Brett Beveridge: Driving Explosive Growth by Harnessing the Power of People and Technology in Retail

• T-ROC Staff
• Jul 26, 2024
• 10 mins read

Brett Beveridge is an embodiment of entrepreneurial tenacity. As a visionary serial entrepreneur, he thrives on shaping businesses from humble beginnings into industry giants. Brett’s brainchild, The Revenue Optimization Companies (T-ROC), stands as the driving force behind six influential brands in wireless, electronics, software, and retail.

His secret sauce? A fusion of people and cutting-edge tech. Brett’s mission: slashing costs, boosting sales, and consistently exceeding customer expectations. Whether it’s Apple, Sprint, AT&T, or Comcast, T-ROC’s impact reverberates across big-box retailers and Fortune 500 companies alike.

Brett learned the value of hard work from a young age, performing various jobs from waiting tables to even working in a papaya field. At just 23 years old, the University of Miami graduate started selling cell phones out of a van with a college friend, and impressively turned that bootstrap company into Let’s Talk Cellular & Wireless, which became the largest independent mobile wireless retailer in the country at the time with close to 300 stores nationwide.  He would eventually take that company public and sell it to Nextel.

Brett would continue to harness his entrepreneurial spirit, raising millions from national venture capital firms like Goldman Sachs, to co-found LetsTalk.com, which became one of the largest online e-tailers of wireless products and services.  In 2012, LetsTalk.com was acquired by Brightstar Corporation, the largest wireless handset distributor in the world.  Over the last 20 years, Brett has successfully founded more than 20 companies and used his experience to help national wireless and technology companies with reorganization, profit turnarounds, mergers and acquisitions, and initial public offerings.

 

The Retail Genie

T-ROC is a retail branding and consulting partner that supports companies in navigating through today’s retail shopping experience, redefining the power of people and technology. T-ROC offers a unique combination of people-based services, applications, technology management, mystery shopping programs, actionable market research, and competitive insights that support the complex needs of assisted selling. T-ROC’s expertise and next-generation technology are delivered by a team that’s all in to drive sales, optimize performance, and deliver measurable ROI for businesses every single day.

T-ROC is known as a cool, cutting-edge, and disruptive company that continues to win bids & business while also attracting & securing the world’s most well-respected brands. We’ve become a force to be reckoned with and it’s something our competitors know. We’re a force in the retail industry and in the local community with a healthy reputation for creativity, productivity, innovation, and aggressiveness. We work very hard for our clients and ensure they receive the absolute best results – which is why the big brands turn to T-ROC.

“Another thing we do that makes us excel as a business is we spend detailed time and effort strategizing and identifying legacy problems in our industry. We look at how things have always been done vs. how they should be done. We look at what some of the long-term problems and questions have been and then internalize why they exist and how they can be corrected. Then we aggressively approach them and use disruptive technology to solve those problems for our clients. We do that using solutions and tools like our patented and proprietary technologies,” shares Brett.

 

The Leader and His Knack for Opportunity

Brett has always felt like he had a natural tendency to lead and, most importantly, he had a burning desire to build companies. As soon as he graduated from college, he started a cell phone company out of the back of a van. That company turned out to be the largest wireless specialty retailer of wireless products and services in the country, and it became a public company in 7 years. Start-ups felt natural to him, and he knew the sky was the limit if he was willing to work hard. Brett thrives on building businesses from the ground up while leading the forefront of retail technology globally.

During the start of his career, Brett recognized many challenges in the retail industry, particularly in consultative sales. While most “big box” retailers excel at selling commodities, they fall behind when it comes to helping customers decipher and choose the latest in technology, such as cell phones and rate plans. “Although it’s difficult starting a business from scratch, being an entrepreneur is also rewarding. At the start of my career, I was always focused on working hard and achieving my goals. Now, I recognize and truly appreciate the feeling of those ups and downs that come with being an entrepreneur,” reminisces Brett.

Brett has a deep understanding of the retail industry and realizes the need to constantly be creative in an ever-changing market, especially when it comes to digital technology that can benefit his company and, ultimately, his clients. The Revenue Optimization Companies (T-ROC) have launched multiple new technology and software products that have revolutionized the retail industry. Beveridge recognizes that retail businesses are struggling to cope with initiatives such as mobility, connectivity, big data, and omnichannel customer experience. Since no retailer wants reactive IT service on a hit-or-miss basis, SYMBITS (a sub-company of T-ROC) designed, packaged and provided an “In-Store IT platform,” a small box that ensures 100% performance from IT and internet services. It’s the ultimate answer in retail connectivity, compliance, and customer outreach.

Apart from his entrepreneurial ventures, Brett is finalizing his first book, taking readers on a journey into his past, with the lessons he learned about business over the years and what it took to succeed as a young entrepreneur. While sharing his own experiences, he also gives readers an in-depth look at the evolving world of retail and beyond.

 

Innovative Experiences

T-ROC created VIBA, the first-of-its-kind in-store customer engagement solution and the future of retail. VIBA stands for “Virtual Interactive Brand Ambassador” – akin to a Facetime-like experience for customers when they’re at a store. Customers approach a standing digital display that connects them with a live person who can answer questions, offer advice, show them videos, and even point them to the products they need that are for sale in the store.

VIBA is a zero-touch, contactless sales and customer service solution. It respects social distancing while solving the problem of customers seeking a store associate for help. VIBA is on hand to connect shoppers with a real person right away.

The innovative VIBA technology integrates bots such as artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) with live people for a shopping experience that minimizes wait times and maximizes sales. “VIBA’s one virtual brand ambassador can handle 10 different stores at one time. If there is an overflow of customers, it will direct the shopper to another available brand ambassador so there is never a delay,” explains Brett.

 

Keeping the Creative Spark Alive

One of T-ROC’s core values is “Have fun and never take ourselves too seriously” and this value is modeled every day within T-ROC, starting with the CEO. “Recently, we had a director start with us and he shared that in his early weeks, he was struck by the laughter and smiles throughout the office. He said he had never worked in an environment where people genuinely wanted to be here and have fun with each other,” shares Brett.

The company recently conducted an employee survey and one of the most common comments was that T-ROC is like family. 94% of employees responded positively that they take pride in working for T-ROC. The employees rely on each other for not only professional support but emotional support as well. That culture is a result of the trust that is built through making the work environment fun.

For example, T-ROC’s corporate suite number is 450; so quarterly the team holds “Club 450” events, where they put their pencils down early and enjoy happy hour in the office. “Our T-ROC rum punch has become quite popular! Annually, T-ROC hosts a Thanksgiving lunch (about 100 participants) where T-ROC supplies the turkey and ham, while employees bring the sides and other items. It is an afternoon of people sharing their “special” recipes, swapping stories, and being thankful that we are together,” shares Brett.

Every year T-ROC hosts a holiday party, where employees and a guest are invited and flown to Miami to attend. It is a special event, held at a beautiful hotel and allows all T-ROCers to feel special. In addition to thanking its employees who work hard all year, it is important to Brett that he thank the people who support the employees also.

 

Adapting Trends to Stay Ahead

Brett concurs that AI and ChatGPT are all the buzz. Every industry – especially retail – has to have a stance when it comes to incorporating these technologies into their business. It could be customer-facing or it could be related to farming and harvesting data to run and enhance your business for the future. When it comes to retail, he believes that there will be more emphasis on applying AI and ChatGPT to the entire ecosystem. At T-ROC, the VIBA solution already utilizes these new technologies to empower the future.  There’s a fear of this kind of technology taking over, but at T-ROC, the emphasis is on technology and people working together for the greater good.

Brett keeps a close tab on everything happening in the retail industry by reading the news daily, reading the latest books, and maintaining the various relationships he has with fellow leaders – ensuring he hears all they are doing and they stay in communication.

He has been involved with various industry committees and boards, which have enabled Brett to stay at the forefront of the retail and technology space, collaborating with peers and leading the future of our industry. He has been on the board and was honored to serve as the Chair of the Consumer Technology Association’s (CTA) Wireless Division. The board meets throughout the year to discuss critical issues facing the industry and devise new strategies and solutions for the future. He remains active with the association and truly believes that it has enabled T-ROC to earn a reputation of being innovative and a pioneer creating new ways to provide value to the customers.

 

Achievements:

As a top leader in his field, Brett is the Chair Emeritus of the Consumer Technology Association’s Wireless Board, which meets throughout the year to discuss critical issues facing the industry and devise solutions. He is the past chair of The Young Presidents Organization (YPO) of Miami, where involvement allows him to foster long-term personal and business relationships and offer ideas and strategies to other business leaders in various fields. Brett is Ernst & Young’s 2017 Entrepreneur of the Year – Florida and holds a 2018 Gold Stevie Award for Entrepreneur of the Year – Retail category. He was honored with the “Powerful Influencer” Leadership Award at the 2019 Extraordinary Women Leading Change 7th Annual Leadership Conference. T-ROC and its brands have been listed on the Inc. 500|5000 lists and Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list for multiple years.