent is extremely hard.
But I wouldn't change it for anything.
My boys are my life, and I'm excited to go home and plan this stuff to see what we can do.
Phil, the positive attitude that you had toward life inspired me so much.
Thank you, sir.
We talked a bit about kinda the challenges of dealing with the disease of addiction.
And I so admire the strength that you have.
But more than that, the way you give back to those kids.
- Yes, sir.
- And Apart from that, you're a fantastic tech.
- Thank you, sir.
- You are so customer-oriented.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you do for the company.
Yes, sir.
And how much I admire you as a person.
So there are a couple things I wanna do.
- Yes, sir.
- First of all, we're gonna make sure that all the techs have a navigation system provided by the company.
Thank you, sir.
I think there's somethihg real important to what you do.
And that's your ministering to troubled youth.
And I so admire what you do there.
I'm writing you a check, personally, for $5,000 to support your ministry to helping kids in need.
Thank you, sir.
- All right? - Thank you, sir.
I just read a scripture yesterday on the plane that the character of how you carry yourself, you will one day sit among kings.
And here you are, the CEO of a company, and I'm sitting among you today.
No, I'm the one sitting among kings.
Thank you, sir.
I feel real good about being rewarded right now for hard work.
And the good work that I did, it was recognized.
- Chloe, you are so smart.
- Thank you.
And you are so positive.
You're still going to school and you're working a full-time job.
- Yeah.
- That's not easy.
- It's not.
- I've been so inspired by you, I wanna create a DirecTV scholarship program.
- Oh, my God.
- And you're gonna be the first to get a scholarship for up to $10,000 towards your schooling next year.
Wow.
Oh, my gosh.
For school? - For school.
- Thank you so much.
I'm so excited and overwhelmed.
It's okay.
Chloe, my dad passed away at the age of 50.
I know what it's like to live with a dad and to live without one.
You've had to live your whole life without one.
Yeah.
I'd like to help mentor you in any way I can.
- Okay, thank you.
- You're an incredibly talented person who has an amazing future ahead of you.
Thank you.
I'd like to meet with you a couple times a year to try and give you whatever advice that I can.
Okay.
Can I give you a hug? Of course you can give me a hug.
I'm, like, overwhelmed.
But excited.
I'm really appreciative.
The fact that he wants to be, like, a mentor or role model in my life, and I don't have that, and so it's really It's a big deal, so.
I really appreciate him doing that.
It's time for me to address the entire company and tell them about my undercover experience.
Without any further ado, our president and CEO, Mike White.
Thanks, guys.
Thanks, good afternoon, and welcome, everybody.
I wasn't being entirely straight with you when we asked you to come here for a town hall meeting.
You see, over the last week, I've been working undercover in our field operations at DirecTV.
It was truly an amazing experience.
But you know, words can't do it justice.
Here are some of the highlights.
Let's take a little look.
He helped, but if I was by myself I would've been done.
Thank you for calling DirecTV.
My name is Tom.
How are you today, sir? It's not a sir.
You can just throw it in there.
Yep.
I certainly came away with a much better appreciation for how hard our frontline jobs are.
My dad always used to say to me, "people are people.
" And I don't think I ever fully appreciated what they meant until this week.
And for that experience of teaching me what my dad really meant with those three words, thank you.
Because you taught me something that, even at 58 years of age, I still hadn't fully mastered.
Thanks, everybody.
Have a great afternoon.
When I started this journey, I really thought it'd be an opportunity for me to continue to learn about our technology.
Actually, that was the least of the experience.
I mean, it really-- at the end of the day, it's about cherishing our employees and being committed to their growth, because they're so vitally important to our success.
Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.
Public distrust of wealthy CEOs remains high.
But more and more bosses are looking for radical ways to reconnect with their workforce in order to find out what's really going on in their companies.
Each week, we follow the boss of a major corporation as they go undercover in their own company.
This week, the president and CEO of DirecTV, America's largest satellite television service, poses as an out-of-work salesman looking for a job.
- I'm Tom.
Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
The boss will trade in his private jet and boat for a headset and a power drill.
- Is it all the way down? - No.
It's just not set up for a left-hander.
You've got some fast learners, and you have some just ain't gonna never catch on.
While working on the front line, he'll get an insider's look at his own company.
- Oh, you've got a GPS.
- You got a GPS.
- The company provides that? - No.
Be prepared to describe to us how the dish was aligned.
Waiting in front of the customer for someone to answer the phone that long is unacceptable.
And he'll discover the unsung heroes that make his company run.
Oh! I just want to make sure that I'm able to give back, because I feel like, you know, I've come out of so much.
That's good.
She's just got amazing inner strength.
How will his co-workers react when they find out he's really the boss? And how will it change their lives? I wasn't being entirely straight with you.
Find out next on Undercover Boss.
DirecTV is the largest satellite television service in the United States and Latin America, broadcasting more than And at the head of this $23 billion company is one man.
I'm Mike White, and I'm CEO and President of DirecTV.
- Good morning, Erin.
- Good morning, Mike.
- How are you? - Good.
Anybody looking for me? - Not yet.
- Thanks.
There's less than a handful of companies that know how to put satellites in the sky in the world, and DirecTV is the largest.
We have 16 satellites that orbit the Earth more than 22,000 miles in space that provide the service to 26 million customers across the Americas.
The unique thing about DirecTV is it's both a technology company and a media company.
And both of those worlds are constantly changing.
My job is to make sure we continue to innovate all the time.
And it also means how I build a talented team of people that can lead this company for the next generation.
This is the annual review we do on both kind of the consumer-brand strategy and the product.
Yeah.
I didn't start in the TV business.
I started in management consulting at Pepsico.
I was recruited to DirecTV six months ago.
I majored in English literature and Russian in college, so I'm not a technologist.
This is a very complicated business, and I've still got a lot to learn.
Unh! So cute.
My wife Sue and I got married very young, and had three kids-- our oldest daughter, Laura, Jennifer, our youngest, and my son Paul.
Oh, Coco, run fast! My son had some difficulties in high school with addiction, and thank goodness he's doing great.
Trying to cope with a child who has a drug problem, I would say that was certainly the biggest challenge that I've had as a parent.
I grew up in an Irish-Catholic family as the oldest of eight kids.
My dad was in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and always was taught the importance of responsibility and hard work.
Unfortunately my dad passed away quite young, so he's not with us.
It was a fairly quick six weeks from the time he was diagnosed with cancer of the liver till the time he passed away.
It was a very emotional experience for our family.
You know, he taught me so much, and really was the role model I guess I'd like to say, you know, I just hope I can live up to his standard.
Shirts.
Another pair of pants.
I hope he's not gonna be installing dishes on the roofs and things like that.
He's just not good at that kind of thing.
You know, I'm still the new kid on the block, so I think the timing is ideal for me to go undercover now.
Hopefully this will be a great opportunity for me to learn more about the business.
But I'm most excited about getting to meet people on a one-to-one basis, where I can get a sense of who they are and what makes them tick.
And what we might do that ticks them off.
- I have to go.
- Good luck, okay? That's gonna be an invaluable insight for me in trying to lead this company of 23,000 people.
While undercover, I'll be posing as Tom Peters, an unemployed salesman from Falls Church, Virginia.
My co-workers are being told that they're participating in a program where two people compete for one job opening within the company.
Yeah I think that'll do.
Hey.
Good morning, Tom Peters.
Of all of our sites across the country, this one, in Bessemer, Alabama, is the best at technical training.
I'm eager to find out what makes it so much better than all the rest of our locations.
Phil, from DirecTV.
Nice to meet you.
How are you, Phil? Just great, sir.
So you're my new trainee for the day.
- Yes, sir.
- This job is very simple.
Just gotta do a lot of troubleshooting, pay attention to detail, and we're gonna go out on the road.
Okay.
Good to go? In a technology-intensive company like DirecTV, it's inevitable that technical problems will arise.
The key to our remaining successful lies in our service technicians' ability to deal with those technical problems both efficiently and effectively.
So we check all our connectors on a service call.
- Yeah? - They might be loose.
- Oh, yeah.
- Okay, let's go back out.
Let's go back out.
Okay, crawling through an attic, most of the time I hate doing it.
- Yeah.
- Uh-oh, see? That's why you have to have one at a time.
You don't wanna step through-- yeah, I would've been through the floor on that one.
When we get on the job, I will walk you through everything.
I wanna make sure you feel comfortable.
- Okay, Birmingham.
- Oh, you got a GPS.
Got a GPS.
It's good to have them in your truck.
The company provides that? No.
This is one of--that you'll have to buy yourself, because they not gonna supply a GPS.
Okay.
At a minimum, we should be providing each installer a GPS system for their truck.
I don't know how you'd find your way around to all these homes without a GPS system.
So it seems to me that's something we ought to think about.
When you go to a customer's house, always be positive.
- Yep.
- And confident.
Even if you don't know what you're doing, talk like you know what you're doing.
- Hey, how you doing? - How are you? My name is Phil from DirecTV.
- This is our trainee, Tom.
- Good morning.
How are you, Tom? I'm Sherri.
Nice to meet you.
Dog not gonna bite, is he? Well, he's been known to bite an ankle or two.
How many receivers do you have that's having problems? Just one.
And I need to tell you something before you bend over there.
That the cord shocked my husband and then me.
- Okay.
- The night before it went out, it just--the mote--the picture came and went a couple times.
First thing we're gonna do, we're gonna go check your dish.
- We got three rungs up.
- Yep.
You're good to go, one-by-one.
Yeah.
There you go.
That's why we got three rungs, so when you get up at the top you have something to grab up on.
Oh! Let's see what we got.
The first thing we wanna do-- we wanna check can I get some signal? You can go ahead on and step on down.
There we go.
Searching for satellite.
See how it's jumping in and jumping out.
Mm-hmm.
So that's telling you what? Put your hand on it.
Not supposed to be that way, right? Mm-mm.
You got a box? Oh, my bad.
I usually keep everything stocked, but since we're having a shortage of HD receivers, I didn't have that many.
It's a common problem, it happens every day.
People run out of equipment.
Hey, what up, man? You got an HD receiver? Hey, Paulie, I need an HD receiver.
Didn't nobody have an HD receiver this morning? Who you say you got that receiver from this morning? Uh, who else work in this area? Hey, you got an HD receiver? Phil is incredibly customer-sensitive.
He wants to solve the problem.
And he's not gonna let go until he gets that problem fixed.
Let me check and see if he got one.
Eventually did find somebody.
They should be here in 15 or 20 minutes with the receiver that we need.
So we should be in business.
Yep.
There we go.
- Got it tight? - Yes, sir.
And now hit it one more time.
Oh, yay.
We have picture.
So this is wonderful.
Ms.
Sherri, we thank you for your patience.
Hope that everything is satisfactory to you.
- Take care.
- Thank you.
Have a good day.
Phil did a great job.
Very polite, very professional.
He went out of his way to call around to find somebody to get us the box that we needed.
But it shouldn't have been that difficult.
Did you grow up in Alabama? - Grew up in Alabama.
- Yeah? My mom and dad got divorced when I was 6 years old, so my dad was-- never was around.
So growing up, didn't have that stability.
The first time I get with my friends, they offered me some beer, they offered me some reefer.
Went from smoking reefer to snorting cocaine.
Oh, jeez.
And then turned into a crackhead, and lived on the street for a year and a half.
You know, my son had difficulties growing up, in high school.
How did you change? Let me tell you, I'm drunk.
Been drinking all day.
I run a red light.
Guy hit me.
And that's how I got this hole on the top of my head.
Wow.
I got out the car crying, blood pouring out my head.
And the moment I looked up, there's a lady in a long white robe, long white hair.
She said, "the lord sent me here for me to tell you everything will be fine.
" Wow.
Uh-huh.
It's a good thing, you know, to be there for kids because a lot of kids goes through life and doesn't have a father.
Yep.
I let them know I'm proud of them, I love them.
And we go through it like that.
Phil is amazing.
He just somehow kind of took control of his life, and changed.
And to be doing what he's doing, making a difference, he really is fantastic.
Back to the warehouse.
What a day, what a day, what a day, what a day.
Tom, Tom.
Coming up Severe weather threatens the safety of the boss' co-worker.
Whoo! Y'all hear that? It's not safe up there.
Gotta go.
And later Mike slips up and offends a customer.
How are you today, sir? It's not a sir.
Mike White, President and CEO of DirecTV, is a boss undercover.
His employees think he's part of a television show where two people are competing for one position within a company.
His journey continues in Las Vegas.
I'm here to work a shift at one of our warehouse facilities.
The key to its success lies with the warehouse technicians.
Each day they need to make sure that the warehouse has the right inventory so that the trucks have the right equipment on them when they leave for their jobs in the morning.
I wanna see if this warehouse is having any similar inventory issues like we saw in Alabama.
- Morning.
- Good morning.
- Looking for Ryan.
- Yeah, that's me.
- Hey, Ryan, Tom.
- Nice to meet you, Tom.
- How are you? Nice to meet you.
- Pretty good.
SoYou need to get your clothes? - Yes, sir.
- Okay.
Got a hat.
You're gonna be sweating a lot, so - Great.
- Your shirt and shorts.
I tend to talk fast and I tend to walk fast.
This is our warehouse.
Basically, anything on this side is your receivers.
Everything on this side is all your parts to make sure that these things work properly.
Techs come through and they're going to order these parts.
Basically, everything on here is--what we're responsible for is to get it out to them.
Get it out to them.
How many techs you got working out of here? - 108 techs.
- Yep.
But no techs are allowed in the cage.
They are not allowed past this line right here.
Got it.
Got to follow the rules with Ryan.
These are adekas.
You do not give out more than five.
This is a swm lnb.
This right here is slimline.
Slimline.
Now this is a big difference.
Do not confuse the two.
Okay.
Ryan is a meticulous person.
He's very organized.
I was kinda getting the general feel of where some of the stuff was, but there's probably But he's got it nailed.
Even though it says an under eave adapter - Yeah.
- This is the rafter mount.
- How do you know that? - You just know it.
It was a bit overwhelming.
Think I was tracking most of that.
Just driving in now.
We have to try to get everybody out of here by 8:00.
Because that's their first appointment, is 8:00.
Yay, we actually get to do something today.
Just hold on to this.
Yep.
And I'll let you go through it.
- Four power inserters, 21 volt.
- Correct.
- Is that these? - Yep.
You can just throw it in there, don't have to be gentle.
- I need four two-ways.
- Nope.
- Nope? - These are-- those are the multi-switches.
One under eave mount.
That's a biggie.
So I'll probably carry that separate.
- Lightning speed, buddy.
- I know.
We're working on your paper, calm down.
When the technicians start coming in fast, you put a little pressure on yourself, because you know the longer it takes you to get that stuff out of the warehouse, the more unproductive the tech is.
But at the same time, it's important that you're accurate.
- No.
- Is this the-- this is the ka/ku swm, right? - No.
- No? Where is the ka/ku swm lnb again? - Remember the green dot? - Oh, the green dot.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Tom, for some reason, he couldn't grasp the difference of the swm lnbs and the standard lnbs.
Nope, swm.
Slim? - Swm.
- Slim.
He just kept grabbing the wrong one.
Yep.
If Tom continued doing that, he probably wouldn't last very long.
No HD receivers until Thursday.
Ryan, we're out of power.
Okay, that's it.
No power surgers, and no monopolls, no tripods.
- How am I supposed to work? - Yeah.
There were a few key things that we were out of, then Ryan told me that the truck only comes once a week, on thursdays, for the delivery.
Well, today's Tuesday.
What about the decas being out? These guys don't necessarily know how to order what they need.
It's basically like a kid in a candy store.
You see it, you want it, you want it, you want it.
Is that a systems-- computer systems problem, or? No, it's just they hoard.
If everybody worked together and understood what everybody else's job entails - Yep.
- Then you wouldn't run into problems like that.
If you're short of a certain item and the techs hear about it, then you naturally wanna get enough for yourself and your customers.
And certain techs kinda have more receivers than others.
And then they have to start calling each other, and it's chaos.
Something to kind of look into.
Now it's clean-up time.
Hey, Tom, you ever been on a trampoline? - Yep.
- You wanna be on one again? Because we have to compact our cardboard, which hasn't been picked up yet.
We're overflowing quite a bit.
What, are we climbing up there? Yep.
Be very, very, very careful, because it's not a short fall.
Basically just trying to get it down as much as possible.
Whoa.
Be careful, there are voids.
Fun, isn't it? Fun.
- Yeah.
- Oh, yeah.
- I guess that's good.
- All right.
Hey, Ryan, there's boxes over here that have DVRs in it.
Oh, I shouldn't have done that.
- You all right? - Yeah.
I have degenerative disc disease.
Basically from birth, my cartilage in my spine was deteriorating, so they had to fuse my back.
- Oh, back is tough stuff.
- Four vertebraes together, and eight screws, and two titanium rods.
My wife had scoliosis.
But she had her surgery in the late '50s.
Ow.
And she was in a body cast for nine months.
I was out of commission for about seven months.
- Seven months, wow.
- But I have two boys that I have to support.
Oh, do you? Yeah, I have twin boys.
- Twins.
- Almost three.
Twins, Bryce and Bradley.
How do you make the hours work? You're here at 5:00? Well, about 5:30.
- And you get home when? - About 3:30.
- Yep.
- So what I do is my ex-wife, after her work, she picks up the kids at around 3:00, goes home and has them while I'm at work.
And as soon as I get off work here, I go to her house, pick up the kids while she's at work.
And we do that six days because I work six days a week.
- That's not easy.
- No.
But they're my life.
Yeah.
Ryan is an amazing person.
And what he's doing to support his two kids And at the same time hold a job, and deal with his health problems-- that's a lot for anybody to try and juggle.
And yet, he's still organized and disciplined.
And boy, I really admire what Ryan's doing.
Bradley and Bryce.
Let's see, that's them making faces.
Oh, man, they're cute.
I must say, today, it was a long day.
Whoo.
Two days in the field, I gotta tell you.
I'm missing my family, and--and I'm tired.
You know, Ryan reminds me a lot of my son Paul.
My son's also a single dad.
It's not that easy.
I'm so proud of the person that he is and the dad that he is.
He's doing great now, and now I think he's found what he wants to do in life, which is to counsel kids that have addiction problems.
And you know, I really admire that.
I'm here at one of our facilities in Alabama to try my own hand at installing our service.
Are you Tequilla? Yeah.
- I'm Tom Peters.
- How you doing, Tom? - So nice to meet you.
- You too.
Looking forward to working with you today.
- Well, all right, there.
- It's critical that the installation is done right the first time.
All right.
And that we leave a great impression on the customer.
If we do that, we have a good chance to keep that customer for life.
I guess we off to our first job.
All right.
Let's go.
This your first time? First time on an install, Tequilla.
Oh.
How long have you been with the company? Going on three years with DirecTV.
I started off in Georgia.
You're from Georgia originally? - I'm from Indiana.
- Your family still in Indiana? - Yes.
- Yeah.
I got a family reunion to go to today.
Don't let me slow you down.
I don't wanna get in the way.
I'll help do anything I can.
Oh, no, we're gonna get it done.
- Hi.
- Morning.
What it's like being a woman as a tech is very frustrating, because most of the time when I come, they be like, "uh, someone coming with you?" What I'm a do is I'm a go out and see where I'm put the dish.
Or they be le, "uh, are you customer service?" And I'm like, "no, I'm your technician.
" You know how to take it off? - Uh - Uh-uh.
- No? - Like this.
Ooh, it's hot.
Hold on, let me show you.
Yep.
Oh, then slide it down.
I got it.
Uh-uh.
That ain't how you carry it.
No? This is a big ladder.
You gotta lay it on your shoulder.
She's strong like a bull.
That ladder must weigh 25 pounds, and she kinda schleps that off the truck like it's nothing.
I'm different.
I'm a different breed of female, you know.
We gonna put it right here.
Why don't I come up and you do the first one, and then I'll watch you, and then I'll do the second one? Uh-uh.
We both can't fit on the ladder.
No, no, I'll get on the roof.
- No.
- No? - Uh-uh.
- Okay.
I don't get off my ladder.
You're not supposed to get off your ladder.
Okay.
You dropped one of the long bolts, so It's okay.
- I'll get it up to you.
- Uh-uh, uh-uh.
Only one person on the ladder.
The installation is a significant investment of time and money to get it done right.
Making sure the dish is mounted right, that the wiring is right, is critical.
All right, I'm a let you come up-- all right.
And put the other four in.
I got it.
Whoa.
Is it all the way down? I think I got it.
Look like it's about to rain.
You want me to do it? No.
It's just the You can unloosen that.
That bolt right there in the middle.
- This one? - No, no, no.
The one in the middle.
Where your hand is at.
This is not set up for a left-hander.
It's hard work putting that dish in.
And we're trying to get it done before the weather gets worse.
Think that's right.
I have no clue what I'm doing half the time.
I'm learning as I go, and I'm trying to be a good student.
You got some fast learners, and you have some that ain't gonna never catch on.
You can come on down.
I'm a go up there and finish up.
Is that rain? - Yeah.
- Oh, man.
We better finish up.
Whoo! Y'all hear that? I really was getting nervous 'cause Tequilla was bound and determined to get this finished and to get the dish adjusted properly.
- Lord.
- Finish it up quick.
- Jeez.
- It's not safe up there.
In the middle of a thunderstorm handling wires.
Gotta go.
Whoo! Whoo! Y'all hear that? Jeez.
It's not safe up there.
Gotta go.
Whoo! - Think we wanna-- - lord.
- Finish it up quick.
- Jeez.
This is the end of the outside.
- Good.
- Whoo! Oh, man, it feels so good in here.
Let you make this one.
You open it like that.
Yep.
Now you go at least three or four times forward-- - oops.
- And then go back.
It'll go on its own.
And then pull? - Make sure it--got it? - Yep.
- And pull it.
- Tequilla is a good teacher.
And once you get it, you'll start getting faster.
She let me do things, and that's the best way to learn.
But I probably slowed her up a little bit, I'm afraid.
Oh, you don't have to do all of that.
Look, you just do it like this.
He helped.
But if I was by myself, I would've been done.
Here, put that on here.
How we doing on time? I know you have your family reunion later.
Depends on how long it takes to actually activate the receiver.
If that TV's working or not.
We're storming bad.
It make the signal strength go down.
It ain't gonna let me activate.
All right, jeez, ain't nothing we can do right now.
Maybe I can call and get a waiver.
You've reached DirecTV's installer activation line.
Get a waiver.
If the maximum signal strength isn't achieved due to bad weather, a technician can request a waiver so the signal strength can be adjusted remotely at a later time.
If you are requesting a waiver, be prepared to describe to us how the dish was aligned to ensure proper procedures were followed.
The tech is, in many ways, our most important asset.
And we shouldn't have them waiting-- much less waiting in front of the customer-- for someone to answer the phone that long.
Luckily, Tequilla did a good job staying patient and keeping the customer calm.
I apologize, but they're running a little bit behind.
I don't know if I could've done the same.
Thank you for holding.
I'll go ahead and Grant you the waiver, due to bad weather.
Bye-bye.
We gotta do a better job supporting the techs.
Waiting that long for a waiver is unacceptable.
It's definitely on my list of things to follow up on.
- Nice to meet you.
- It was a pleasure meeting you.
Nice to meet you.
Thanks for the business.
So do you think you're gonna make your reunion? - I gotta go back home.
- Yeah? I'm like a hour and a half away from here.
And I gotta get dressed, then dri--I don't know.
I don't know if I'm gonna make it.
DirecTV's 35 call centers take over a 120 million phone calls a year.
After working with Tequilla, I've already seen that there are some issues with our techs calling in.
Today, I'm here at our service headquarters here in Denver, Colorado.
I wanna make sure our customers aren't having similar problems.
Looking for Chloe.
I'm Chloe.
Nice to meet you.
Looking forward to spending time with you today and learning a little bit about the business and how this works.
Yes, okay.
This is our system.
We call it Rio.
You have to make notes each time somebody calls in, that way the next person is aware.
We have scripts for almost everything.
Most of our calls are searching for satellite signal, or it's to activate an additional receiver.
So I'll just take some calls-- okay.
And then just kinda go through.
All right.
Thank you for choosing DirecTV, my name is Chloe.
How are you doing today? I'm fine, thank you.
And how can I assist you today? Our HD box won't light up or do nothing.
I just need to set up a box that we just received.
Not getting any signal.
Okay, we definitely do apologize about that, and I'll be more than glad to take care of that for you.
Go ahead, and on the back of the receiver, there is a detachable power cord.
- Okay.
- Detach it, and then reconnect it.
Okay.
You probably see a receiver id and an access card number.
Yes.
I just need the last four numbers, please.
- 0-4-0-5.
- So I'm gonna go ahead and activate it now.
You know, in good customer service, you wanna have someone who is really positive and customer-oriented, but also, someone who solves their problem.
- Yay, you did it, Alyse.
- Awesome.
All right, thank you so much for calling in.
I hope you have a wonderful day.
Thanks, same to you.
Okay.
- You're good.
- Oh, thanks.
You're so quick on all that stuff.
And I kinda of followed what you were doing.
It's easy.
You know, mostly it's about using your personality, keeping the customer calm.
- Yeah.
- Now, did you wanna try taking a call? Sure.
So we try to keep all our calls under ten minutes.
So that helps manage-- oh, so I'm not on the phone for 30 minutes.
You're managing their expectations.
- Right, exactly.
- Yeah.
I'll navigate, and then whenever you feel like you don't know, I'll help you figure it out, okay? Good--good morning, thank you for calling DirecTV.
My name is Tom.
Right.
- How are you today, sir? - It's not a sir.
Ma'am, I'm sorry about that.
I'm going to place you on a brief hold.
I was so into my little opening spiel, that I just said "sir" and it was a ma'am.
- Okay? - Just put her back on.
How do I-- oh, you just press hold.
Thank you for holding, ma'am.
I can't get channel 2 or 4.
Are you getting any kind of severe weather in your area? Thunderstorms or anything? No.
- No, um - Watching the golf, just stopped.
Um I totally understand that, and, um - You know what? - No, no.
Just give me one moment here.
Chloe was there typing literally almost word-for-word what to say.
If--we're going to send out a service call, ma'am.
- Okay.
- No, no, I said "if we're going send out--" oh.
You know, we would have to charge you $49.
95.
No.
I pay every month.
Right, I understand.
Customers can realize that you're not confident.
They will take advantage.
I thought this was your equipment.
- The dish and the cabling-- - uh-huh.
Are Are yours.
We would have to charge you for that, unfortunately.
Okay.
- Okay.
- Yeah, I know.
I screwed up.
Yeah, when you-- I just got a little flustered.
When they call in, I always ask for their name.
Like, "oh, do you mind if I go ahead and get the name?" Because then when they tell you the name, usually you know.
Yeah, yeah.
You know? All right, did you wanna take another one? Try one more.
All right, you can do this.
Here we go.
All right, here we go.
Thank you for calling DirecTV.
My name is Tom.
How are you today? Well, I'm a little frustrated.
I have no signal sign on my television.
Okay, we're just gonna walk together through the troubleshooting steps.
Good, that's what I want.
Go ahead and press the input button.
We wanna cycle through all the inputs, please, sir.
Okay, no signal.
Can you check that HDMI cable cord? - It's tight as it could be.
- Okay.
Do you have any extra cables? I do.
I'm working on it.
That's all right.
Take your time, I'm right here with you.
Don't worry.
Hey, I got it.
You got it? Oh, that's great news.
Thank you so much for your help.
- You have a great day.
- You too.
Thank you, sir.
- Look how good you did.
- Yay! We did all right, huh? These are tough jobs, these call center jobs.
They're a different kind of toughness than climbing a roof in But here, you've got the stress of being at that desk and needing to try and find a solution to customers who are oftentimes very frustrated because the television plays an important role in their lives.
Do you normally work sundays? Yeah, I have school on tuesdays and thursdays.
You're doing this, what, to pay for the tuition, or? I had a scholarship, but that one's already ran out.
I'm a political science major because when I was younger, I actually was in Foster care.
- Oh.
- For about over a year.
And just wanted to make sure that whatever career I go into, I'm able to give back.
Because I feel like, you know, I've come out of so much.
- That's good.
- So - Well, that sounds exciting.
- Yeah.
That sounds exciting.
So what do you wanna do when you get done? I was hopefully thinking of starting my own business, maybe.
Or going to law school.
Yep.
I don't know what I wanna do first.
I don't know, we'll see.
She's a very self-disciplined person.
And yet, at the same time, has this incredible personality and ability to put adversity behind her, and stay focused on who she is.
She's just got amazing inner strength to be able to do that.
I hadn't kinda worked this kind of work since I was 21.
It's a sobering reminder of kinda how many people make this company go.
And it's our call center agents, and our technicians, and our warehouse people.
They're the heroes.
My dad always taught me the importance of connecting with people, whatever station in life they come from.
But the adversity that each of these folks has overcome Just is awe-inspiring.
That's what this week's been all about.
So maybe it's a bit of a tribute to my dad.
I hope.
A little bit.
Coming up Mike summons his employees to company headquarters.
I'm nervous.
I'm, like, anxious.
I don't know what's going on.
How will they react when he reveals his true identity? I'm Mike White.
And I'm the CEO of DirecTV.
My week undercover has finally come to an end.
It's been an amazing week.
I have to say One thing's for sure, I have a much better appreciation for what our front line has to do.
I'm very excited to tell my senior staff about the experience I just had.
Hey, guys.
Hey, there.
- Hello.
- Nice to see you all.
Things are good? Yes.
Anybody here hear anything? You couldn't have done something too bad because we don't have a lot of calls.
I had no clue what I was doing.
Yeah.
In any event, it's been an interesting week for me.
It's certainly opened my eyes.
And I saw some incredible strengths for our company.
Nice.
But I'd also say there are a few areas that I think we've got some opportunities for improvement.
All right.
I was most surprised to find a number of opportunities for us to improve the productivity of our techs.
It was a little embarrassing.
We sat on hold in front of the customer-- we must've been on hold for 20 minutes.
So I think we need to take, Ellen, some of our call center disciplines and figure out what's going on when our own techs can't get through Sure.
At the rate they should.
I was surprised to find that some of our techs are buying their own GPSs.
We are absolutely supposed to be providing the tools.
Something's not working right there.
- Okay.
- We got some inventory issues that we gotta go to work on, 'cause techs were going bananas trying to find receivers.
You got my support, whatever it costs.
I don't care about the budget.
We're gonna make a difference on that issue.
Okay.
I'm really excited to bring the employees I worked with in here to Los Angeles and reveal my true identity to them.
I'm nervous.
I'm, like, anxious.
Don't know what's going on.
I feel that Tom got good potential to attain the job and go forth and be great.
Oh, my God.
- You recognize me? - Tom Tom.
I'm actually Mike White, and I'm CEO of DirecTV.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God.
Thinking back of how I had you jumping on cardboard.
Yeah, that's great.
It's nice to see you.
- So you're not Tom.
- I'm not Tom after all.
All right.
Tequilla, you're a terrific employee, I gotta tell you that.
Thank you.
I was just so struck with the strength that you bring to that job.
So there are a couple things I wanna do.
First of all, we formed a women's leadership exchange at DirecTV a number of years ago.
- Okay.
- And we don't have any female techs on the steering committee.
Well, we do now.
Oh.
- You're the first.
- Well, am I? I think you can bring a new and different perspective to that group that will make us a better company.
Ooh, lord! All right.
Second thing I had in mind is I think you were a little stressed out that afternoon.
And my guess is it was 'cause you were missing your family reunion.
You missed it 'cause I was slowing you down, and I know that.
Well, you said it.
So you know what I'm gonna do? - What? - I'm paying for a family reunion, and I want you to fly your mother in for it.
- Quit playing.
- I'll write the check.
Gonna make me cry.
Okay, I appreciate that.
It's hard for a female to do her thing without getting appreciated.
It meant a lot.
That's all I can say.
It really does.
Ryan, I learned a lot watching you.
You do a terrific job running that warehouse.
- I appreciate that.
- And I think you had a number of ideas about better coordination between the techs and the warehouse folks across the company.
Yes.
You know, I'd like to ask you to meet with our vice president of supply chain and share some of your observations about how we can improve the warehouses across the company.
I appreciate that.
Thank you very much.
The other thing, I got a question for you.
When are your twin boys' birthday? - August 21st.
- Well I want you to go and put together the most fantastic birthday party that they will never forget.
Magicians, jumpy things, the entire nine yards, and I'm gonna pay for it.
Oh, thank you very much.
And I wish them a very Happy Birthday.
I appreciate that very much.
You always want the best for your kids.
And then you have to figure out how you're gonna do it.
And now you just made it possible for me, so I appreciate that very much.
Being a single parent is extremely hard.
But I wouldn't change it for anything.
My boys are my life, and I'm excited to go home and plan this stuff to see what we can do.
Phil, the positive attitude that you had toward life inspired me so much.
Thank you, sir.
We talked a bit about kinda the challenges of dealing with the disease of addiction.
And I so admire the strength that you have.
But more than that, the way you give back to those kids.
- Yes, sir.
- And Apart from that, you're a fantastic tech.
- Thank you, sir.
- You are so customer-oriented.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you do for the company.
Yes, sir.
And how much I admire you as a person.
So there are a couple things I wanna do.
- Yes, sir.
- First of all, we're gonna make sure that all the techs have a navigation system provided by the company.
Thank you, sir.
I think there's somethihg real important to what you do.
And that's your ministering to troubled youth.
And I so admire what you do there.
I'm writing you a check, personally, for $5,000 to support your ministry to helping kids in need.
Thank you, sir.
- All right? - Thank you, sir.
I just read a scripture yesterday on the plane that the character of how you carry yourself, you will one day sit among kings.
And here you are, the CEO of a company, and I'm sitting among you today.
No, I'm the one sitting among kings.
Thank you, sir.
I feel real good about being rewarded right now for hard work.
And the good work that I did, it was recognized.
- Chloe, you are so smart.
- Thank you.
And you are so positive.
You're still going to school and you're working a full-time job.
- Yeah.
- That's not easy.
- It's not.
- I've been so inspired by you, I wanna create a DirecTV scholarship program.
- Oh, my God.
- And you're gonna be the first to get a scholarship for up to $10,000 towards your schooling next year.
Wow.
Oh, my gosh.
For school? - For school.
- Thank you so much.
I'm so excited and overwhelmed.
It's okay.
Chloe, my dad passed away at the age of 50.
I know what it's like to live with a dad and to live without one.
You've had to live your whole life without one.
Yeah.
I'd like to help mentor you in any way I can.
- Okay, thank you.
- You're an incredibly talented person who has an amazing future ahead of you.
Thank you.
I'd like to meet with you a couple times a year to try and give you whatever advice that I can.
Okay.
Can I give you a hug? Of course you can give me a hug.
I'm, like, overwhelmed.
But excited.
I'm really appreciative.
The fact that he wants to be, like, a mentor or role model in my life, and I don't have that, and so it's really It's a big deal, so.
I really appreciate him doing that.
It's time for me to address the entire company and tell them about my undercover experience.
Without any further ado, our president and CEO, Mike White.
Thanks, guys.
Thanks, good afternoon, and welcome, everybody.
I wasn't being entirely straight with you when we asked you to come here for a town hall meeting.
You see, over the last week, I've been working undercover in our field operations at DirecTV.
It was truly an amazing experience.
But you know, words can't do it justice.
Here are some of the highlights.
Let's take a little look.
He helped, but if I was by myself I would've been done.
Thank you for calling DirecTV.
My name is Tom.
How are you today, sir? It's not a sir.
You can just throw it in there.
Yep.
I certainly came away with a much better appreciation for how hard our frontline jobs are.
My dad always used to say to me, "people are people.
" And I don't think I ever fully appreciated what they meant until this week.
And for that experience of teaching me what my dad really meant with those three words, thank you.
Because you taught me something that, even at 58 years of age, I still hadn't fully mastered.
Thanks, everybody.
Have a great afternoon.
When I started this journey, I really thought it'd be an opportunity for me to continue to learn about our technology.
Actually, that was the least of the experience.
I mean, it really-- at the end of the day, it's about cherishing our employees and being committed to their growth, because they're so vitally important to our success.
Stay tuned for scenes from our next episode.