Diving deep into Nearshoring with Cassandra Gaines

Having a satellite office and outsourcing services is not something new. It's something that many companies have used to drive their business growth, reduce overall costs, and avoid having to deal with additional hiring costs.  

What's new is the concept of nearshoring, creating a satellite office in countries closer to home, having the same work cultures, speaking the same language, and being part of the same time zone. So, why are companies continuing to shift towards hiring talent through nearshoring?  

During FreightWave's Global Supply Chain Week, we had an exciting conversation with Cassandra Gaines, a Transportation lawyer, and Madgaines Live host. Our CEO, Robert Cadena, and Advisor, David Bell, discussed how the nearshoring model works and answered a couple of hard-hitting questions about Lean.

Watch the full interview here, or continue reading for more!

Is Lean taking away people’s jobs?

The short answer: No.  

But let’s dive into it. Our business is based on the need for talent to fill entry-level positions that are currently not being filled in the U.S. Additionally, the hiring process in Colombia and Guatemala is not as expensive as in the U.S.; therefore, companies can save money and invest it in enhancing their product or service and hiring other more revenue-generating positions.  

Margins in the logistics industry are extremely low, and employees become one of your company’s most significant expenses. At Lean, we fill in the operational gaps first with entry-level and back-office positions, and then we staff for other more complex jobs.  

And lastly, we provide a satellite office model, where you, as a business owner, have an extension of your team in different countries. Employees in these countries consider entry-level jobs and back-office positions important since they generate opportunities to thrive.

Why would I use somebody that’s servicing all my competitors?

The critical thing to consider when answering this question is that each of our clients has its own TMS, ARP, CMS, or software that we connect to. Therefore, we do not store or share any of their information. Additionally, we are certified with ISO 9001 and count on an incredible IT team that creates firewalls, protects data, and manages the information with the highest security standards.  

Fortunately, we have created a relationship of trust with our clients. During the past ten years, we have worked with many of the industry's big names, and there has never been an issue related to data.

Should I be scared to travel to Colombia?

We understand there are a lot of misconceptions about Colombia because of its history. But in reality, people have to be careful, like they would in any other country in the world. Thankfully, we have never had any issues with our clients.  

But, in 2019, we had over 800 clients visit Colombia and their office spaces. We love it when our clients visit their team. Therefore, we created an entire concierge team that takes care of the whole process: travel planning, receiving you at the airport, transportation, to make our clients feel comfortable and safe.  

In fact, in many cases, our clients love the country so much that they bring their families to travel and get to know it better.  

What are other services and positions Lean provides the industry?

One of the biggest ones has been Carrier Sales because of the quality of the employees who can create great relationships with carriers.  

Home delivery and the last mile are currently a big part of our business. Considering what’s happening with the supply chain, companies need people to secure the products are delivered to the customers. Therefore, having someone with us, that’s calling to make sure the person is home, and everything runs smoothly in that last part of the process is critical.  

In general, any work that requires a phone and a computer can be done with Lean. We have also expanded to the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) world to take on more customer service roles.  

Factoring and finance companies are also part of our client base. Even though many processes are automated for them when it comes to documentation, there’s still the need for a person to actually recognize the documents and make sure everything’s working correctly. Hence, talent is still required.  

Additionally, our Lean Tech division develops automation for companies within all the industries we serve. One of the current technologies we’re developing is automating the training process, which will allow it to become a more efficient process

What if they make a mistake and I’m liable?

This is something that could happen to any employee anywhere. But with Lean, we’re all about the training and best practices, ensuring everything flows smoothly. It would be hard for them to become a liability with the positions we offer. We’ve never had an employee cause a large-scale issue in ten years.  

What’s next for Lean?

One of our most significant projects is our expansion plan. We are expanding into Guatemala and other countries apart from Colombia in search of the best talent for our clients in the U.S.  

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At Lean, we are more than happy to talk about our business, how it works, and how we can benefit our clients through our entire suite of services! We’re glad we had the chance to talk to Cassandra and be part of the Supply Chain Week at FreightWaves.  

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Are you ready to start scaling your business with us?

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