Posted by Margaret Muir in Uncategorized
File It.tax was founded by Gene Conley, for “on-the-go professionals who would rather work, travel, or unwind than spend time figuring out a tax return”. File It.tax’s ideal clients are small business owners or independent workers who have a complicated tax situation.
For the purposes of this engagement, Gene Conley and LinkedSelling focused on three verticals.
- Management consultants, who often have multi-state income and a complex tax filing process.
- Real estate agents struggle with higher taxes, as independent workers, rather than being taxed as a business. FileIT.tax is familiar with some workarounds to manage these higher taxes.
- MBA students, especially those who are further along in their career and maintaining a full-time job, need all the tax breaks they can get.
Gene Partnered with LinkedSelling to Reach a Large Target Audience at a Crucial Time
Gene Conley knew it would be a challenge to reach everyone in his large target markets, and being in the tax industry, the first quarter of the year is a crucial time. Gene partnered with LinkedSelling in February of 2015 to do this quickly and efficiently through LinkedIn.
The engagement consisted of four parts:
- LinkedIn profile optimization
- Joining ideal groups
- Crafting message scripts
- Executing a messaging campaign
LinkedIn Profile Optimization
Profile optimization is the first step that every client goes through with their LinkedSelling account manager. After some research on competitor profiles, they run through a checklist (like the one below) to ensure every part of the profile is optimized. This can include an actionable headline, a solid call to action, and much more.
Joining Ideal Groups
After optimizing his profile, we researched the LinkedIn groups in which Gene’s target audience was engaged. We did not focus on groups for tax professionals, as this is where Gene’s competition would be.
Crafting Message Scripts
The next step was to craft the script for the messages for the upcoming LinkedIn messaging campaign.
At LinkedSelling, we sometimes receive push back from clients when we advise them it isn’t a good idea to include a full sales pitch and list of services, in their first message to prospects. Many often think, “Well, a client can’t purchase from me, if they don’t know what I’m offering, right?”
Wrong. A prospect doesn’t know you, and won’t be interested in getting to know you, if you lead with an ‘ask.’ That feels too impersonal and salesy. With our campaigns, we focus on a friendly introduction and providing value to prospects, before asking them for something even as simple as a phone call.
In Gene’s campaign, we A/B tested two different messages. One that went straight for the call after connecting, and the other that shared an interesting article first. The message with the article and then the request for a call performed much better than the other option.
Executing Cold Messaging Campaign
Gene’s account manager oversaw the messaging campaign from start to finish, and gave him regular updates. As the results rolled in, they revised the campaign to more effectively convert prospects to leads.
Gene Estimates an ROI of 400%!
Gene’s LinkedSelling LinkedIn campaign has been so successful in building trust with his network on LinkedIn that about 22% of Gene’s leads have turned into clients. He estimates that these clients will continue to work with him for 3-4 more years.
Based on the average revenue from each deal, and their status as returning customers, Gene is expecting at least a 400% return on his investment (ROI) with LinkedSelling.
All this in only TWO MONTHS?
The exciting part of Gene’s story, is that it only took two months to generate so many new clients that will continue to bring in revenue for years to come. This is not always the case, and varies based on the cost of goods or services, and how much trust needs to be built before a buyer is ready to commit.
In Gene’s case, his sales funnel could be short and sweet, based on the pricing of his services and the timing of the campaign. Because he charges between $400-1200 for the average deal, prospects were comfortable purchasing more quickly. He also chose to launch his LinkedSelling campaign at a time of the year when his ideal clients were coming up on a big tax deadline.
Choose a Call To Action that Makes Sense
Deciding on a CTA that makes sense and will resonate with your target market is a crucial part of every LinkedSelling campaign. If your company offers services that are $150,000 per deal, you can’t expect a prospect to purchase after sending a single message. They’ll need to do their research first, ask permission from their boss and their boss’s boss. Throughout this process, you can earn their trust and stay top of mind by sharing valuable content and engaging with them regularly on LinkedIn.
And even with these longer sales cycles for big ticket products and services, our methods are a slam dunk when it comes to lining you up with a constant stream of new prospects to work through your sales process.
If this sounds like it makes sense for your business, we’d love to schedule a call and explore what kind of approach and campaign would generate the best results for you.