Commercial Integrator April 2023 - 45

Companies to Work For. " Quoting words
that PTG's founder, Lynn Matson, weaved
into the company's DNA, Fons says, " If
you care for your employees, employees
will take care of the customers, and the
customers will take care of the business. "
He elaborates, saying, " It's not just a
triangle. You have to do it in that order. " As
a manager and leader, Fons' first priority
is to dig in and understand the changing
dynamics and changing needs of his staff.
" The way those needs look today is very
different than [how they looked] 20 years
ago, " he acknowledges. " And you've got
to be in touch with that. "
Deb Zupancic, executive VP, speaks
proudly of how her colleagues and she
have worked to craft PTG's company
culture. " [It has been a] conscious effort
for us to be able to build the culture that
we want it to be, " she reflects. " It really
stems from the top down from the leadership
team here. I don't think you will
find a humbler servant leadership team
out there. "
Part of being a good leader is not only
How BTV Evolved into PTG
In 1986, at the age of 23, Lynn Matson, CEO and founder of
Promotion Technology Group (PTG), founded her first startup
- Business Television Video (BTV) - by accident. At the time,
a client was looking for TV VCR units, and they asked Matson if
she could get them. Without any fear, she said yes. " Ignorance,
in a lot of ways, is bliss because you don't know what you don't
know, " she reflects. " And so, therefore, you have no fear. "
Matson continues the story, saying that she sold the client the
TV VCR units at the suggested retail price and, once the deal
was finalized, realized she could make more money per month
doing that than what she had been doing.
Matson's next step was cold-calling Princess Cruise Lines.
And, indeed, Princess ended up buying the TV VCR units for
its sales team around the country, putting them inside the
company's travel agencies back in '86 and '87. The business
just kept moving up from there, Matson recalls, saying, " It just
kept snowballing. " One client led to the next. And when a client
asked for audio, Matson replied, " Yes, of course! " She called
up Bose right away, and the company helped her procure and
install the necessary audio systems. A deal with a big-name nationwide
retailer further helped put her company on the map.
Matson had a grand vision to turn her million-dollar company
into a $150-million company and felt that vision would be best
commercialintegrator.com
realized by merging with a group who were assembling a portfolio
of fixture and technology companies. Matson sold 60% of
her business. With new owners came a new leadership team
and soon thereafter Matson found herself out of a job.
With the business valued at $40 million Matson watched
from the sideline as the company performance plummeted.
Within 10 months the value dipped below $9 million. Every
great story has a turn-around. From that moment, Matson
made an offer to repurchase the company, replaced the leadership
team, and restored the performance and brand that she
worked so hard to build.
Matson set about resurrecting BTV. That included a rebranading,
a name change to Promotion Technology Group (PTG)
in support of that new direction, and new focus on the company
staff that continues to this day. " Great companies are built with
great people, " Matson declares. " If I take care of our people,
they will take care of our customer, and our customer will naturally
take care of us. "
Even today, Matson and her team continue to build up the
business. When asked if she still aspires for PTG to be a $150
million company, she says no without any hesitation.
" I'd rather be the best in the industry and take care of our
customer, " Matson states. " Being the biggest doesn't necessarily
mean you're the best. "
APRIL 2023 Commercial Integrator 45
understanding how best to serve your
team but also being willing to let that team
judge your efforts. " [As an executive leader],
you sometimes you sit behind the desk
and hope you're getting it right, " Zupancic
says candidly. " But, [with the award recognition],
our staff said to us, 'You did get it
The PTG team feels and appreciates
the company's ethos of caring for its
employees. There's no better evidence
of that than PTG recently having been
recognized as one of the " Best and
Brightest Companies to Work For. "
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Commercial Integrator April 2023

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