Zach Melton discusses the unique value of AllyDVM and the inspiring commitment of his colleagues in animal health

In this installment of our Day in the Life series, Zach Melton, Director of Sales and Strategic Partnerships, AllyDVM, talked with us about positioning AllyDVM in the marketplace, helping veterinary staff feel seen and heard, and finding joy in customer service.  

Q: This year, you moved into a new role at MWI Animal Health. Can you tell us about this new opportunity? 

Zach Melton: Until earlier this year, I worked as technology and solutions strategist at MWI. Prior to joining MWI Animal Health in 2019, I spent just over a decade as a hospital administrator within a couple of 10-doctor small animal hospitals. At the last hospital I worked at, we used AllyDVM when it was relatively new to the marketplace. 

When I joined MWI and realized AllyDVM was part of the company, we leveraged my prior experience as a user of AllyDVM, which allowed me to feel comfortable going into vet practices and talking about why this was an important technology for them to consider bringing into the hospital. 

So, when the opportunity arose to be the director of sales and strategic partnerships on the AllyDVM team, I felt a drive to join that division of MWI, since I understood the benefits the AllyDVM technology brings to practice owners and practice teams. 
 

Q: What does a typical day look like for you? 

Zach Melton: My typical days in the first few weeks have been trying to better understand how we position AllyDVM in its rightful place as a technology leader. 

AllyDVM came out of the gates ahead of everybody else and leveraged email for appointment confirmations, leveraged text messaging capabilities, and leveraged automated communications. The product has all of these great features, and it is our goal to show practices how we can make a difference in their clinic with our unique capabilities. 

What's getting lost is AllyDVM’s ability to take the practice’s data — which is rightfully theirs — and feed it to them in streamlined fashions. They can take specific data pieces and be intentional about how they use them. 

And so, my typical day is looking at all the moving parts and trying to answer two questions: How do we better understand our customers' specific needs and how do we continue to show that we are the easiest partner to do business with? Through meetings with internal teams, our sales colleagues, data partners, and independent and corporate customers, I’m gathering as much feedback as possible to understand where our challenges and opportunities lie. 

Q: What is one thing you wish people knew about working in the companion animal space? 

Zach Melton: I wish they knew how much each person I work with truly cares about the animals. 

When I graduated college, I bounced around to a couple different things. I did recruiting, I did mortgage sales, I did banking. I was all over the place. When I met the hospital administrator of the first practice that I worked for, he said, “I think you'd be a really good client service representative. You would help manage the front end of my hospital and standardize communications and process flow.” 
 
I came in for a working interview and spent half a day at the hospital. The biggest takeaway I gained from the experience was the quality of people who find their way into animal health. It takes a unique individual to want to work in an industry where your patients cannot speak. They cannot tell you what's wrong. They cannot tell you how they feel, and you must figure out how to get them turned around toward improved health. 

The level of compassion, empathy, and emotional intelligence that's required to do that at a really high level draws a particular individual that is unique compared to other spaces. There are so many really great people here at MWI Animal Health who are waking up every day saying, “What can I do to remove any kind of obstacle that stands in the way of the veterinarian and the veterinary team helping animals?” 

How do we improve patient outcomes? How do we create healthier futures? We are a business driven by this desire to serve as many veterinarians — and ultimately pets and the owners who love them — as best as we can. 

Q: Fill in the blanks. Our customers are __________ and they make me feel __________. 

Zach Melton: Our customers are important, and they make me feel significant. They give me the opportunity to serve. I see them as needing to be at the center of what we do, and as a result of allowing me to help them, they make me feel important. They make me feel I've made an impact in a way that someone else may not have the opportunity to. 

Q: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned from your customers? 

Zach Melton: Regardless of practice size, we all struggle with the same stuff. That's the most surprising thing.  

When I was in practice, I had a really siloed view of animal health since I only served my hospital. The practice I started my career with was way ahead of the curve in practice management processes and standards of care procedures. I just assumed everybody in animal health did it that way. And then I landed in another 10-doctor practice and I'm like, “Oh, it's probably the exact same thing.” And that was not the case. 

Those struggles with day-to-day operations? That's something all practices struggle with. I see it with the practices I serve at MWI. Challenges may look a little bit different on the surface, but the root of many of them is the same. If you can start to simplify and solve for that broader root, that's where you can have the most impact.  

Q: How do you define customer success? 

Zach Melton: I define customer success as when the customer is feeling seen and heard through partnership. 

It’s one thing to bring forth solutions or competitive pricing to help customers manage the cost of goods. That is meaningful for them. In the end, do they feel MWI as a partner sees them, hears them, and takes them seriously? If we can have as many customers as possible answer yes, then we've done a great job, even if we haven't necessarily solved every single business obstacle, yet. 

Q: Tell us about the biggest risk you’ve taken to advance your job/career and what was the outcome?

 
Zach Melton: When I moved to Phoenix in late 2018 to be closer to my then-fiancée (now wife), I was unemployed for four to five months. I was trying to find a good home and a way to make an impact. Taking that risk, just trusting the universe to put me in the spot I needed to be, carried a lot of uncertainty. I figured I would land on my feet somewhere, somehow, and then I landed at MWI Animal Health. 

I started at MWI as a territory manager, and then I became a technology and solutions strategist, and now I'm a director. I trusted the process and my intentions and intuition. I allowed those things to guide me. 

I look out 20 years and can still see myself here. Maybe I'm not doing something with AllyDVM, or even MWI. Who knows? Maybe I've transitioned to Cencora. You never know what opportunities lie ahead, but that's what's so cool about being a part of an organization like this. 

Q: What brings you the greatest professional joy? 

Zach Melton: I'm driven by service. It’s how I gauge the effectiveness of my day. You know, we're never guaranteed tomorrow. When you wake up every morning, you realize, “Alright, I’ve got another day. What am I going to do with it?” 

As I've gotten older, I've learned I feel the most alive when I'm collaborating and interacting with other people. At the end of that interaction, I hope I have made a positive impact on that person's journey and made their path a little bit clearer, perhaps I’ve clarified a misunderstanding or added education and insight. 
 
Whoever I'm interacting with, if I can be of service, then I feel like I've done what I was called to do. That's really what brings me the most amount of joy.