Neely Woodson Powell, founder and CEO of the Charleston Shoe Company, shared insight on the value customer engagement in her keynote at the ICX Summit held in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Neely Woodson Powell, founder and CEO of the Charleston Shoe Company, is focused on three strategies: selling her popular shoe portfolio, empowering store employees and creating strong, loyal relationships with her customers.
All three strategies have played a critical role in her 27-year-old company’s success as well as its growth. But there’s one more — Powell’s entrepreneurial passion — which plays just as strong a role, if not the strongest.
Powell’s passion for retail and business began in her young years as her family ran “people businesses,” she shared during a keynote talk at the ICX Summit event in Charlotte, North Carolina. The annual summit is celebrating its eighth year and was held in tandem with the Banking Customer Experience Summit from Sept. 9-11 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The ICX Summit brings together B2C brands to learn from industry leaders, network among peers and hear from top innovators when it comes to innovative customer experience. The two summits are hosted by Networld Media Group, a leading business-to-business media communications company specializing in digital media, associations and events in the mobile, self-service, digital signage, retail, food service and financial services industries.
Keys to retail success
Powell’s keynote talk was one of nearly two dozen keynotes and sessions during the event.
In kicking off her keynote address, Powell, in a tongue and cheek moment, described her company “as an overnight success.” It all started with a vacation trip where she first saw shoes being hand made by cobblers in Central Mexico in 1996 and was instantly smitten given their design and comfort.
Fast forward a few years and she found herself taking shoe design courses at the Savannah College of Art & Design after opening her first store in 2010 in Savannah, Georgia. Charleston Shoe Company’s unique features consist of their treaded soles, elastic straps, washability and bold designs, which has earned the company a loyal following across the country.
Her success is tied to providing an interactive customer experience and building the trust of the customer community.
“Customers believe in the product as much as I do,” she said, adding customers are essentially brand ambassadors which is “magical.”
“We strive for an authentic relationship. Customers come back and love to come back,” she said.
By 2019 Powell was running 32 retail stores, having launched 14 in 2019 alone. Her shoes were sold on QVC, she had 250 employees and 350 wholesale clients.
Driving shoe joy through Covid
But a year later Covid hit and all that changed. Powell closed the stores temporarily and furloughed employees.
“We got through it,” she said explaining that she then launched a charitable “shoe joy” initiative where the brand donated 500,000 shoes to front-line health care workers taking care of Covid patients.
Once stores reopened, Powell was once again moving forward and her shoes are now sold in over 800 boutiques as well. In 2021 the brand launched a clothing and accessories line.
This year Powell plans to open her first store in the Caribbean.
“Our product is amazing and the culture we have built is super important,” she said.
Simple but effective customer engagement
At that new location the employees will continue a tradition that began with the very first store — all workers wearing two different types of the brand’s shoes.
Not only is it a smart way to put product choices front and center in the store with customers, but it’s also proven to be a very winning customer experience approach.
“It’s usually the first thing customers notice when stopping in a store. It makes it fun. I want every customer to come into the store and feel like they’re shopping in their best friend’s closet.”
And, more often than not, she said, a customer may come in wearing their own shoes but typically walk out wearing their newly purchased footwear.
“Building that relationship customer experience is priceless,” said Powell. “It’s the backbone of our company. Customers and employees are treated like friends and family and vice versa. It’s the people that matter.”
That philosophy is the key to the brand’s success, she said. “We sell shoes and we’re here to build relationships.”
For more insight from Powell listen to an interview on the CX Innovators podcast.
About Networld Media Group
Founded in 2000, Networld Media Group is a leading media communications company specializing in digital media, events and associations in the technology, restaurant, banking, and retail industries. It’s media brands include ATMmarketplace.com, DigitalSignageToday.com, FastCasual.com, KioskMarketplace.com, QSRweb.com, RetailCustomerExperience.com and RewardsThatMatter.com. Events under the Networld umbrella include the Fast Casual Executive Summit, the Restaurant Franchising & Innovation Summit and the Self-Service Innovation Summit.
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