How does a master tuner's dealer network work?

Most large file services are not just a group of tuners. They are a tuning team with a network of workshops around it. Each workshop has its own customers and its own name, and all of them send their files to the same place.

Who does what in a network?

Some dealers grow and start tuning their own files. A good set-up lets a stronger dealer keep some jobs and send the others up to you.

How does a file move through the network?

1. The dealer's customer, or the dealer, uploads a read on the dealer's portal.
2. The job comes to you, and appears in your queue with the dealer's name beside it.
3. Your tuner does the work and uploads the file.
4. It goes back to the dealer's portal, and the customer is told in the dealer's name.
5. What the dealer owes you for that file is recorded.

The end customer sees only the dealer. The dealer sees their own customers. You see everything.

Why give each dealer a portal of their own?

Because a dealer selling under your name is building your business, and one selling under their own has a reason to stay and grow. A portal in their own name, with their own customers, also keeps your dealers apart: one dealer cannot see another's customers.

The dealer owns the customer. You own the quality. Keep both of those clear.

What should you control per dealer?

More than you first think. What each dealer can see, sell and do should be set per dealer, switch by switch. A new dealer might only send files, while a trusted one can have tuning rights for some jobs and, as add-ons, the diary or the assistant. On TunerEngine those switches are built in, and you can add each dealer from your own panel in under a minute.

What should you agree before signing a dealer?

Put it in writing. What they pay per file and when. Who answers which questions. What happens if a customer complains. Who owns the customer if they leave, and what happens to any slave tool. Most falling-out is about something that was never written down.

How do you bill a network?

Per file, with a statement. Doing this by hand gets painful once you pass a few dealers, so see how a master bills its dealers.

When are you ready to start one?

When your own service runs without you holding it together. A network multiplies whatever you already have, and that includes the problems. If your turnaround is steady, your corrections are rare and your prices are clear, your first dealer will be a good experience for you both.