SThree rebuilt onboarding for new recruitment consultants around PitchMonster. Onboarding is now 53% faster, and trainers spend half as much coaching time on each rep. Consultants in 11 countries practise client and candidate calls against AI personas, get scored on SThree's own consultative framework the second a call ends, and retake the call until every step is green.
About SThree
SThree plc is a London-headquartered, FTSE-listed staffing group that recruits only for science, technology, engineering and mathematics roles. Founded in 1986, it employs about 2,700 people in 11 countries through brands including Computer Futures, Progressive Recruitment and Real Staffing.
The challenge
SThree wanted every new consultant to show product knowledge and consultative behaviour before calling a real client or candidate. Peer role-plays and shadowing couldn't deliver that.
Sessions were hard to schedule across 11 countries, and quality varied from office to office. The exercises never recreated the pressure of a live call, the "good stress" SThree wanted learners to feel in a safe setting. Trainers repeated the same feedback over and over and had no objective data on where each learner fell short.
How SThree uses PitchMonster
1. A scorecard mapped to SThree's framework
SThree mapped its consultative selling steps into PitchMonster. After every call, consultants see which steps they hit, missed or only partly met.
"If a learner skips a step, we spot it straight away and send them back in until every box is green."
Stefano Bianchini, Senior Curriculum Lead, SThree
2. Real objections, triggered on purpose
Trainers preload the objections consultants hear most, such as price push-back, candidate hesitancy and "send me an email" stalls, and choose when the AI raises them. The AI also responds when a consultant goes off-script, so no two calls play out the same way.
3. Personas and voices for each market
Regional teams pick the persona that fits their market: a hiring manager, a procurement lead or a passive candidate. Consultants practise in English and French, and the French voices were added for SThree's Paris office after the team asked for them.
4. Recordings and one-click retakes
Every attempt is recorded and transcribed. Trainers jump to the key moment, leave a comment and assign a retake in one click: listen to your recording, try this change, then compare.
5. Scores and leaderboards
A live scoring bar and leaderboards keep practice competitive.
"Learners compete to beat their last score, and even seasoned consultants jump in to prove they can top the chart."
Stefano Bianchini, Senior Curriculum Lead, SThree
The results
53% faster onboarding
New consultants rehearse the hard calls in PitchMonster before they reach the floor, so they get through onboarding 53% faster. They say they feel ready when they pick up real phones, because they made their mistakes in practice, where no deal was at stake.
2x less coaching time per rep
Trainers no longer sit through hours of live shadowing. They review transcripts and behaviour scores in minutes and coach the exact step a learner missed, which halves the coaching time each rep needs.
Use across the business
PitchMonster started as an onboarding fix. After seeing demo sessions, entire offices asked to try it. Experienced consultants now use it to refresh objection handling, and managers use it to rehearse hard conversations such as performance reviews.
"They get to unlock their potential in a risk-free space before the real calls begin."
Stefano Bianchini, Senior Curriculum Lead, SThree
What other teams can take from this
- Put your own selling framework into the scorecard. Consultants then practise the steps your trainers already teach.
- Preload the objections that lose deals in your market, and decide when they come up.
- Give each region its own personas and language, while keeping one standard for everyone.
If you onboard recruiters in more than one country, book a demo to see a scenario built around your consultative framework.
