Top Advisor Podcast

Speed Kills?  Speed Wins?  It depends! According to research – speed impacts revenue , speed impacts loyalty, and speed impacts emotions. Understanding this crucial dynamic, Bill Cates engages in a compelling conversation with Jay Baer, a distinguished business growth and customer experience strategist, researcher, author, keynote speaker, and B2B influencer.  Jay’s newest book, Time to Win : How...

Announcing! Bill Cates’s Newest Book… The Language of Referrals: The Words & Scripts Financial Professionals Use to Gain More Ideal Clients. Every financial professional understands the power of referrals and personal introductions. Marketing experts extol the virtues of building a referral-based business. However, while providing overarching strategies and concepts, they don’t tell you how to...

According to actuaries, you and your clients are underestimating how long you are going to live. Therefore, most people don’t plan properly, and most financial advisors aren’t even aware of this .  This interview with Marc Pace – Founder of the Vital Longevity Institute – has two parts: Part 1 – Why most people (advisors included) underestimate their life expectancy, and how you can us...

Are you producing results with LinkedIn? Or do you wonder why you even have an account? I’ve run into very few advisors who are seeing a straight line to ROI with their activities on LinkedIn. Mando Sallavanti is clearly an exception! Effective LinkedIn prospecting for financial advisors requires more than just creating a profile and posting content. It also requires a strategic approach to engagi...

Alice Tang, a highly successful financial advisor known for her passion for supporting millionaire women and helping the next generation achieve financial success. It’s no secret that the affluent women’s market is a lucrative, ever-growing niche in the financial industry. This episode touches on this topic AND a whole lot more! In this episode, Bill Cates interviews Alice Tang, ChFC®, MIM, Vice P...

It’s not an accident that Productivity and Proactive start with the same three letters.  Pro can mean For and Forward . I’m all for moving forward, how about you? If you’re like most advisors, there are days where you feel very productive and know that you are moving your business forward. You probably have other days (too many?) where you’re simply being reactive.  You’re doing things you know yo...

Are you winging it when it comes to serving your client all along the client journey? Or do you embrace and follow a clear strategy for enhancing client and prospect experiences and establishing strong relationships with them throughout the entire client journey?  Attending to all phases of the client journey will always be the fuel to your success. In this episode, Referral Coach Bill Cates inter...

Family legacy planning involves more than just helping your clients accumulate assets. Creating a lasting legacy for your clients means crafting a set of values, purpose, and financial knowledge that lasts for generations. In this episode, Referral Coach Bill Cates interviews Randy Jones, Wealth Management Advisor at Financial Growth Partners. Randy shares his insights on family legacy planning, e...

Have you ever wondered if the hosts of financial advisor podcasts actually get new clients from it?  Is all the effort worth it?  And, by the way, do many of your prospects and clients seem to have limiting beliefs and mistaken assumptions about money? In this episode, Referral Coach Bill Cates and his guest Misty Lynch, CFP®, author of the book Demystifying Money and host of the Demystifying Mone...

While curiosity may have killed the cat, it didn’t hurt this advisor! How about you?  Have you developed a strong Curiosity Muscle?  Do you exercise it often as you endeavor to bring more ideal clients into your business? Curiosity will serve you well in this business: You will meet new people. You will serve your clients better by knowing more about them. You will learn about other’s in your clie...

This is an interview you don’t want to miss. David Armstrong, CFA has found a way to message his value and attract new clients who are perfect for his business. He does it in a genuine, compelling, and slightly fun way.  In this episode, Referral Coach Bill Cates interviews David Armstrong, President & Co-Founder of Monument Wealth Management. They explore the importance of finding the right f...

To say that people have an emotional relationship with money would be an understatement! While you may be a CFP, or a ChFC, or any number of the many certifications available in this industry, perhaps the most important thing you could do to serve your clients is obtain an PhD in psychology.  (Smile) Today, my featured guest and I are going to talk about some of the emotions both YOU and YOUR CLIE...

I’m willing to wager that you and your marketing team have no clue how the LinkedIn algorithm works. And because of that, you are wasting precious resources (time and dollars) on posting content that hardly anyone sees. So, what are the best strategies on LinkedIn for financial advisors to get their posts seen? LinkedIn has a different business model than most other social media platforms. Therefo...

This may be one of the most important interviews we’ve done since the inception of Top Advisor Podcast. The very best advisors know that their job is more than managing investments or selling insurance.  The very best advisors are increasingly focused on Longevity Planning for the Baby Boomer clients. These advisors prioritize building strong, meaningful connections with their clients, getting to...

From $0 to $1M in annual production in only 5 years sounds impossible, right? Think again. Successful wealth advisor and certified divorce financial analyst, Nicole Middendorf, CDFA, joins us to share her journey from a troubled marriage to discovering her true purpose and helping others along the way – while building a truly Top Advisor practice.  To distract from her divorce, she created her Liv...

Have you ever pondered the idea of writing a book? You know that it could boost your credibility, demonstrate your expertise, and serve as an impressive introduction to your clients and centers of influence. So why haven’t you done it yet?  More than likely, it feels overwhelming – you don’t have the time or it’s beyond your capabilities, or both! Fear not, in a truly enlightening episode, Bill si...

Digital marketing for financial advisors can be an overwhelming and/or confusing topic for many. Financial advisors are often challenged by what marketing strategy is right for them, how to communicate their value, and what outside resources might be right for them. Can you relate?  While Bill Cates is the recognized expert and supreme advocate for growing through referrals and personal introducti...

The evidence is in and it’s compelling. Narrowing a target market to focus on financial planning for women has proven to be a successful move for many advisors. (Most) Women approach financial planning differently than men.  “Just the facts mam.”  Women currently control one-third of total U.S. household financial assets – representing more than 10 trillion dollars. By 2030, women in the U.S. are...

“If I target a specific market, what about my current clients? And won’t I be missing out on other opportunities? These are a few of the common questions that come up in the discussion about niche marketing and the best target markets for financial advisors. While these are valid concerns, they are easily addressed.  Listen to this 35-minute podcast episode from Bill Cates to get the answers &#823...

“I tried networking once. It didn’t work!” Yes!  This is an actual quote from a financial advisor.  Sad! Networking for financial advisors is not just going to networking events – which even “The Referral Coach” loathes. Networking is forming our own “community” of mutually beneficial relationships. And it can be done without ever going to a single networking event. And don’t forget… It’s not call...

Client Engagement!  Client Experience!  Creating “Wow!”  What’s all the fuss? Did you know that client service , client experience , and client engagement are NOT the same things? Julie Littlechild, founder of Absolute Engagement and author of The Pursuit of Absolute Engagement has focused her business on showing advisors how to move their clients from satisfied to engaged. Why?  Because her resea...

Imagine that you are getting so many unsolicited referrals that your new prospective clients are willing to be placed on a 4-month waiting list to see you. A pipe dream?  Not necessarily. Our featured guests on today’s show are experiencing this right now.   How are they getting so many referrals without asking?  With strategic relationship building, minor celebrity status in their target market,...

If you’ve ever wondered if sending video messages to your prospects and clients can actually produce tangible, profitable results; then you need to listen to this interview.   Have you harnessed the power of a clear, well-defined, and reachable target market – that’s hungry for your value?   Are you using client successes, your client-focused why, and other stories to convey your value to prospect...

“Outspoken” “Controversial” “Disruptive”  These are some of the words that have been used to describe Sara Grillo. Sara’s on a mission to help advisors rise above the platitudes and sameness they use to describe the valuable work they bring to their clients.  In this lively interview, Bill and Sara discuss 2 important (but often overlooked) marketing strategies for financial advisors – the concept...

How are YOU doing when it comes to attracting and working with affluent women? At this moment in time, women control one-third of total U.S. household financial assets – representing more than 10 trillion dollars.  By 2030, women in the U.S. are projected to control much of the $30 trillion in financial assets that baby boomers will possess. Women are also the largest beneficiaries of the current...