We have shuffled things around a bit in the East to bring you the best service possible. Get to know our retail teams.
You might have noticed a few new faces in the East clinics in recent months, along with some folk behind the desks that you may have previously seen out on-farm, or in other clinics.
In a bid to make the most of our staff’s skills and provide you with the best service and product knowledge possible, we have shuffled things around a bit.
Gore
Rebecca Herzig
Leading the charge in the Gore clinic, our awesome American all-rounder, Rebecca Herzig, has been championing the East retail team for a few months now as Retail Lead-East.
Most of you probably know Rebecca from her 10 years on-farm, doing the mahi as a vet tech here at VetSouth. During that time, she often also helped out in the farm services office, small animal reception, assisting the finance team, and generally being a bit of a jack-of-all-trades!
When an injury meant she had to move into a less physically demanding role last year, we snapped her up to front the Gore clinic, where she is already bringing a fresh approach:
“Sometimes fresh eyes to a space can bring new ideas. The first thing was to freshen up the retail space to improve flow and efficiency. It's about taking pride in our place, bringing out the best in people and supporting the team to grow.
“As I have spent time in other areas within the vet clinic space, I have a sound understanding of how the different departments affect each other and it's about being in it together, having a well oiled system and the right tools in the toolbox to make sure farmer’s get what they need, when they need it.”
What’s her favourite part of this new role?
“At first I was nervous about moving to an "inside job" after having the luxury of driving around the amazing countryside for so many years, but I am really enjoying getting to interact with our farmers and helping them get the products they need to get the job done right.
“No two days are the same, with the challenges of hunting down products from different suppliers or from one of our other VetSouth clinics. We are lucky to have those options when a main supplier is out of stock!”
Wendy Shanks
Wendy Shanks has now accepted the 2IC role at the Gore clinic, as retail coordinator, on a permanent basis.
Kerry Neilson
Kerry Neilson, who you may recognise from the Gore clinic retail/customer service team, will now be heading out around the district to deliver much needed supplies to you each week - covering the farm distribution role for the East.
We also recently welcomed a new Gore retail team member, Victoria Roy, as a customer services representative. She brings a wealth of knowledge and skills to the team.
Balclutha
Debbie Strachan
Debbie Strachan, who has previously worked in the Gore clinic and more recently as clinic coordinator at Tapanui, has now taken on the role of clinic coordinator in Balclutha, bringing a boat load of experience with her!
So, what’s the benefit of these changes?
"We are excited that we were able to fill some of the roles that had opened up in the retail space with existing VetSouth people. We love that we were able to harness and grow the knowledge and skills of our team to provide our clients with the best service possible." Rebecca Herzig, Retail Lead -East.
