Momentum In The Exhibit City News...

From Ideas to Innovation: 

Benchmarking Best Practices

Momentum Management was founded in 1991 by Randy Bott and a small group who shared a common vision of creating a nationally recognized labor management company. The company currently handles installation and dismantle service request for tradeshows and other events across the U.S. and Canada. 

“After all these years I couldn’t be happier with the direction we’re headed and the progress we’ve made,” said Bott. 

Three years ago, Randy brought Rick Bellerjeau to the company as general manager. What made this appointment unusual is that Bellerjeau’s background is not in either the tradeshows or labor industries. In fact, Bellerjeau came from a technology background. 

“With a background in another industry,” said Bellerjeau. “I could look at the company through a different prism. Randy is a very forward thinking leader, and he believes in benchmarking best practices across industries.” 

In the technology industry, companies understand the value of strategic partnerships. Companies partner and leverage strength, and through strategic partnerships, all of the partners become stronger. How could this be an advantage in the I&D industry? 

Bellerjeau ‘s fresh eyes saw an industry dominated by fear. Because the tradeshow industry depends on acceptance of a creative  effort, there is a personal element to customer acquisition. Will they like the exhibit? Will it ‘wow’ senior management? Will someone else get the business? Will they buy it? 

Not only is the pressure personal, but time pressure is a big part of the industry. Deadlines are tight, as are schedules and delivery dates. With this in mind, Momentum shifted its focus away from the fear of cannibalization to committing to work with exhibit houses in order to understand what exhibit builders mean when they say they sell value to a client. What type of delivery do they promise? And how does a company like Momentum help them keep their promises? 

Momentum is on a path of keeping track of continuous improvement. The company takes labor, a commodity, and adds innovation to reinvent themselves and the industry. 

In doing so, Momentum is redefining service in the I&D segment with systems, processes, training and action. Bellerjeau, as general manager, believes in taking people to another level, specifically in taking a union employee who is part of a labor force that has done things the same way for decades and reintroducing this person to a new concept.

“The first step was to get our product, our labor force, to be excited about exceeding themselves on the show floor,” he said. “There are some companies that will throw their partners under the bus to make themselves look good; we’re not one of them. We know that our whole culture is about the client experience on the show floor exceeding everyone’s expectations.” 

“We focus on our people, on training and on presenting the bigger picture, the whole vision,” Rick continues. “There’s a consistency to our approach from the time the dock doors open until the show opens. We know that our customers back at the corporate office are worried that something might go wrong. Maybe they’re launching a new product and they know that the show is  important. It’s the primary place where they can meet their customers and they realize that a lot of business is started on the show floor. 

“We’re a communications company as well as a labor company. Communications dissipates fear, and when the exhibit houses put our processes and procedures in their RFPs. It works. Our processes turn price discussion into value discussions. Especially in a down economy, we want to provide the highest level of service and sell value. In our work, we demonstrate how our vision is working as we build a culture of partnerships, value and customer focus. We make the fear go away.”