Focus on: Business Strategies Twenty years of steady growth and smart acquisitions have propelled Doctors Foster & Smith to the top spot among pet-supply catalogers.

By Reported Donna Loyle

One lesson learned was to spend more time on preparing its contact center staffers to answer questions asked by the acquired title’s customers. “We had to get our agents up to speed on the new products, and some of the animal health issues involved with those products are complicated. People called to ask, for example, ‘Can I use this product on a pregnant cat or dog?’ Our reps have to know the answers. We brought in trainers, vendors, manufacturers — anyone who could help us get up to speed.”