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Todd Powell is a Senior Business Development Manager who sells high-ticket consulting for a major consulting firm in Washington, DC.
Building and nurturing relationships is a big part of his role in the company.
As someone in charge of million-dollar engagements, the sales cycle can be from 15-36 months.
He seeks to cut down the time needed to convert prospects into clients. Hence, when an existing client referred him to Engage AI, he began experimenting with using the commenting strategy on LinkedIn to start conversations with people who fit his buyer persona.
People’s perception of LinkedIn as a professional platform inhibits them from speaking out openly on the said platform. LinkedIn users would deliberate their words carefully to sound intelligent and professional, as that is how they preserve their reputation and job security on the social platform where top decision-makers dwell.
As a result of this careful approach and attitude, 98% of content on LinkedIn receives very little engagement. Posts rarely receive comments. Thus, it creates a Catch-22 situation. Without any comments in the first place, the LinkedIn algorithm will not promote the content on the newsfeed. This then further reduces exposure and engagement. In other words, the unfortunate circumstances feed into each other, and content creators always end up at square one with no visibility.
Todd’s potential clients did not have it differently. He had visited many of his prospects’ LinkedIn profiles and noticed how their content received little to no engagement.
“You can truly see how they appreciate every one of their comments, if they receive them,” Todd asserted. “They post on LinkedIn to improve the visibility of their personal brand. To not receive any engagement is discouraging. When you give them your attention, they’re simply intrigued. Who’s this person leaving such a thoughtful comment on my post? Mind you, it’s not about being a know-it-all – it’s about striking a conversation to break ground.”
Instead of having one-liners as comments whenever he couldn’t find the right words to respond, Todd used Engage AI to create comment outlines. He wanted to focus on leaving value-driven and meaningful comments that stand out from the usual “great post” or “nice job”. The AI technology helped with just that and even crafted reply drafts in the tone of voice he desired. He would still quickly skim through the content of his prospect’s post and tweak the comment suggestion to make it 100% in his own voice.
“The trick is, you have to make the comment appear as something unique and from your own head, ” Todd said. “But creating a comment from scratch takes too much time or effort for me – I don’t have the luxury of it. Engage AI helps me save time while staying authentic.”
As Todd continued to leave meaningful comments on his prospect’s posts, he began to notice an uptick in interest in the form of comments, likes, private messages, and profile visits. His prospects began to recognize him as an active member of their network rather than a generic sales profile.
Todd has been using Engage AI for two months and has since seen his conversations with prospects moving along faster than before. Conversations that would normally take place 4 to 12 months later were now happening in a span of two weeks. He attributed that accelerated progress to the relationship he had built with his prospects through commenting. Engage AI empowered him to stay front and center, and that subsequently got his prospects to open up and develop trust with him.
“It’s amazing to see the transformation of a prospect’s attitude towards me after they’ve seen my comments in their space,” Todd shared. “It’s easier to build trust, which acts as the basis of any relationship.”
As a result of engaging with his prospects more regularly, Todd was also showing up in front of his prospects’ followers and network. With his strong profile and well-thought-out comments, Todd quickly attracted their curiosity.
Todd created his own list encompassing key leads that would benefit from his consulting company within Engage AI Pro’s web app. By doing so, he was able to keep track of his key prospects, increase his touchpoints with them, and move prospects through his sales funnel with ease. Repeated touchpoints with the same prospect also enabled others to recognize his expertise at a quicker rate.
Todd relies on referrals from his current clients to bring in new potential leads. He made it a point to refer his current clients’ businesses to others. This was his go-to strategy to increase customer lifetime value, and his clients would always reciprocate by referring him to new prospects. It was a win-win situation for both parties involved.
By using Engage AI Pro’s instant comment generations and monitoring system, Todd was able to keep in touch with his existing clients and maintain a strong relationship with them easily. He would also leave comments to warm up a relationship before introducing another existing client’s products or services as a solution to the post owner’s pain point.
“Engage AI Pro helps me build better relationships with my clients, ensuring they remain happy and satisfied in the long run. It also allows me to leverage the law of reciprocity by referring their businesses to others and gaining potential leads in return,” said Todd. “The solution is so simple yet effective that I can’t imagine managing my relationships with existing clients in any other way.”
With the help of Engage AI Pro, Todd was able to save time while engaging and building relationships with prospects and current customers alike. He now easily keeps track of prospective leads and nurtures his existing client base without spending too much effort or energy. This allowed him to focus on the most important step of any sales cycle — closing deals.
"Engage AI is not just about showing up on the newsfeed. It’s about investing in relationships and building trust with people. Engage AI has helped me build relationships with ease and break down the barrier of being perceived as just another salesperson on LinkedIn. It’s an amazing tool to have in my relationship-building arsenal, and I’m sure it will help anyone looking to optimize their sales process on LinkedIn."
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