Allison talks about why loyalty looks like hospitality, the importance of beautiful spaces in retail healthcare, and how to achieve brand consistency across your locations.
Allison talks about why loyalty looks like hospitality, the importance of beautiful spaces in retail healthcare, and how to achieve brand consistency across your locations.
Welcome to Elevating Brick and Mortar. A podcast about how operations and facilities drive brand performance.
A good facilities team enables consistent, elevated experiences, no matter how fast or big your company gets. On today’s episode, Sid speaks with Allison Turner, SVP of Real Estate and Development at Bond Vet, an urgent and wellness petcare company. Bond Vet’s mission is to offer friendly, compassionate and thorough care, elevating the clinic experience for pets and people alike.
GUEST BIO
Allison Turner is the current SVP of Real Estate and Development at Bond Vet. As a leader her team manages the Real Estate Strategy, Design & Construction, Procurement & Launch, and Facilities functions. She brings 25 years of experience through established brands as well as start-ups focusing on brick & mortar scaling. She specializes in driving sustainable growth through smart design and cost efficiencies.
GUEST QUOTE
“Your pet is an extension of your family and we're really trying to provide a service that when they walk in their door, they know they are in good hands. That the minute you walk in from the environment you see, to the initial greeting from the care coordinators, that you know you're in the right place.”
TIMESTAMPS
00:28 - Allison’s role
07:44 - What brings the customer back?
13:14 - What makes a good facilities team?
18:22 - Building talent for the future
25:09 - Tech’s role
27:46 - Future thinking
29:15 - Where to find Allison
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LINKS
[00:00:21] Sid Shetty: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar. Thank you for joining us. I'm here today with Allison Turner, SVP of Real Estate and Development at BondVet. Allison, welcome. Thank you for being here.
[00:00:34] Allison Turner: Thank you for having me today.
[00:00:36] Sid Shetty: So Allison, let's get going, right? You have a big job and essentially it sounds like you own the entire life cycle of brick and mortar locations at your company. So, Can you share with us, what does that mean? What are you responsible for?
[00:00:50] Allison Turner: Pretty much when we say we want to expand in growth, my team is taking it on. So we are finding the locations, doing the strategy behind finding locations, designing the clinics. Then building them out and then launching them with our launch team and setting them up and then maintaining them in the facilities team. So it's anything in the brick and mortar world we're responsible for.
[00:01:16] Sid Shetty: So do you do new store openings as well?
[00:01:18] Allison Turner: We do the new store opening, so my team is the one launching and setting everything up with FF& E and supplies. And making sure it's set up ready to go for day one with the doctors and teams come in.
[00:01:31] Sid Shetty: So your, your entire business is brick and mortar based, right? And you just mentioned growth. So do you see yourself as like the growth engine of the company in terms of your, the entire teams or all the teams that you oversee? And how do you position those teams internally to ensure that, you know, the organization understands the kind of investments and the people and the talent that you need to do this the right way.
[00:01:58] Allison Turner: We, yes, we are the growth engine. It is what drives, you know, the pet parents and pets coming in the door every day. Without the, the spaces to go into, we're not able to serve the communities and the teams, um, and pets that are out there. So, the way we're Staying ahead of this growth is a lot of internal communication and being really tied in with all the teams within the organization. From ops, to people, to finance. It takes a village to get these done.
[00:02:32] Sid Shetty: That's right. That's right. And, you know... I want to talk more about BondVet, but before we go there, I'd love to hear about your journey, right? I was looking at your background, um, it's a pretty interesting background, right? I mean, you, um, are an architect, right? You worked in architectural firms, and then you ended up on the retail and even in that space, you've done luxury retail, you've done fitness, um, and now, you know, Medtail or, you know, uh, vet clinics. Tell us about how, how did that happen?
[00:03:06] Allison Turner: You know, I think I went to architecture school at Syracuse and just loved the idea of building and what it meant to create. I ended up going to Gensler as one of my first jobs. And I think going to a firm teaches you a lot of great foundational skills and what it means to be organized and produce sets and as you're trying to go for your licensing, all the criteria. What I found on that side, I don't know if I was the greatest designer, to be honest. I think what I found that I really loved was the development and the building side of it all. I think I understood what it meant to be an architect, but I really like just putting it all together and what it meant in the management side of it.
[00:03:54] So I got really lucky to get my first in house job over at Estée Lauder. And there I got to learn to build what I had been drawing and I got to see a 360 view of the whole process and I think from that point on I was bitten by that bug of being on that retail side of scale and development and from there I just got really lucky in my career to jump to amazing brands doing the same thing, putting scale into their footprints that they had already had. So it's, it's been a really interesting journey. But what I've found is, you know, the parts are all different, but the theory and strategy is very similar. So it can apply from retail, to fitness, to medtail, to co working. And it's, it's been really fun in doing that and taking those kind of different skills and applying them to these different programs.
[00:04:53] Sid Shetty: Love it. So for folks in our audience who might not know BondVet yet, uh, can you tell us a bit about your company and, you know, where are you based or how many locations do you have?
[00:05:05] Allison Turner: We are based in New York City. We are a boutique de novo veterinary company, really bringing um, an elevated experience to the veterinary world in an accessible way in a lot of different properties. We have been building, we just yesterday opened our 42nd in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. So it's been a really exciting growth period for us. We have been contiguous, really expanding in the Northeast and down, um, from Boston to D. C. and into Chicago, and now we're really pushing for a more, um, national expansion and really in the early stages of strategy of what that looks like. And how we can bring bond to more markets and really bring our offering and product to other people. We're really just excited about what we can bring to communities.
[00:06:01] Sid Shetty: So, I mean, there's this massive wave of, of Medtail right now, right? And it's touching all sorts of medical services. Yours, of course, is, um, it caters to, you know, pets and, and pet parents, I think you call them. Um, why do you think there's this boom right now? What's, what's driving that?
[00:06:21] Allison Turner: I think there's an accessibility to it. I think, you know, we try to bring one of those conveniences, the same that you would do with urgent care, to human health care. We're trying to find the same in other properties and areas as well. We're accessible. We're trying to bring another offering, something front of mind to people that, you know, sometimes it's really hard to search out a vet. They're not as front and center. There are a lot of, I'd say mom and pop brands out there, which is great, but we're also trying to bring it more accessible to different people. And going into properties that would not traditionally have had that use in it. So a lot of mixed developments, heavy resi and retail with F& B and having us as an amenity to those properties.
[00:07:10] Sid Shetty: Does BondVet, um, build from the ground up or do you find existing practices and then partner or acquire? What's your, what's your growth strategy there?
[00:07:21] Allison Turner: We are DeNovo. So we're not ground up, but we are interior fit outs. So we are, you know, stand alone ish in between any front of mind location of brand that you would find. We could be next to your F& B, next to a nail salon. Something that's convenient, though, that we're front of mind, and that anybody who may not know us will see us and, you know, come check us out.
[00:07:45] Sid Shetty: And when you think about what makes a consumer or a pet parent, choose, uh, bond vet over a local mom and pop, what is the sentiment that you're trying to invoke? What gets you, uh, you know, the customer and, and what keeps them coming back.
[00:08:03] Allison Turner: I think we're, we're... We're putting accessible spaces front of mind to people and being there when maybe another provider cannot be. We provide urgent care and wellness and we're hoping that we can be a part of your, your pets, you know, health journey for anything that they may need. So it's, it's again, this accessibility and providing, you know, a different environment, something that's warm, inviting, that you're walking in and you feel that you're going to be taken care of. We have a hospitality, you know, element to our, our service that when you're walking in, okay, I know that I'm in the right place, they're taking care of me, and my, you know, my, my fur child, if you will, is going to be taken care of.
[00:08:49] Sid Shetty: You think of this as a service oriented industry, right? It's all about, um, you know, providing great care, of course, but it's also service oriented. Can you explain that a bit? Like does loyalty look like?
[00:09:02] Allison Turner: It's hospitality and you know, I think we're going into, it's experiential, you know, your, your pet is an extension of your family and you're, we're really trying to provide a service that when they walk in their door, they know they are in good hands. That, you know, the minute you walk in from the environment you see, to the initial greeting from the care coordinators, that you know you're in the right place. It's, it's providing a holistic approach to it from the brick and mortar experience to the care that you're receiving. But I think it's, again, it's putting ourselves and positioning ourselves in locations that we are of a front of mind, that you see us front and center. That we come to mind when you need these services.
[00:09:47] Sid Shetty: How important is the maintaining part of this whole life cycle of, you know, the physical space as it relates to, you know, customer experience and what perception, uh, your, your customers have of your brand.
[00:10:07] Allison Turner: I think with anything, when you see a clean, well taken care of it means it's an elevated experience. I think it's just perception, and we spend a lot of time working through that the paint looks refreshed. Everything is, nothing's falling off the walls. The color temperatures are all the same, that you have a consistent experience every single time you're going in. So, first time you're coming in is your first impression, but you know, your second and third should be the same as the first. It should be really consistent and solid. And we, we have a lot of pride in maintaining a clean, well kept space. That's inviting.
[00:10:44] Sid Shetty: Right? Yeah. I mean, exactly. I mean, I think one of the things our industry does poorly is, um, articulate the impact, um, you know, the built environment has on the brand, right? In many cases, you know, these functions are looked at in silos, you know, there's a team that's building the actual, uh, you know, physical space. And there's someone that takes over and maintains it, but ultimately. You know, leaders like yourself who kind of own the entire life cycle can narrate how important the actual physical space is, and that it's actually the growth engine, because so many times you think, you know, when we talk to, you know, facilities teams, you know, they don't feel as empowered to go and ask for investments to go and ensure that their locations look bright and warm and welcoming and clean, right? They have to fight harder with, you know, keeping the same budget, you know, forget about increasing them. You know, budgets usually tend to shrink.What does work to get the right folks to listen and understand the importance of the physical space as it relates to growth and the brand and building customer loyalty.
[00:12:01] Allison Turner: Yeah, I, just to echo, it's definitely a challenge. I think, you know, with all of us, you know, facilities and allocating those dollars and sharing how important it is in maintaining these spaces, because a few of those dollars up front we have, you know, will guarantee the life cycle we're holding on to a lot of these spaces for 10 years. So the little love that we continually put into it really guarantees the success and, you know, longevity of the space. I think, you know, doing consistent walkthroughs with our teams, sharing challenges, and again, I think communication transparency is everything, is sharing of why it's important to maintain, but our leaders are, know how important it is in front facing, so we've been lucky in that sense, that they know beautiful spaces mean a consistent, you know, environment and for people to keep coming in, so. I think there's an understanding there, which I've been lucky with here at Bond.
[00:13:02] Sid Shetty: Consistency is a word you used, you know, a few times and that's great because I think expect that whether they walk into a brand in the middle of, you know, Idaho or Dallas or New York City, that the brand essentially offers them the same sort of experience. What are your thoughts on consistency? How does a good facilities team or a good development team ensure that the experience is so consistent, no matter how fast or how big you get?
[00:13:36] Allison Turner: I think a lot of planning. A lot of planning up front to make sure that we can afford and bring it to all these markets. You know, I think... We're a northeast brand, and making sure that when we're bringing this to other parts of the country that they're getting the same elevated, you know, even if, I don't know, New York City has this kind of, we're the flagship, a lot of things start here, but when we're going to these new markets that are not considered ginormous metros, you want to make sure those People are walking and feel as special as they do in some of the places that if they were back in New York with their parent, with their, uh, with their pet.
[00:14:17] So, it's, consistency is important that you are translating the brand seamlessly from different areas of the country. It just, there's, it's, to me, it's all about brand building. And brand, if you have the same look and feel, whether, again, secondary market, first market. It just means you care about your entire, you know, brand and customer community the same way.
[00:14:45] Sid Shetty: Yeah. I couldn't agree more. What is your relationship with operations and, and, you know, you're a doctor driven organization, right? And how, how do you see the relationship with the staff in, in, on the ground, the doctors, like what, how do you build that trust and relationship with your organization?
[00:15:06] Allison Turner: I think initial kickoffs. I think, you know, after we set up with the launch team, that initial kickoff of you've, we've built this space for you. Now we are still the team that service you, services this clinic while you're operating. So I think again, communication. Giving them the right tools to say, if something's broken, come find us. Information and transparency is key. From a vinyl peeling off the wall to a shelf falling, you just let us know and see how we can support. But I think it's those initial kick offs and always understanding this development team in house is here to support you.
[00:15:45] In the initial set ups of these clinics, we're trying to make sure we're having... touch bases to share the plans, to see if there's feedback. What are we not seeing in the way you operate and how we're designing? What can we do better in either sustaining a longer, you know, a longer life, uh, lifespan of the space in terms of materials we're picking from specs that we're picking. We try to do it a collaborative way. We're still in growth period, and there's always a huge learning curve, and we're always evolving, but I think it's just really trying to hear from the operators what we're putting in is really how it should be used and done.
[00:16:27] Sid Shetty: You seem to be, uh, passionate about smart and sustainable design. Can you explain what that means and why, why you care about it?
[00:16:37] Allison Turner: I think it's how these, these clinics can live on in these 10 year cycles. What are we picking that doesn't have to be renovated constantly? Can we're not wasting? That we're trying to make sure we're either using things that were in the space initially, where electrical panels were, where HVAC units, we're not throwing them out if they're two to three years old, and really making sure that we're using what was in the space responsibly, but then picking things that last a long time. That we're not constantly throwing things out. And that we're making smart decisions that translate well for the life cycle of that clinic.
[00:17:18] Sid Shetty: Do you think that enough is enough leaders out there in our space, um, are doing enough to drive the right best practices or design their locations and spend the little extra money to build it in a more sustainable way. You think there's enough being done out there?
[00:17:38] Allison Turner: I think it's hard. I think we're all up against budgets and what it means to, to navigate between what the word sustainable means, because it can sometimes mean it's more expensive, or it can mean... It's not possible in the timelines. I think we're always really trying and I think it just keeps evolving on us and what that word means. I think if we're just taking, you know, reflecting on each, you know, the way our brands are and trying to do the best that we can with what we've got, that's, I think that's just a challenge in itself, but it's... I think we're all trying, but it keeps evolving, and, you know, on some of our timelines and the way we all work, we're always moving so fast. And by the time we think we have it figured out, the game's changed on us a little again.
[00:18:22] Sid Shetty: That's true for sure. You've also mentioned that you're very passionate about building and mentoring teams and talent. Um, and I'd love to understand like what, what's important. You know, when you look at your team, like how do you go about building the talent of the future?
[00:18:43] Allison Turner: I've been really lucky, and I've had some really amazing teams that I've worked with as being a part of, I've either mentored or learned from. And, you know, mentoring means a lot to me. I feel... That I can always come from a place of being in their position. I've worn different hats over the last 25 years and try to come in from a place of, I know where you've been, I know the challenge, I know what I'm about to ask you is crazy, and, but I'm coming from a place to explain why we're doing these things. Maybe some of those things that I never got and those long hours that I pushed and I never knew why I'm trying to explain the whys and really push to show how awesome this industry can be and what it means to get what we do and how we build and how we bring brands to life in different, you know, different areas. We, we bring experience whether it's from retail, co working. PetMed, you name it. It's, it's a really fun place to be.
[00:19:50] Sid Shetty: Do you think there's enough, uh, folks entering the space? in terms of how many, um, You know, folks in our space are going to retire in the next five years and there's not enough talent flowing in, you know, how does that affect you?
[00:20:05] Allison Turner: It's hard. I think it's hard in trying to qualify the ones that can grow with you as well. I think some of the biggest challenges is going through GC over GC over GC and you keep retraining. It's hard to find a legacy partner and have them grow with you and stay with you. It's, I don't know what it is, but it's, maybe it's not as desirable to build anymore. I don't know, it's a lot of work, and I have such, I don't know, admiration for what our construction and building teams do. I could never do that, I could not spend those kind of long hours, and I think there's just this thing out there, it's, it's work.
[00:20:47] And I am thankful for every single day somebody comes onto our job and puts up a wall and wires it, you know, wires an outlet. But it's, it's tough. And I think it's just something we're just always going to have to be navigating through. And, you know, it's tough in our industry where timelines get shorter, budgets get shorter and smaller.
[00:21:09] And we don't have the resources to sometimes meet those demands.
[00:21:15] Sid Shetty: Yeah. I mean, there's a massive shortage and I think the more we can, you know, share our own experiences and also kind of be evangelists for our space, the better, right? Because I think there's a lot of folks out there that are considering joining the skilled trades that are considering joining our space. But I think it's going to need all of us to go out there and talk about the fact that what we build, like to your, to your point is experiences and the impact we make to our brands is tremendous. And, you know, the impact and life you could have even in the skilled trades. Um. It's just that, you know, the path might be slightly different for, you know, from what most folks might think about, you know, after graduating, but it's a great place to be. There's no option for us to, you know, not complete a job or not be there when someone needs something in facilities, right? That's the nature of the beast, right?
[00:22:13] Allison Turner: Yeah, it's, it's in the service. I think, you know, it's, it's, it's a lot of hard work and I, you know, every day I'm on a job or visiting, I'm so appreciative and really just want to see everything they're doing. I've said to my kids, even afterward, maybe you should go into skilled labor, or maybe on my second career in life, I should be a carpenter or master electrician. There is something about that. Um, it's. It's, it's definitely a challenge out there though.
[00:22:41] Sid Shetty: Yeah, I mean, I think all of us, um, have huge appreciation, uh, for the kind of skill that's required to be in that, in that role. And, you know, uh, the more folks and young kids you can get to join our space, uh, the better off our entire industry will be. Um, let's, let's talk about the future, Alison. Um, there's a lot of stuff going on, right. because everyone's competing for mind space, what, and efficiencies of course, right? But what excites you when you look at, you know, the landscape out there, uh, I'd love to get your thoughts as a leader in what you do, but also as a consumer, what, what excites you?
[00:23:21] Allison Turner: We're an experience, and how do we still get this hospitality, front facing, human experience? Engage still with, you know, the talent that in, and our team members that are out there, I think there's something, you know, post COVID world, we're still looking tech aside, it's just this hospitality moment, those little moments of human engagement when we're getting into spaces. I think that's still the part that excites me about what we build. We build experience, whether again, retail, whatever the offering you're going into a space to engage. And I, to me, I don't know, I'm still focusing on the human aspect of what we do, which is interesting.
[00:24:08] Sid Shetty: Yeah.
[00:24:09] Allison Turner: I'm leaning into that and how, you know, when we start to look at our spaces, how can we take some of those barriers down that some of the service, things that we all love in engagement, um, are a part of our spaces. You know, the idea of a reception desk. Do we really need them? Should it be that same idea that somebody's walking around in full hospitality, engaging a floor to make sure they're fully informed?
[00:24:36] Sid Shetty: yeah, it's really interesting, right? Because if, you know, when, when I talk to a lot of folks, you know, some folks share, um, how the industry is concerned about jobs, right? And that with the advance of technology and robotics, that people lose their jobs. But everyone I talk to, you know, is of the same view that there's not enough people.
[00:25:04] You know, that are, that, you know, you can find to be in your locations. And so what businesses want to do is automate the parts that don't require humans
[00:25:15] And human beings are being put in front of a house to be with the customer, right, so that you focus the human element in the most important part of business, which is customer service. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:25:30] Allison Turner: I, I absolutely agree and I think it's where this tech can enable some of the paperwork and the things that we get bogged down in just the busy work. What are those, some of those things that can free up those time, that time to actually engage? We at Bond have been looking at, you know, tech platforms to help in our note taking. So doctors can then spend more time engaging with pets and not feeling that they have a lot of paperwork, that they have to spend hours. Working through. Now you can generate more time to actually see more clients versus having to do a lot of write ups. So a lot of those back end things can make the human engagement part easier and give them much more time to, to be a part of. So that's a lot of the things that we've been looking at. And I think when it comes to tech, it's something that is, you know, a compliment and not... To the space and something that is a newness to engage or tell us, tell somebody more about the brand, but not so much to take away the engagement. So it's not, you're taking away that human aspect.
[00:26:37] Sid Shetty: Right. 100 percent agree. Do you think AI will have a role to play in in your business?
[00:26:45] Allison Turner: I think in making things easier on the backend, I think the AI helps again, cutting some of the busy work and some of the administrative things. It makes all our lives a little easier. But it won't take away from the engagement, and again, I think it's the, that we say, I'll keep saying bond, that bond between humans and pets and your colleagues, and that's important, and that's something that just always has to be maintained.
[00:27:10] Sid Shetty: Any predictions on Medtel in general? You think the wave is going to continue and we're going to see more and more companies evolve and more firms coming in and And acquiring, um, you know, existing practices.
[00:27:25] Allison Turner: I, I think it will. I think there's a need in it post COVID, and um, I think different ways of reinventing how people get cared for. I think there could be a lot of things that come out of it. I think at least in the pet space, there's still, you know, a lot of young puppies and a lot of dogs that need, you know, need care. And we're not in a ton of markets in the U. S. So I think there's just a lot of white space and room for us to keep growing. And I think, you know, even any of our competitors, we all have something a little bit different. And, you know, we're all applying or appealing to different consumers. So I think there's a lot of space for us all to keep growing.
[00:28:08] Sid Shetty: what does the future of BondVet look like? Are you going to expand across the entire US?
[00:28:13] Allison Turner: We're looking for it. I think, you know, right now we have been really concentrated to this Northeast and out to Chicago. But we really want to bring our offering and product to other communities and cities that think they could love it. So, my team has been on the road quite a bit over the last, uh, I'd say three, four months hitting cities across, you know, the U. S. Really trying to understand those markets. If there's that white space for us, can we find, you know, a home and feel, you know, in certain properties and developments where we could be a great asset?
[00:28:45] And we're really starting to navigate and work with a lot of developers that are out there that see a really awesome, you know, use for us in their properties and an offering for developments that we offer and diversify these properties that, have a lot of pets in them that could be a great convenience. And then get more eyes on their properties as well, as other, you know, people are coming to visit.
[00:29:10] Sid Shetty: There you go. I wish you all the best with that. One, one fun question. Um, do you, do you have a pet, Allison?
[00:29:17] Allison Turner: I do, and her name is Clover, and she's a four year old cockapoo, so.
[00:29:22] Sid Shetty: Nice, love it. Um, well, with that, I just want to say a huge thank you, Allison. I've thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. Uh, for folks in our audience who might want to, you know, reach out or find you, uh, what's the best way to do that?
[00:29:36] Allison Turner: Guess through LinkedIn, you can find me, is always the best way, um. Yeah, just always like making, making, uh, new friends and meeting people there on that platform. So, Allison Schultz Turner can be found there.
[00:29:49] Sid Shetty: Awesome. Again, thank you so much, Allison. Really, really appreciate it. And for all those in our audience, thank you for joining us. And I'll see you on the next episode of Elevating Brick and Mortar.