How Raines International leads the executive search world with Metaview

Raines International is an executive search firm dedicated to helping clients build leadership teams that win and drive impact. It works with private equity firms and Fortune 500 companies, where pace, responsiveness, consistency, and data are vital in every engagement. 

• Headquarters: Miami, Florida
• Company size: 51-200 employees

A pressing need for speed and precision

As a top executive search firm, Raines’ search consultants need to be fast, effective, and precise in their work. But the typical workflow is full of administrative hurdles and busywork that hold firms like Raines back. 

As Managing Director Jessica explains, “A significant portion of time was going towards very manual tasks like notetaking, transcription, formatting, and updates. While those things are operationally important, they were taking a considerable amount of time away from higher-impact activities.”

The firm’s client base includes world-renowned private equity firms. “We were introduced to Metaview by one of our top clients. That was a strong signal that it was worth seriously considering for us.

“Initially we started using Metaview within the candidate journey. Seeing the success we had there, we’re now expanding it to client touchpoints as well.”

Immediate impact and real results

With Metaview on board, Raines’ search processes became more efficient almost overnight. The team can consistently meet and exceed the very high standards set by their heavyweight clients.

First, client communication is timely. “We’ve always been highly responsive, and now we’re even faster. We can now provide clear, professional updates right after calls. And we can be true 24/7 partners who move quickly.” 

But the quality of work is also uniformly higher. “Consistency has also advanced. Every follow-up, scorecard and report looks and sounds the same, no matter who prepares it.”

“We’ve accelerated our searches by cutting administrative time. We’re freeing our search practitioners to advise clients, and to be out in the market developing critical relationships.”

Consistent client communication

Consistency in delivery is a key priority for search firms. Even with a large team and a wide portfolio, every client interaction must be detailed and exact, no matter who provides it. It also needs to be precise, and tailored to the receiver’s biggest needs.

Metaview’s custom templates are a gamechanger. “The custom templates give us a consistent and rigorous way to compare apples with apples across a large number of individuals. They’re driving efficiency and consistency in the way we’re interviewing candidates, and in the outputs we’re generating for clients.”

“Candidate interviews are being transcribed and structured according to scorecards which are tied back to evaluation criteria. After client status calls, we polish follow-up emails in minutes. That was traditionally an additional task for our research team. Now it’s a huge time-saver.” 

Deep data for better reporting

Client reporting has always eaten into search consultants’ precious time. But so much of the work goes into formatting data and finding evidence, that less time is left for truly insightful commentary.

Again, Jessica credits Metaview’s custom templates with keeping interview data clean, structured, and searchable. “That has allowed our consultants more time to think about how they’re leveraging data. Rather than just putting it together quickly.

Jessica’s team also has more time for the bigger picture, and to offer clients real insights from Raines’ experience. “I’ve been using the reporting functions to think about the ways we can identify patterns and insights across a broader pool of candidates. Really thinking about turning individual interviews into proprietary data. We can find trends around compensation and influence package discussions. Or hybrid versus on-location work. 

“We can also track our own performance and leverage that to drive quality assurance.”

Fostering collaboration in search teams

One unexpected, but very positive, benefit for Jessica is how easily Metaview has become part of the team’s workflow. “Change is hard,” she says, “even when it’s exciting. Our goal was to make Metaview feel like a seamless part of the consultant’s day, and not an extra step they had to remember.”

That mission was accomplished right away, with only positive feedback from the team and clients. But Metaview has also helped the team work more cohesively, fill gaps, and keep everyone on the same page.

“Over the summer, we had instances where folks were travelling, getting married, and other life events. Metaview made it really seamless to hand off work, or help new team members cover others. They get up to speed without losing context, and can plug and play without clients noticing any change.”

A trusted partner to top search firms

Unlike other AI tools, Metaview is built for search consultants’ most pressing needs. We live and breathe this context every day, and search firms get tailored tools with their specific aims in mind.

“The platform has developed a lot of trust and credibility within the executive search world. And you have the most amazing customer success team. John is a dream partner to work with. I love being able to match my bullishness about AI with a customer success rep who’s there in the trenches with us. That made all the difference.”

In the high-stakes executive search environment, Metaview is a key differentiator that helps Raines International stand taller than its peers. 

“There are so many things I love about Metaview. The list could just go on and on!