Call on Me

How Beth Womack’s time working at a veterinary practice helped lay the groundwork for her role as national call center operations manager for Patterson Veterinary.

There is rarely a dull moment in emergency veterinary medicine. At least that was the case for Beth Womack. She started her career as an assistant in a general practice after relocating to North Carolina for college. Soon after, she began working evenings and weekends at the one dedicated emergency clinic in Charlotte. Once she graduated from college she joined the emergency clinic full time, launching what became an 18-year career.

“Working in emergency, and later both emergency and specialty medicine as the practice grew, I loved the experience of working with a wide variety of cases every day,” Womack said. “The medicine excited me, and being able to connect with animals and their owners and knowing we were making a difference was a major source of satisfaction. I also built incredibly strong bonds with my co-workers. I have close friendships that have lasted over 30 years now.”

But the demands of emergency medicine began to take a toll. The job involved working long hours, nights, weekends and holidays. The tasks involved were also very physically demanding. At one point Womack had to admit to herself that she was burned out. “I didn’t want to leave an industry that I am so passionate about and was so invested in personally and professionally, but I was ready for a schedule that would allow more of a work-life balance,” she said.

Fortunately, Womack found a role on the distribution side of the industry as a customer service rep. She felt an immediate bond with many of her customers. Her experience in the field, product knowledge, and understanding of their business meant Womack was able to quickly become a trusted resource to them.

“As I developed my career first as a customer service manager, and now in a national leadership role, I never forgot the value of being that resource,” she said.

As national call center operations manager for Patterson, Womack oversees the customer sales and service teams. She works directly with a team of five “phenomenal” customer service managers, a training and quality assurance facilitator, and a customer service team lead. Together they lead, coach, support, and train the customer sales and service representatives, manage daily operations, monitor metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs), conduct quality assurance, “and everything that goes into delivering a great customer experience.”

Much like her career in emergency practice, every day in national call center operations is different for Womack. “And that’s what I love about this role,” she said. “The days that I get to check off every item on my to-do list are certainly gratifying, but I love being busy and being challenged. Representing the Patterson Call Center Organization on various projects, collaborating with colleagues in other departments such as purchasing, marketing and logistics, and working with our vendor partners are all big part of my role.”

Adaptability required

As a leader, Womack is responsible for facilitating communication and ensuring everyone on the team has the same information, the same training and the same opportunities.

With her managerial team, having strong and effective leadership skills, business acumen, and expertise in systems and processes are all very important, Womack said. It’s also important that they work as a team. “Being able to communicate and collaborate leads to quicker and better problem solving; and fostering a supportive environment, where we all know we can count on each other, promotes morale and positive employee experience.”

Since Patterson’s CSR role includes both Service and Sales, there is a plethora of skill sets they need to have. Communication, active listening, product and technical knowledge, critical thinking and relationship-building are only a few. They also need to maintain a collaborative mindset; they work daily with not only customers, but also field sales partners, teammates, and other departments and vendors.

“For everyone on my team, passion for the animal health profession, and compassion for our customers, their patients, clients and business, are inherent traits that are critical in every role, and those are things you can’t teach,” Womack said.

Team members need to be flexible and have the ability to pivot. “Our world is constantly evolving, and we have to be able to change with it.” For example, when the pandemic struck in 2020, 80% of Patterson’s team was working in the company’s call center offices in Charlotte, Phoenix, Columbus and Alachua, Florida. Within a week they had the entire team moved to work from home.

“They never missed a beat,” Womack said.

Investing in others

Mentorship has always been an interest of Womack’s, but in the last two years in particular, she has become more passionate and involved in career development within the animal health industry. She is a member of WILMAH and serves on the organization’s professional development committee. She is also serving as a mentor in Patterson’s mentorship program this year. “One of my personal goals this year is to develop a resource kit for anyone within the Call Center Organization, so they have the tools and information they need to help guide them on their career journey,” she said.