Securing The Best International Partnerships for Our Clients

Freight forwarders operate on a global scale, which means it’s critical to have strong partnerships around the world with other freight forwarders who can partner as needed to fulfill client needs.

Of course, vetting those global partners is essential, and Bestway International will go any distance – literally – to assure we are working with the right professionals.

For the second year in a row, that has taken the form of attendance at the WCA Worldwide Conference, which was held this year in Singapore. Chance Pope, Senior Director of International Services, represented Bestway at this jam-packed event that took place from March 9-13. It’s presented by WCAworld, the world’s largest network of independent freight forwarders.

The pace of the event is not for the faint of heart, with a series of 25-minute one-on-one meetings, with five-minute breaks in between.

Chance met with 46 different freight forwarders, 32 of which are existing partners, over the course of the five-day event. While there are some classes and presentations available, Chance said he has attended all relevant options previously and chose to use the time exclusively for the one-on-one meetups.

“If it’s an existing partner, we might talk about an existing piece of business we’re handling together to make sure we’re aligned – although most of the time we take care of that over email beforehand,” Chance said. “Most of it is just strengthening relationships, as well as sharing or learning more about each other’s specialized capabilities to grow our collaboration. When you need to call somebody if there’s an issue, people are more likely to answer their phone if it’s someone they’ve met.”

With each of the 14 companies who are not existing partners, Chance looked into them extensively beforehand to be sure that the time meeting with them was well spent.

“I ask them how they would handle certain situations, as well as how they communicate in situations that go outside normal operations,” Chance said. “I want to know what they can tell me that would give me the confidence to know they would handle things in the right way. If I get a good feeling about them and I think they’ll take good care of us and our customers, I’ll come back and share their information with the team.”

This is the sixth year that Chance personally has attended WCA Worldwide Conference. As a veteran of the event, he showed up understanding that much of the relationship-building happens after hours at social gatherings.

“One of the last nights, we did a dinner that included people from South Korea, Poland, Egypt and France,” he said. “For Bestway, the goal obviously is to strengthen these relationships by being there and being visible.”

As for the benefits for Bestway clients, there are many.

“The more you go, the more people see you, and the more they recognize our brand,” Chance says. “It strengthens our position in the global market by drawing attention to us as a player that can leverage partnerships for better rates and better service.”

We’re Bestway International for a reason.

Resources across the globe are critical to our mission to take care of our clients, and we’ll go wherever it takes to make sure we have the strongest and best relationships to fulfill that promise.