If your B2B podcast was working, your sales calls would sound different.

Most B2B podcasts are easy to listen to.

They’re consistent. Polished. Well-intentioned.

And yet… nothing changes.

Prospects still ask basic questions.

Sales calls still start from scratch.

And the podcast quietly sits there, passing time.

I’m Neal Veglio, and in this episode of B2B Podcasting Insights, I’m unpacking why that happens — and what it looks like when a podcast actually earns its place in the buying process.

In this episode, I cover:

1. Why podcasts that feel “safe” rarely influence decisions
2. The difference between being listened to and being remembered
3. Why internal praise is often a warning sign, not a win
4. How effective podcasts equip buyers for internal conversations
5. A simple question to tell whether your sales calls should sound different by now

There’s also a practical segment on guest interviews, including advice shared with Susan Walsh, founder of The Classification Guru, on how to use guests without losing strategic control.

If someone could binge your show for months and still ask “so… what do you actually do?”, this episode will help you understand why — and what needs to change.

Useful links

Podknows Website:

https://podknows.co.uk

B2B Podcast Growth Diagnostic:

https://podknows.co.uk/diagnostic

Podcast audits:

https://podknows.co.uk/audits

Guest mentioned:

Susan Walsh — The Classification Guru

https://www.theclassificationguru.com/

Timestamped summary

00:00 If your podcast was working, your sales calls would sound different

01:10 Why most B2B podcasts don’t influence anything

03:00 The real risk your buyer is trying to manage

05:20 Why neutrality kills decision-making

07:40 Internal praise as a red flag

10:10 Building a podcast that shows up in buying conversations

12:30 Using guests without losing focus

15:10 The sales call test

16:40 How to find out if your podcast is actually doing its job

Quick question. If a prospect listened to your podcast for six

months and then got on a sales call with you, would they

still say, so tell me a little bit about what you do?

Because if they would, congratulations. You've built a

podcast that's excellent at passing time.

Spotify is proud of you, but your sales

team is not. Hold that thought.

Welcome to B2B Podcasting Insights with Neil Velio,

founder of PodKnows, a podcast agency helping you

get better results from podcasting. Most

B2B podcasts aren't designed to influence anything.

They publish episodes, they hit record, they have a

conversation, they stay consistent with their scheduling,

and all of that's a bit like owning a peloton and only using it

to hang your hoodies or your pantyhose.

Technically, you're using it, but you're using it

wrongly. And that's the vibe. A lot of B2B

podcasts tend to give off that they're busy, that

they're earnest, that they're harmless. If you want more insight

on this, we discussed the idea of your podcast having a job

in the previous episode of B2B podcasting insights,

and you'll find that if you go to podknows.co.uk that's

P O-N O W s.co.uk

and then click B2B podcasting insights in the menu.

Here's the truth that most podcast experts on LinkedIn

won't go deep enough to be able to share with you

because they don't understand it themselves.

A B2B podcast should change how

your ideal buyer thinks, not just what they know.

Most podcasts focus on education because that

feels safe. I get to share my expertise and

sound, knowledgeable. They're usually explainers

anchored into frameworks, and they're having nice,

orderly conversations and as if the buyer

is sitting there listening, thinking to themselves. Gosh, if

only more people would define thought leadership one more time. To me,

they're just not what they're actually thinking is, if I follow this

advice and this goes wrong, I'm going to be the one explaining it

in a room with no windows, not this podcaster.

And that's a different problem that you're needing to help them solve.

Remember my opening question. If someone can binge

your show and yet they still need the basic information,

that's not a lead quality issue. That's a design

flaw. That's like having a fancy restaurant where people

leave asking where the food was. Here's where it

usually goes wrong for B2B podcasters.

Most podcasts that are branded are built

for strangers, because that's exciting. That's the

dopamine. So what you're aiming at is people who

might discover the show one day, people who don't know you yet, don't have

a relationship, people who, statistically, probably

never will. So as a result, everything gets

softened. Every opinion is balanced,

every statement has a safety net. Every episode

sounds like it's been approved by someone who says, let's circle back to

this, shall we? Unironically, the result?

A podcast that stands for nothing, for no

one. And it reassures absolutely

nobody. So how do we go about this properly?

Here are some things that no B2B buyer has ever said

after listening to a podcast episode from you or

anybody else that has a podcast. They've never said,

ooh, I loved how neutral they were. That really

helped me to make a choice. Ooh, they did not challenge me

once and I felt safe. What a team.

Mmm. They explained things so slowly. I

felt like a really highly valued village idiot. No

buyer has ever said, you know, I was not

convinced, but episode 147 really

cleared things up for me. Decision making doesn't work like that.

The podcasts that actually influence deals,

they're rarely the biggest. They're actually the ones where prospects say

things like, I felt like you were already in our internal meetings.

And that's flattering. Mildly concerning, yes,

but flattering and useful. And that doesn't

happen because of branding. It happens because the

podcast sounds like someone who's been

burned before and remembers where and

how. So how do you turn the ship around? Well,

first of all, stop building content for the person who

might listen today and start building content

for the person who has to justify buying from you tomorrow.

That person isn't looking for a definition of your

industry. They're looking for the intellectual ammunition

to stand up in their internal meetings and say,

we have to choose them because they're the only people

who understand X, Y and

Z about our own unique problems. Every

episode you publish should contribute a small,

undeniable addition to that justification.

It's not about being nice or agreeable. It's about being

undeniably right about their pain. This

particular episode features a 12 page PDF document

that will take you through the process of figuring out everything we're talking about

in this episode. Go to podnos.co.uk,

that's podnows.co.uk evaluate.

It's time for questions from listeners. Email with your

question. Neilodnows.co.uk.

Each episode I'm going to endeavor to answer some of the emails that I

get from people in the wild. These are random people who have sent an

email after listening to an episode, and they do that via

neilapodnos.co.uk. that's n

e a l@podknows.co.uk

or by clicking contact on the website at

podnows.co.uk no prizes for guessing

which episode Clive has listened to recently based on his

email. Seems Clive is responsible for marketing at a

small business in Devon and he says hi Neil.

Our podcast gets great feedback internally, but prospects

never mention it. Cheers, Clive. I'm

obviously paraphrasing a much longer email, but for time, here's the

uncomfortable truth. Clive Internal praise is

usually a bit of a red flag, actually. It means that your

podcast is easy to agree with, and those with

bias and responsibility as stakeholders

feel safe with it. Your buyers don't need

safe, they need decisive. If no one

brings your podcast into the buying conversation, it's

probably not helping them in any way during the sales process. You

know, it's just there. It's kind of like a plant that's in your

office withering in the corner because no one ever bothers

watering it. And now founder FAQs

each episode I'm. Going to share some of the frequently asked

questions that my clients have for me when it comes to managing

a successful B2B podcast. In this one

I wanted to share a question regarding guest interviews.

Now, my own take on branded podcasts is that the best ones are

usually a solo effort since the listener is building

relationship with you. But that said, people still

enjoy the idea of having a guest for different reasons, not least

the sharing of some energy. And some people feel that they just bounce

off others better. But how to manage that? And of

course, having a guest each week is a lot of work.

I spoke to Susan Walsh, founder of the Classification Guru

and author of the book between the Spreadsheets, and we might have

come up with an idea for her to get the best of both worlds, but

I also gave her a bit of a tip for ensuring that her guest experience

is optimal. So what I could do is start

fortnightly, because what will probably happen is then people will

start asking, can I come on your podcast? And then I could save the other

weeks for guests. Ah, brilliant. Yeah, great

idea. One week me, and then every other week

or however in many other weeks a guest, and then. But don't be polite with

your guests if they if you record with them and it's trash

don't feel obligated to publish it. And I would. I would have like a one

sheet which explains, number one, that you want them to have a

decent setup if they can. So not yelling into their laptop

microphone. Cause it's gonna sound awful. So they need to. It doesn't have to be

a great. Mic that I would send out and say this is what's gonna happen.

Absolutely. And on that sheet you wanna make a point that they're not guaranteed

to be published, even if it's recorded, just to cover yourself.

So to sum up this episode then, most branded

podcasts tend to be built to be listened to. The

ones that work are built to be remembered.

They sound like how clear thinking sounds when

someone stops trying to impress. And that's the work that we do at

podnos. We don't make you louder. We don't make you seem

busier. We make you reach your ideal listener

more clearly and with more intent. So here's a question that

I'm going to leave you with in this episode. If someone

binged your podcast this month, would next

month's sales calls feel different? Because

clarity reduces risk, and reduced risk

is what actually moves decisions forward. If you want to know

whether your podcast is actually doing that, the link to my

diagnostic is in the episode description. Or go to

podnos.co.uk diagnostic

if the diagnostic feels like a bit of a next year wishlist item,

you're not quite ready for that yet. Why not make what you already

have perform to the best of its capability?

I can help you do that. Book in for one of my comprehensive audits.

The link to book is also in the episode description. Or you can head straight

to podnos.co.uk audits

and in the next episode. I am totally going to ruin

your perception around your download numbers.