Case study · Professional Services · Podcasting
Huthwaite International wrote the book on sales. We turned its stalled podcast into Mastering Sales and Negotiations, a guest-led series that has passed 149,000 downloads, reached number two in the Apple Podcasts Business chart and put Huthwaite’s experts in front of the sales leaders it wants to win.
- 149K all-time downloads
- #2 Apple Podcasts Business chart
- 17,527 downloads for the top episode
- 3 direct training leads
- Client Huthwaite International
- Sector Professional services
- Services Podcast strategy, production, guest booking, promotion
- When Relaunched December 2024, Series 3 in 2026
- Audience Sales leaders, L&D and B2B leadership teams
- Channels Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, LinkedIn
What did Huthwaite need?
Huthwaite International is the company behind SPIN Selling. Since 1975 it has trained sales and negotiation teams in some of the world’s biggest B2B organisations, backed by decades of behavioural research.
Its podcast had stalled. The back catalogue was valuable, but there was no publishing rhythm and a limited audience.
- Business objective: open new conversations with sales leaders and create routes to training enquiries.
- Communication objective: relaunch the podcast as a flagship thought leadership channel and grow an active audience.
What was the insight?
Sales leaders don’t want another guide on how to close. They want to hear how senior peers handle complex deals, difficult buyers and cross-border negotiations.
Huthwaite’s research was exactly that content. It needed a format people would choose to listen to, so we rebuilt the show around named guests in conversation with Huthwaite’s experts.
What did we do?
- Relaunched the back catalogue in December 2024, then ran a guest-led second series through 2025.
- Booked guests for fit, not fame. Sales leaders, behavioural scientists and L&D experts, chosen for credibility, reach and fit with Huthwaite’s business targets.
- Used prompt sheets, not scripts. Guest questionnaires and pre-meet calls kept each conversation on Huthwaite’s methodology without sounding rehearsed.
- Filmed every episode and cut short clips for LinkedIn, plus a bonus quick-win episode.
- Promoted with data. Guest resharing, LinkedIn copy for each episode and paid promotion on podcast platforms, with monthly reports deciding where budget went.
What did it achieve?
Results by stage of the AMEC evaluation framework, with the source for each figure.
| Stage | Measure | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outputs | Episodes published, Dec 2024 to Aug 2025 | 14 | Podcast hosting reports |
| Out-takes | All-time downloads | 149,356 | Podcast hosting data, 2026 |
| Out-takes | Top episode, July 2025 | 17,527 downloads | Podcast hosting reports |
| Out-takes | Highest chart position | #2, Apple Podcasts Business | Apple Podcasts |
| Outcomes | Direct training leads | 3 | Huthwaite |
| Outcomes | Gold-tier prospects | Face-to-face time through guest invitations | Huthwaite |
| Impact | Renewal | Series 3 commissioned for 2026 | Client agreement |
What did Huthwaite get from it?
A channel it owns, with a growing audience of the people it sells to. Inviting senior prospects as guests turned the podcast into a door-opener as well as a content engine, and the results earned a third series.
“The best marketing activity we’ve done for leads in 10 years.”
What did we learn?
- Name the guest before the topic. The episodes that broke through had a recognisable sales leader attached.
- Short-form clips drive downloads. LinkedIn video did more for listening numbers than any written post.
- Keep promoting the winners. The best episodes kept growing for weeks after release.
- What we would do differently: tie every episode to a Huthwaite model from day one. Those episodes turned into training enquiries.
