Author: Bill Cates

Here’s the uncomfortable truth about referrals. There’s some bad – or should I say very incomplete advice going around about what it takes to generate quality referrals. Yes, you should show up on time. Yes,…

According to a recent report from Invesco Global Consulting, top-quartile advisory teams maintain an average of 4.3 formal strategic partnerships, more than twice the average of lower-performing firms. Those same top-performing advisors also generate 29%…

You’ve probably heard the story. Drop a frog into a pot of boiling water and it’ll immediately jump out. But put the frog in cool water and slowly raise the temperature, and it’ll calmly sit…

Many advisors are asking themselves, “How do I build an AI-powered practice?” I think a better question is this: If everybody has access to the same technology, how am I going to stand out? Don’t…

“Referrals are dead!”   That’s what someone said on a LinkedIn post the other day. I suppose he thinks that his prospects have started trusting robo-calls, mystery LinkedIn messages, and emails that begin with, ‘Dear Valued…

Money can expand. You can always make more money – for your clients and yourself. But not time!  You simply can’t make more time. Here’s the irony… As advisors,  we optimize portfolios… and we often…

Today’s blog is a “Sneak Preview” into my upcoming WEBINAR:Unsolicited Referrals: Creating Effective AdvocatesWednesday, April 22 – 1:00pm Eastern Many financial advisors will tell you they want to meet their ideal clients through referrals. After all, who doesn’t…

Most advisor websites fail this simple test, and it starts with the headline. The headline on your homepage is the first wording a visitor will see. Think of it as the billboard for your website. It…

Sometimes the biggest growth opportunity isn’t finding more prospects, it’s making it easier for the right ones to move forward. A while back I wrote about cognitive fluency. Essentially, the easier information is to process,…

After more than 30 years of coaching financial professionals and interviewing hundreds of top advisors on my Top Advisor Podcast (now in the top 3% of podcasts worldwide), I can tell you this with total…