Case study · Professional services
Huthwaite International, the creator of SPIN Selling, wanted to win back its voice in the sales training market. Part of the plan was to turn its own people into credible voices online. We started with a skills questionnaire, then ran two LinkedIn and Twitter sessions for 31 staff, each pitched at a different level.
- 31 staff booked
- 2 sessions, split by ability
- 23+ skills questionnaires returned
- 6 training modules
- Client Huthwaite International
- Sector Sales and negotiation training
- Training LinkedIn, Twitter, thought leadership, networking
- When July 2017
- Audience Sales team and support staff
- Format Two 2-hour in-person sessions
What did Huthwaite need?
Huthwaite has trained sales teams in some of the world’s biggest companies for decades, but it had lost share of voice in its market. Our brief was to “re-establish Huthwaite as a thought leader and expert in the field of sales and negotiation”.
A big part of that was its people. Huthwaite wanted its staff to use social media to network, learn and prospect, and to support the company’s own channels.
- Business objective: grow Huthwaite’s share of voice and generate new conversations with sales leaders.
- Training objective: upskill all teams to use social media professionally, build their own profiles, and support Huthwaite International’s social media efforts.
What was the insight?
The skills questionnaire showed two very different groups. Some of the sales team were confident and already using Sales Navigator. Others, largely support staff, were barely active at all.
One session for everyone would have bored half the room and lost the other half. So we kept the same content and split the room by ability, with networking and lead generation as the main focus for both.
What did the training cover?
- A skills diagnostic first. Every participant completed a questionnaire on the networks they used, their confidence, their goals and what they wanted from the session.
- Two sessions on one day. A morning session for 20 intermediate sales staff and an afternoon session for 11 beginners.
- Six modules. The context, social media 101, creating content, social media for networking and lead generation, measuring success, and supporting Huthwaite.
- Thought leadership in practice. How to become a voice in your field, with live demos and Huthwaite-specific dos and don’ts.
- One-to-one follow-up. A day of one-to-one training for a new member of Huthwaite’s marketing team.
What did it achieve?
Results by stage of the AMEC evaluation framework, with the source for each figure.
| Stage | Measure | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs | Skills questionnaires returned | 23+ | Pre-training questionnaire, July 2017 |
| Outputs | Staff booked onto training | 31 (20 intermediate, 11 beginners) | Training agenda, July 2017 |
| Outputs | Sessions delivered | 2 x 2 hours, plus a one-to-one day | Training agenda and contact reports |
| Impact | Long-term relationship | Retained since 2017, including lead generation campaigns and the Mastering Sales and Negotiations podcast | Account records |
What did Huthwaite get from it?
A team that understood how social media fits into professional selling, and staff ready to back up the company’s thought leadership with their own profiles. The training was the start of a long relationship: Huthwaite has worked with us ever since, from lead generation campaigns to its Mastering Sales and Negotiations podcast.
What did we learn?
- Split by ability, not by department. Two levels of the same course kept everyone engaged.
- Make it about selling. Focusing on networking and lead generation made social media relevant to a sales business.
- What we would do differently. Benchmark profiles before and after, so the change in activity is measured, not assumed. We now do this as standard.
Want your sales team using LinkedIn to open doors? Talk to us about social selling training.
