Attentive: Benefits Expertise, Everywhere

Attentive is a leader in conversational commerce, reinventing business-to-consumer communication. The SMS-first software platform helps everyone from entrepreneurs to enterprises strengthen relationships with their consumers through two-way, real-time, personalized communications. Attentive drives billions in e-commerce revenue, and over 8,000 leading brands rely on Attentive to deliver powerful commerce experiences.

Attentive’s challenge

When Attentive acquired an email marketing startup in 2021, Senior People Operations Manager Justin Goodemoot quickly discovered a bonus to the acquisition: the ability to hire globally. The startup had partnered with Velocity Global to handle immigration, payroll, and benefits for two senior-level engineers relocating from Boston to Australia and Canada. After inheriting the Velocity Global partnership, Goodemoot realized he could now compliantly grow his distributed team.

The ability to hire anywhere was crucial for Attentive, a rapidly growing company that had gone remote during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We needed to think about every possible candidate, no matter where they were,” Goodemoot said.

Velocity Global gave Attentive the opportunity to do just that. Goodemoot quickly utilized his new partner’s global Employer of Record (EOR) solution to hire a top candidate in Canada. Soon after, he turned to Velocity Global with another challenge: finding a way to retain a valuable senior employee relocating to Portugal.

Velocity Global’s solution

As an HR leader responsible for over 1,000 employees, Goodemoot didn’t have time to research labor laws, benefits requirements, and immigration considerations in Portugal. Nor did he have the budget flexibility to take on extra costs due to overseas employment. Fortunately, he had a partner that provided the expertise, problem-solving skills, and ongoing communication he needed.

“Velocity Global’s willingness to communicate and walk us through so many different scenarios was huge for us,” Goodemoot said. “This was an entirely new situation for us. John [Velocity Global Relationship Manager] was game for it. He left no stone unturned.”

Attentive presented Velocity Global with a set sum it could pay for salary, taxes, benefits, fees, and bonuses. Velocity Global responded with a series of quotes broken down by line item—then continued to rework the quotes until Goodemoot found an arrangement that made sense for Attentive and its valuable employee.

Shared success

With employment terms agreed to, Velocity Global relocated Attentive’s senior employee to Portugal via its Global Immigration solution, then provided ongoing payroll, benefits, and HR support through its global EOR solution.

Velocity Global’s benefits experts helped Goodemoot navigate the mandatory allowances and bonuses Attentive needed to offer to stay compliant in Portugal—from 13th- and 14th-month payments to work-from-home stipends and more. Velocity Global’s close partnership and fast responsiveness helped him stay informed through every step of the process.

“John caught everything we threw at him and made sure we had a clear picture of what was happening,” Goodemoot said. “When emails became too tedious, he made himself available for calls. We were really impressed by that attention.”

Soon after the relocation, Attentive turned to Velocity Global to hire another top candidate in Canada. Velocity Global helped Goodemoot understand how Canada’s Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) differs from 401(k) plans in the United States, while also diving into the nuances of province-specific vacation accrual policies. Velocity Global’s expertise, communication, and speed validated Attentive’s confidence in its hiring partner.

“One of our core values is default to action,” Goodemoot said. “That really sums up our whole relationship with Velocity Global. When we’ve found a great person across borders, we want to be able to quickly and easily hire them. With Velocity Global, we can.”

How Attentive simplified cross-border employment

Attentive’s challenge

• After inheriting a partnership with Velocity Global through the acquisition of another company, Justin Goodemoot, Attentive’s Senior People Operations Manager, realized he now had the ability to compliantly scale his distributed workforce.
• Goodemoot quickly turned to Velocity Global to hire a top candidate in Canada, then tasked his new partner with another challenge: relocating a senior employee to Portugal.

Velocity Global’s solution

• Goodemoot’s time and financial resources were limited, meaning he needed Velocity Global to handle everything related to immigration, labor laws, benefits, and taxes—all while keeping overseas employment costs within budget.
• Velocity Global provided a series of highly detailed employment quotes broken into specific line items, then continued to rework the quotes until Goodemoot found one that worked for Attentive and its valuable employee.

Shared success

• Velocity Global relocated Attentive’s talent to Portugal via its Global Immigration solution, then provided ongoing payroll, benefits, and support via its global Employer of Record (EOR) solution.
• Goodemoot appreciated Velocity Global’s expertise while advising him on the benefits requirements in Portugal.
• After relying on Velocity Global to hire another candidate in Canada, Attentive has full confidence it can easily bring in top global talent—anywhere.