Condoleezza Rice, Verizon & Suitsupply: Reflections on NRF 2021 - Chapter 1, Day 1

Yesterday, I attended my very first NRF virtual show - NRF 2021: Retail’s Big Show - Chapter One. 

As a newbie, I was quickly impressed by the number of sessions, sponsors, and the overall organization of the event. Upon choosing the sessions I would attend, I got my coffee, took the three steps from my ‘office’ to my living room, nestled under a blanket on my velvet green couch, put on my noise-canceling headphones to tune out my husband’s conference calls, and turned my Slack notifications off. Recipe for success. 

I tuned in to a lot of sessions yesterday, but two of my favorites were, “Leading through Crisis: A Conversation with Secretary Condoleezza Rice,” and “Remapping The Customer Experience: A Reinvention Imperative.”

“Leading through Crisis: A Conversation with Secretary Condoleezza Rice” 

It’s not every day you get to start your morning listening to the one and only, Secretary Condoleezza Rice, especially on a subject that is on everybody’s minds: leading through crisis. Here are some of my key takeaways from this session:

State of Our Nation

Miss Rice shared eloquently about her views on the state of our nation: “Somehow, we are not a united people... We have to get to the root cause of what that is,” she said. Quickly, she followed up saying that in her eyes, we did not feel united in 2001 either. Hearing Miss Rice say this was a sigh of relief because more often than not, I hear people say this is all new. That they can’t believe these things are happening. But Miss Rice clarified that that is not the case﹣it’s not that we were less divided 20 years ago. There’s always been work to be done, and we can’t wait any longer to do something about it. 

Being the First 

Miss Rice continued to answer questions, this time about being “the first”. Out of all that was said, these words of hers stuck out to me the most: “Firsts don’t set out to be first.” Miss Rice didn’t aim to be the first black woman to be secretary of state. She simply aimed to be secretary of state. As an immigrant in the United States (and with the name of Genesis), I’ve been the “first” of many things for my family, so her words really resonated with me. And like her, getting to where I am was made possible because of my family’s sacrifices and through my education. “It’s not about where we come from, but where we’re going,” she said. 

Being Capable

Miss Rice also stated that Kamala, also a ‘first’, is where she is because she is capable and because the American people elected her. In the world of ‘tokenism’, burying this statement in my heart is key. It can be easy to believe the lies that ‘firsts’ get an extra pass go and ‘only get the job’ because of where they come from versus whether or not they are capable. So thank you Miss Rice for saying what needed to be said. 

Being Our Full Potentials 

My final take away from Miss Rice’s session was about skill and cultural gaps. She brought up the K-12 skill gap and stated that too many people are not in a position to meet their full potential. She also mentioned that as a culture, we don’t know each other anymore, probably because we don’t have common experiences. “We get our information in tribes,” she said, which made me think of the Social Dilemma. Lastly, she brought up options like implementing a National Service or expanding after school options for all kids, regardless of where they come from, to enable common experiences. 

“Remapping The Customer Experience: A Reinvention Imperative”

The other session I really enjoyed was one with Krista Bourne, SVP of Consumer Sales and Operations at Verizon, and Fokke De Jong, CEO and Founder of Suitsupply, on the topics of ‘Radical Personalization’ and ‘Touchless Commerce.’ Though Verizon and Suitsupply have completely different businesses and serve different markets and people, they both agreed that in 2020, these concepts became first priority. 

Verizon

Omnichannel Strategy

Krista Bourne, SVP of Consumer Sales and Operations at Verizon, shared that it’s all about serving customers differently. That though customers have the same needs as before the pandemic, they want things to be easier and more convenient. To address customer needs, Verizon has been heavily focused on the following components of their omnichannel strategy: 

• Curbside / In-Store Pick Up: Letting customers use curbside pick up as a fulfillment option 
• Contactless Payment: Giving customers the option to process payments safely and without contact.
• Contactless Troubleshooting: Making sure people feel safe and comfortable when troubleshooting their products 
• Self-Serve Kiosks: Leveraging technology for customers to self-serve 
• Same Day Delivery: Meeting the needs of customers that don’t want to leave their homes
• In-Store Appointments: Having customers book appointments before coming into the store

Bourne stated that 9 out of 10 of the transactions happening in their corporate fleet are touchless. “Touchless is here to stay,” she said. Verizon calls it “Next-Gen Retail.” Moreover, appointment-based shopping was a huge shock to the company. They’ve had over 1.4 million appointments, a concept which they expect to grow in popularity. 

My Experience

I lived this myself a few months ago. My husband had a great call with Verizon where the agent answered questions about the new phone he was interested in. My husband wasn’t even planning on buying there and then, but he did. He had such a great conversation that he had the agent process his payment through the phone, and schedule a pick-up appointment from the closest store a few hours later. That right there is a great customer experience.

What's Next?

So what’s next for Verizon? “We’re leaning hard on systems of insight,” Bourne said. Verizon has so much customer data that the challenge now is using it to change the game. “Customers need to feel like they are the only ones that matter in that conversation,” she said. Moving forward, Verizon also wants to improve appointment-based shopping for tech support, customer service, etc. “Customers want to be in control of where they are going and what is waiting for them when they get there… Appointments are going to be here for a long while, ” said Bourne. To close, Bourne left us with Verizon’s secret sauce: listening to employees, customers, shareholders, and communities. 

Suitsupply

Disruption & Hope

On the other hand, Fokke de Jong, CEO and Founder of Suitsupply, expressed that they have been swimming upstream with a strong current. With people not going to weddings, graduations, interviews, formal dinners, etc, Suitsupply’s major demand streams were disrupted. I can understand this 100%. I have been wearing elastic-band pants all year since I have nowhere to go. Fortunately, Suitsupply has hope that because they are a global company, things will look more ‘normal’ for their business soon. To De Jong, the only thing that remains important is how people want to connect with his business. 

People, Personalities & Connections

De Jong sees the real value of his business as great people, personalities, and connections with customers. He said that his focus moving forward will be not only on products being available through all channels but having style advice readily available as well. As an example, he shared that customers can engage with their favorite stylist online and start a conversation there and then continue the conversation in-store. They even start fitting rooms for customers before they get there, with items chosen online so that it’s truly a personal experience. I have yet to have an experience like that one, but I’m looking forward to more retailers adopting similar models.

To close, De Jong shared that he is really proud of their experiential options, like giving their stores a rooftop bar for customers to enjoy drinks while shopping. Though I’ve never been to a Suitsupply store, now I sure want to. 

See You Tomorrow, NRF

Overall, my first day attending NRF Chapter One was great. I sure do miss the freebies and social interactions that come with live events, but in absence of that option, NRF is doing great. I appreciate NRF’s commitment to keeping the industry together, and in conversation, especially in times like these.