PC MARKETING
A Full-Service Resource Surrounded By Quality
by Matt Morgan
PC Marketing has eight distributor partners in the United States and one in Mexico. “PC distributors are located in strategic areas across the country,” says Susan Miller, president and CEO of the Ridgefield, N.J.-based tanning-bed manufacturer. “Our distributors help us fully cover North America and provide the best training, installations and customer support.”
She refers to the company’s distributors as partners by design.
“We work together to achieve a common goal,” she explains. “Our ethics and integrity are the same. Our mission together is to provide the salon owners the best tanning equipment and service in the industry.”
The New Partner
The most recent addition, Four Seasons Sales & Service, Inc. of Paris, Tenn.—an industry powerhouse in its own right—has the industry abuzz. It brings two storied companies together for the common goal of serving salons.
“This was very much a wellplanned, strategic move for both companies to work together on a long-term basis to provide better equipment, service and support for salons,” Miller says.
Four Seasons had distributed another manufacturer’s products for 19 years, but decided now was a good time for change. “PC Marketing gave us the opportunity to expand our territory of equipment sales,” says Chuck Robinson, CEO of Four Seasons.
What is most exciting is the synergy already in place between the two companies. Instead of spending months or years getting on the same corporate page, PC Marketing and Four Seasons already have a certain understanding of their task at hand.
“The synergies are awesome, and we’ve only been working together since July 1,” Miller says. “You’d think we were all together for five years already. We hit the ground running, and it’s extremely exciting for us. We’re very proud to have Four Seasons join our team.”
Before there was the paperwork naming Four Seasons as an exclusive distributor for PC Marketing, there was respect—much like a sports team has for a veteran opposing player.
“I’ve known Ronnie and Johnny Allen, the owners of Four Seasons, for the 21 years they have been in this business, and have never met two finer individuals,” Miller says. “Under Chuck Robinson’s leadership, my respect for the organization has continued to grow. While we were always competitors, I have tremendous respect levels for the way they run their company and, most of all, their ethics and integrity.”
Four Seasons will expand product lines for PC Marketing, which benefits both companies. PC Marketing now can tap into states where it did not have a strong presence, especially in the Midwest and Southeast. In turn, PC Marketing gives Four Seasons the chance to expand its territories by selling world-class tanning equipment from Montego Bay® and uwe. The ultimate winners in this equation are the salon owners—who will see an increase in equipment opportunities in their businesses—and their tanning customers.
“Nobody on the equipment side of the industry has the longevity, experience, knowledge and depth to take care of the salons than PC Marketing and its distributors have,” Miller says. “That’s another reason why the Four Seasons agreement works so well. They have the stability. They have quality people. We’re full-service, they’re full-service. We believe you don’t just sell salons a tanning bed. We train them. We set them up. No matter where they are in the country, we’re going to set that bed up for them, whether it be one bed or 30.”
Equipment, Training & Support
Through its two lines of tanning beds—Montego Bay® and uwe— PC Marketing can satisfy the equipment needs of any salon regardless of budget, size or decor.
In 2003 and 2004, uwe is leading the way in technical innovation. “It’s all profitable for the salon owner and gives the very best results to the consumer,” Miller says, adding, “uwe—bar none— manufactures the finest-quality equipment in our industry and has the most-advanced technology. Many manufacturers copy and emulate features years after uwe introduces them.”
The Lotus™, uwe’s newest model, was introduced at the Las Vegas Tanning Expo in June. The midrange, 12-minute VHR Lotus™ incorporates XTT™ (Xtreme Tan Tec) technology for optimal facial tanning. There are 22 160-watt Cosmedico VHRs in the canopy and 18 in the lounge, as well as three 400-watt Heraeus high-pressure facials. The new unit features an ellipticaldesigned canopy for closer body symmetry, air-conditioned lounge acrylic and multispeed, full-body cooling. For the salon operator, the Lotus™ comes complete with quick-removal facial cassettes and hinged lounge and canopy acrylics.
Released in 2003, uwe’s SunBoard™ XTT™ is the first all-high-pressure bed in the industry, Miller says. It features the same high-pressure technology found in the facials of the top-selling S Class™ with AfterBronzer™. “The upper-body facial units give tremendous results and output,” she says.
PC Marketing is about more than just selling equipment. It is about training and support after the products end up in salons. This is another area where Four Seasons can be of valuable assistance.
“Our sales teams and technical teams work very closely together in the present as well as the future development of products and equipment services for salons,” Miller says. “This allows for us to have sales, training, installation and technical people all over the country with Four Seasons joining the team. Both companies—and the rest of our distributors—believe that we’re with you from the beginning, from your site selection to your layout, to your installs, to your training.”
In addition to on-site training and seminars throughout the nation, PC Marketing has opened a training center at its headquarters. The center will serve as a hands-on, working salon environment, complete with 18 tanning units, major lotion lines and computer systems. “We will work with salon owners and teach them, and they can spend as little or as much time as they would like with us,” Miller says. “We believe in training. We’re very much behind it. We always feel knowledge is power.”
Each year, the company hosts a tanning summit, where hundreds of salon owners and employees come to learn and relax with their colleagues. They experience up-to-date product and sales training, along with customer service know-how—all from the top trainers from the industry’s top brands.
“At PC Marketing, we operate with one goal in mind: to be the full-service resource of the best equipment and customer care for the indoor tanning industry,” Miller says. “I find the same dedication at Four Seasons. Synergy like this can’t help but advance even further the level of support customers have come to expect from both PC Marketing and Four Seasons.”
By surrounding itself with great people and stable companies, PC Marketing has positioned itself at the forefront of tanning-equipment technology, sales, training and customer service.
“What’s most important to me is having people working together to do the very best they can to serve the salon market,” Miller says. “And knowing of my own company as well as what I know of Four Seasons, there is no limit to what we will do to make customers happy.”
