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How to Achieve an Amazing Customer Experience for Both Clients and Candidates, with Nick Eaves, Ep #119

Mar 31, 2022

Many recruiters claim to provide excellent customer service. Certainly, nobody sets out with the goal of delivering bad service. But is customer satisfaction built into your recruitment process, and most importantly do you actually measure it? 

My podcast guest, Nick Eaves, is the Chief Customer Officer of Stanton House.  As his job title suggests, customer experience is something they take very seriously indeed. They’ve made customer satisfaction central to the way they engage with clients and candidates.  

Nick believes it’s a key differentiator and one of the secrets to their success.

The results speak for themselves - Stanton House is one of the UK’s fastest-growing recruitment companies. Since launching in 2010, they have scaled to £35m and a team of 80 people with offices in the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and the US.

Episode Outline and Highlights:

  • [06:48] Candidates and clients are both customers 
  • [09:47] Nick explains their systems and processes to enhance customer experience
  • [12:30] Being a hero at Stanton House requires more than being a great biller
  • [15:34] Nick shares examples of how they differentiate their brand
  • [18:20] What does their customer experience look like?
  • [21:20] How to create a narrative with your customers in a customer-centric environment
  • [26:50] What training do they provide to ensure that their team delivers excellent value
  • [31:50] What motivated Nick to co-found Stanton House in 2010?
  • [36:00] The switch from recruiting to starting a recruitment business
  • [38:50] What are the success factors driving Stanton House forward?
  • [41:40] How and why Stanton House has evolved away from the 360 model
  • [46:50] Employing experienced recruiters vs developing professionals with no recruitment experience, which is best?
  • [52:10] What characteristics do they seek in their team members?
  • [53:50] The Pathway Program - how it promotes diversity internally and for their customers
  • [57:55] Stanton House’s international expansion

Candidates and Clients Both Deserve Outstanding Customer Service

“When we started the company, right from the start, the one thing that we were adamant was going to be different about Stanton House was that we are passionate about the customer experience and that was going to be the heart of everything we did. It is part of the DNA and it remained true until today,” Nick expands on how much value their brand attaches to ensuring that both clients and candidates enjoy the level of service they deserve. 

He states that the recruitment industry often treats clients very well but not candidates so much. Yet, both are just people and the investment that a candidate has with a recruitment company has a far greater impact on the candidate than on the client. 

Therefore, Stanton House has a comprehensive system in place to ensure that they always deliver on customer satisfaction and this is the foundation of their success.

Exploring the Factors that Contributed to Their Success

When Nick and co-founder Neil Wilson founded Stanton House, they didn’t have any clients and could only rely on their networks. They were determined to make their venture a success and create a brand that values customer service.  

One challenge was that neither had actively run a recruitment desk for a while. Their solution was to get funding from investors so they could hire excellent people from the beginning.

Nick highlights the following factors as the keys to the success they enjoy:

  • The vision and the ambition to scale
  • The desire to make a statement to the industry that if you operate with integrity, you can still win commercially.
  • The culture, vision and values are the backbone of the business. Therefore, they hire people who share the same values as they do. 

Why Experience Isn’t the Most Important Criteria When Recruiting Recruiters

When hiring internally, values fit is essential. It is why Stanton House often employs people without recruitment experience and then provides excellent training to give them the skills to be successful in the industry. 

Nick states that one of the most important things they are looking for in candidates for internal employment is the ability to overcome adversity. They prefer candidates who had to face severe challenges in their past and managed to overcome these challenges.  They’re looking for individuals who will care about the customer experience and are not only concerned with making money.

Work ethic and shared values are what bind their team and not age, gender, background or experience. This is how they manage to remain a team that achieves greatness. 

Our Sponsors

This podcast is proudly sponsored by i-intro®. 

i-intro® is an end-to-end retained recruitment platform. Our technology and methodology allow recruiters to differentiate themselves from the competition, win more retained business, bigger fees and increase their billings. Be sure to mention Mark Whitby or The Resilient Recruiter for a 25% discount. Book your free, no-obligation consultation here: www.recruitmentcoach.com/retained 

Nick Eaves Bio and Contact Info 

Nick Co-Founded Stanton House back in 2010 and has played his part in building the Business to the 80+ people it is today.  Stanton House operates in the UK, Asia and the US in a range of professional service verticals and the vision for the Business is to Achieve Outstanding Performance through exceptional customer experiences.  

This balance of ambitious business success, a focus on the Customer and a true commitment to strong values go to the heart of Stanton House. As Chief Customer Officer, Nick is the custodian of measuring and enhancing that customer offering.  

People and Resources Mentioned

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