Case Study
Since 1969, Sterling Engineering has built a reputation as a trusted partner in engineering consulting and staffing solutions, serving nearly 300 employers annually with a 90% repeat business rate. This enduring success stems from a deeply rooted philosophy: genuine care for people. As Kevin Bass, Director of Operations, explains, “Care is built into our culture; it’s not just a saying. We treat every candidate as a person, not just a means to fill a job.” This commitment to care has been the cornerstone of Sterling’s approach for over 50 years.
For Sterling, its commitment to people isn’t just a promise—it’s a practice. Since transitioning to employee ownership a decade ago, they’ve ensured contract employees enjoy the same benefits as internal staff, including 401(k) plans, PTO, and ownership shares. This approach fosters loyalty and trust, enabling Sterling to build lasting relationships with its workforce. It’s no surprise that many skilled professionals return to the agency after completing contracts or when seeking new opportunities.
While their people-first philosophy remains central, Sterling also recognizes the power of technology to enhance connections. By leveraging Avionté’s advanced ATS platform, AviontéBOLD, Sterling has maximized its internal talent database, efficiently redeploying existing talent and re-engaging passive candidates. This strategy has reduced reliance on external job boards like Indeed and LinkedIn, allowing them to manage significant business growth in requisitions post-COVID, all while maintaining or even lowering job board spend.
This seamless integration of care and innovation has helped Sterling cultivate a loyal talent pool that not only drives repeat business but also re-engages workers throughout their careers. As Kevin Bass explains, “Our growth is due to our existing relationships taking us to other places. In fact, 90% of our business is from repeat clients.”
But as they expand their operations nationwide, how could they turn this strong reputation into sales and marketing opportunities that fuel business growth? That’s where ClearlyRated came in. And now, with its integration into AviontéBOLD, it’s even easier for Sterling to mine its feedback to identify promotional opportunities and reduce churn.
ClearlyRated is more than a survey tool; it is a comprehensive experience management platform designed to empower customers to measure, track, and analyze their service experience. The platform enables users to transform this data into actionable insights, identifying opportunities and challenges to drive differentiation and foster business growth.
Now, with an annual survey conducted for both Sterling Engineering clients, talent, and internal employees, this partnership has allowed Sterling to strengthen their brand and position themselves as a premier staffing partner.
ClearlyRated’s approach makes it easy to gather valuable feedback from both clients and employees. By combining Net Promoter Scores (NPS) with open-ended questions, the surveys reveal key insights that highlight Sterling’s strengths and areas for improvement. Whether it’s a client appreciating Sterling’s commitment to understanding their company culture or an employee sharing how a recruiter supported them during a tough time, the surveys show how Sterling’s people-centric culture drives loyalty.
Beyond gathering feedback for marketing purposes, the survey results serve as a powerful validation tool for Sterling’s sales and recruiting teams, reinforcing that the care and effort they invest in every relationship truly makes a difference. With opportunities for talent and clients to share testimonials and give shoutouts, Sterling can not only promote their brand but also recognize employees for exceptional work.
“Sometimes, our sales and recruiting teams reflect on whether their dedication to our values and high-touch service is truly making an impact on our clients and candidates. But the proof is in the pudding—our dedication to those values is what drives our success. Our values matter, and our actions make a real impact, and it’s amazing to be able to show our sales and recruiting teams that the results speak for themselves.”
Pam O’DonnellMarketing Manager, Sterling Engineering
Sterling has always placed people at the heart of their business. While actions like taking field employees out for lunch or sending personalized anniversary gift boxes might seem like small gestures, feedback from ClearlyRated shows that these simple acts have a significant impact in the eyes of both clients and talent.
“Our contractors and clients consistently value personal communication, which inspired our anniversary program. We take recruiters, clients, or talent out for lunch to celebrate milestones or send anniversary gift boxes to those who are remote. These gestures have a lasting impact and remind our recruiters and sales teams that these personal touches do matter, especially as we grow.”
Kevin BassDirector of Operations, Sterling Engineering
Despite their success, ClearlyRated recognized that their survey results could have a greater, more meaningful impact when integrated directly into staffing agencies’ existing platforms. By embedding their survey feedback into AviontéBOLD, they saved Sterling time and effort as well as provided valuable context for each interaction with clients and talent. This feedback process helps the agency refine its recruiting and sales strategies.
“Choosing to partner with Avionté was an obvious choice. As a key platform for many of our staffing clients, this collaboration empowers them to seamlessly integrate our solutions, enhancing both client and candidate experiences while accelerating their growth.”
Hina VinochaVP of Product, ClearlyRated
Before the integration, Sterling primarily used the feedback for marketing purposes. However, with the integration, they can now leverage this data more strategically, refining their marketing and sales efforts.
The setup was seamless, requiring minimal effort from the agency’s team—and best of all, it came at no cost. Yet, this easy-to-implement integration has unlocked new opportunities, helping the agency attract fresh talent, re-engage promoters, and open doors to new clients.
The integration between ClearlyRated’s annual survey and the AviontéBOLD ATS platform has unlocked new opportunities for Sterling Engineering, enabling them to leverage survey responses without ever leaving their ATS. By tagging survey results directly into Avionté, Sterling can now create targeted lists of clients and talent based on their ratings—an essential tool for future sales and recruiting strategies.
One major benefit is the ability to build focused sales call lists and messaging campaigns targeting past promoters. With Avionté’s search functionality, they can identify former clients who gave strong ratings but may have moved on, allowing them to reconnect and turn those positive relationships into new business opportunities.
On the recruiting side, the integration helps identify talent who are promoters and likely to re-engage with Sterling for future opportunities. This streamlined approach allows recruiters to focus on the most receptive candidates, improving placement success.
Additionally, with easy access to lists of satisfied clients and employees, Sterling can quickly reach out for referrals. These referrals are a powerful tool for attracting new talent and clients, crucial as Sterling expands into new regions and markets.
The integration between ClearlyRated’s survey tool and the AviontéBOLD platform has opened exciting new opportunities for Sterling Engineering. With the ability to pull targeted lists based on survey responses and tag them directly into their existing database, Sterling can now more effectively engage the right clients and talent with the right messaging.
This shift in approach strengthens their relationships and positions Sterling as an agency that listens and responds to the needs of both clients and candidates. As they continue to grow and expand into new regions, the ability to engage with a high level of personalization will be key to their success.
Moreover, this integration has been instrumental in motivating Sterling’s recruiters and sales team to take the extra step in building genuine, long-term relationships. By providing them with the insights and motivation needed to build those real connections, Sterling has set itself up for continued growth in an increasingly competitive market.
Kevin Bass sums it up:
“We believe this integration positions us to significantly enhance how we build relationships with both our clients and talent. It’s more than just using data—it’s about positioning our agency with new clients and talent while motivating our team to take that extra step in building real connections that drive our growth. Our recruiters and salespeople now have the motivation and insights to make each interaction count.”
By embracing both care and technology, Sterling Engineering has positioned itself to thrive in the future, building on the strong relationships that have always been at the heart of its success.
