The PC Association is a true trade association. Its objective is to do things that will benefit its membership. Thus, whilst it does that and provides those things listed below, it is also at the command of its members – it is the tool and servant of its members whilst simultaneously being an authority for them. So, perhaps we should be asking the question, as a member … what would you like us to do for you?

The main activities and benefits listed below are largely self-explanatory, but we provide some detail and illustration. Most of theses benefits are focussed on 'retailers', those who sell products to the final user, because they make up 80% of our membership.

The personal computer industry is barely mature …. How responsible is your business? 

A picture (of a logo) is worth a thousand words …
Customers like to have third-party endorsements of their buying decisions, they like the feeling of security that comes with buying from a Member of a trade association. Very often they have no idea whether there is any real benefit to be gained from doing so, but in the art of 'crude marketing' that isn’t important.

However, for 'retailers' there is real, tangible benefit to your customers. The proposition goes something like this. 'We are members of our industry association, that means that we must conform to an industry-agreed Code of Practice in our dealings with you, Mr Customer. So you have the extra assurance if anything does go wrong and in the unlikely event of you being unhappy with the solution, you can go to the PC Association and they’ll help to sort things out. And if they find that we’ve flouted the Code of Practice they can publicly sack us.' A pretty powerful marketing tool !

But customer-facing benefit isn’t just limited to consumers. More and more business and government buyers want to buy from members of trade associations. The current BECTA contract requires tenderers to state what industry associations they belong to.

How many customer decisions does the logo have to influence in order for it to pay for your membership? It costs you no extra to make use of it in every means of promotion at your disposal. And remember, it’s not just about you using the logo, its about your competitors using it.