Category Archives: Finance

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Episode #41 Client Experience vs. Engagement: Strategies To Take Your Business To The Next Level with Julie Littlechild



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 research shows that while satisfied clients are extremely loyal, there’s a low correlation between that satisfaction and providing referrals and making introductions.

So, who does provide referrals and make introduction? Engaged Clients! 

In this episode, Bill and Julie dive into the important topic of client engagement and what it can mean to your clients and to your business.

Julie and Bill discuss:

  • The distinction between client experience and client engagement and how you can measure client engagement.
  • The importance of personalization in all phases of your communication with prospects and clients. 
  • How client engagement goes beyond just clients to include prospects as well. 
  • The mindset challenges clients face when it comes to financial planning, and the importance of personalization in addressing these concerns.
  • The Absolute Engagement Engine, a tool that helps financial advisors understand clients on a deeper level by gathering relevant data throughout their journey with you.
  • How the future of client engagement will be co-created by clients and advisors, personalized, and informed by data.
  • …And more!

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Julie Littlechild : 

About Julie Littlechild:

Julie Littlechild is a recognized expert on the drivers and evolution of client experience, client engagement and referral growth. She is responsible for: designing the firm’s strategic vision and product roadmap, conducting on-going investor and advisor research, driving firm growth and representing the company on conference stages around the world.

Julie has worked with and studied successful financial advisors and their clients for more than twenty-five years. Prior to founding Absolute Engagement, she launched and ran one of the industry’s leading research firms, focused on client engagement. She is the author of The Pursuit of Absolute Engagement.

Julie sat on the national board of the Financial Planning Association, currently sits on an Investment & Wealth Institute advisory board, was twice identified as one of the 25 Most Influential People in Financial Planning, and won an industry Influencer Award in practice management. She holds an MBA from the University of Toronto.


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Ep. #40 Explosive Growth and Getting Referrals Without Asking with Warren Brooks and Terry Parham Jr.



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, and a dash of effective social media.

In this episode, Bill Cates interviews Warren Brooks and Terry Parham – Co-Founders of Innovative Wealth Building. They explain how they’ve built a steady flow of referrals without asking with a strong emphasis on building personal relationships with clients by going the extra mile. 

Bill, Warren, and Terry discuss:

  • The success resulting from their rapid growth – $100M in assets in their first year of going independent.
  • Their focus on building relationships with the extended family members of their clients.
  • How going above and beyond for clients and building personal relationships is the reason behind their explosion of referrals without asking.
  • How giving back to the community through sponsorships and participation in events can help build “celebrity status” that generates continual interest. 
  • How social media and their website actually converts prospects into clients.
  • …And more!

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Warren Brooks: 

Connect With Terry Parham: 

About Warren Brooks:

Warren Brooks is the President, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and one of the co-founders of Innovative Wealth Building In a world of tough financial choices, Warren has been a beacon of knowledge for his clients since 1999. 

​Warren has started over 1,000 new clients in his career and has amassed an impressive amount of knowledge over the years. As a result, Warren has become locally renowned as the go-to planner for Federal Employees and widows/ widowers that are navigating one of life’s biggest challenges.

What’s possibly most impressive is the relentless dedication that Warren has shown his clients over the years. When Warren says he will be there you know that he will, even if that means driving across the country or hopping on an airplane.

​Prior to becoming a financial planner, Warren honorably served 24 years in the United States Navy and retired as a Senior Chief Petty Officer. Additionally, Warren graduated from the University of Maryland University College with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management.

About Terry Parham:

Terry is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and one of the co-founders of Innovative Wealth Building. Terry joined the financial services industry in 2011 and has held positions as a: Financial Planner, Corporate Trainer, and District Manager. Terry loves to talk about investments and also enjoys diving into the weeds of retirement income planning. When he’s not working directly with clients, Terry spends time mentoring other advisors and presenting financial education to individuals and organizations.

​Terry graduated from St. Lawrence University with a double major in Economics and Psychology and a minor in Mathematics. Always on the quest for knowledge, Terry has earned the following certifications: Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC), Wealth Management Certified Professional (WMCP), Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP), and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU).


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Ep. #39 3 Strategies that Built a Multi-Million Dollar Firm with Todd Gillingham, JD, CFP®, ChFC, CLU



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 prospects and clients? 

In this episode, Bill Cates interviews Todd Gillingham, the founding partner of Landmark Wealth Management Group. In this high-content, real-world discussion, Todd reveals how he and his team are using video, target marketing, and storytelling to maintain continual growth with ideal clients.  

You’ll want to listen until the end to discover how Todd and his team help their clients determine what “abundance” means to them and how to achieve it.

Bill and Todd discuss how:

  • One simple video campaign went viral and generated $20 million in revenue.
  • He and his partner moved from generic seminars to events targeting a large employer in his area, converting 50 percent of the attendees into new clients.
  • They moved from formal presentations and “Death by Powerpoint” into more informal sessions, covering less information and telling more stories. This significantly increased their conversion rate.
  • The concept of “Your Client Focused Why” has helped Todd’s team to differentiate themselves, win new clients, and become super referable, with each advisor sharing their “why” in a video on their website.
  • The team focuses on helping their clients create and act on their own definition of abundance. This creates deeper and super-loyal client relationships.
  • …And more!

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Todd Gillingham: 

About Our Guest:

Todd Gillingham has more than 30 years of experience advising clients on their investments, retirement planning and estate and charitable giving strategies. You are most likely to see him deep in conversation advising one of his clients, but he is a popular speaker as well, giving hundreds of presentations over the years to community groups, churches and pre-retiree audiences (particularly employees or recent retirees from 3M). He has been recognized as a 10-time recipient of the Five Star Wealth Manager award, given to professionals who show a commitment to clients and demonstrate strong industry credentials. Before joining the Landmark Wealth Management Group, Todd served as an assistant vice president at Lutheran Brotherhood’s corporate office, helping representatives across the country with advanced estate and charitable planning strategies.


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Ep. #38 2 Big Marketing Strategies for Financial Advisors that Most Fail to Use – featuring Sara Grillo, CFA



“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 concepts of transparency and brevity – and how to use those concepts in communicating your value.

Some of the highlights of this interview…

  • Sara’s challenge to advisors to define the term financial advisor in one sentence without using the words goals, financial, or plan – and why this is important.
  • How advisors can distinguish themselves from others through transparency.
  • Why financial advisors should master brevity and examples on using her 2-Sentence LinkedIn Message Formula and her 2-Sentence Elevator Pitch Formula for better concise and highly effective communication.
  • Excerpts from Sara’s 17-Point Self-Assessment advisors can use to measure their ability to communicate with authenticity and brevity. 
  • A powerful perspective on why and how financial advisors can use their knowledge and skills to unify people around shared values and family-oriented practices.
  • Plus other key marketing strategies for financial advisors. 

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Sara Grillo: 

About Our Guest:

Sara Grillo, CFA, is a financial advisor, marketing consultant, and financial services keynote speaker focusing on LinkedIn lead-generation strategies for wealth management, investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms. All actions taken by Sara Grillo are governed by a professional code of ethics.

Before her current role, Sara Grillo worked as a financial advisor at Lehman Brothers. She holds a degree from Harvard University and pursued her Masters at NYU Stern School of Business before obtaining her CFA designation.

Sara Grillo is renowned for her outspoken and disruptive perspective on the unethical practices prevalent in the private wealth industry. She specializes in helping ethical financial advisors transparently attract wealthy clients. Her financial advisor marketing strategies prioritize simplicity, honesty, empathy, and high ethical standards over questionable methods. This is how she assists financial advisors and private wealth managers in areas such as marketing, branding, and lead generation.


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Ep. #37 Strategies for Attracting Affluent Women Clients with Adri Miller-Heckmann



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 transfer of wealth. Since women are living an average of five years longer than men, 90% of all women will be managing their own finances during the final years of their life.

Marketing to affluent women is the most lucrative demographic since the onset of the baby boomers!

In this episode, Referral Coach Bill Cates interviews Adri Miller-Heckmann, Founder of FemXAdvisor, about how advisors can make just a few adjustments in their practices to attract more affluent women clients. 

Adri and Bill discuss:

  • Focusing on the women’s market will become a huge differentiator for you AND generate more referrals more easily.
  • How some men repel potential women clients, while other men naturally attract women.
  • A unique way to help your female clients open up and share their financial goals.
  • How can advisors build stronger relationships with their female clients over time.
  • Adri’s recommendations for showing appreciation for your clients. 
  • …And more!

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Adri Miller-Heckmann:

About Our Guest:

Adri Miller-Heckman is a powerful influencer in the world of women. As a former financial advisor and National Training Officer with Smith Barney, she learned firsthand what it takes to succeed as a woman in a male-dominated industry, and it’s not about working longer, harder, or sacrificing more. Adri’s femXadvisor business model provides new solutions, systems, and female-friendly tools fueled by a passion that drives growth.

As a globally recognized speaker, author, and consultant in the financial industry, Adri is highly motivational, challenging her audience to expand their vision of what is possible. Using humor and real-life experiences, Adri eloquently transforms thinking from linear to creative, traditional to innovative, conformers to disruptors, and redesigning long-held industry concepts.

Adri’s book, Keys to the Ladies Room, has empowered thousands of advisors to create a female-friendly business and marketing plan that appeals to women and attracts clients of both genders. Adri’s new podcast, femXadvisor, is quickly becoming a trusted resource for female financial advisors to embrace their authentic selves.


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Ep. #36 Attracting Affluent Women – Great Niche Markets for Financial Advisors –An Interview with Russ Thornton



“Targeting niche markets for financial advisors” is a common theme these days. Are you sick of hearing that?  Do you have a well-defined niche market?

Are you casting too wide a net in your marketing efforts? Could you benefit from a narrower target or adopting 2 narrow targets rather than one large target?

When you find the right market for you, almost every aspect of client acquisition becomes easier and more effective. Your messaging hits the bullseye in the brains of your prospects and wakes them up to how you might be of value to them.

In this episode, Bill Cates interviews Russ Thornton, founder and principal of Wealthcare for Women. Russ explains the benefits of focusing on niche markets for financial advisors and how he found success in serving women in their pre-retirement age.

Discover how Russ maintains extremely high client retention and the ways in which he uses blogs and podcasts as effective tools for building relationships with clients. 

This episode is a must-listen for financial advisors looking to grow their businesses and better serve their clients.

Bill and Russ discuss:

  • The inspiration behind Russ’ decision to specialize in serving affluent women, particularly those nearing retirement.
  • How focusing on a narrow niche has made Russ’ messaging much more effective in attracting his ideal clients AND generating unsolicited referrals
  • Why he considers his financial planning services as the “central nervous system” of the relationships he builds with clients.
  • An inside look into his use of blogs as a tool for connecting with clients and sharing his expertise.
  • Bill Cates’ perspective on the benefits of targeting niche markets for financial advisors. How narrow is too narrow?
  • …And more!

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Ross Thornton:

About Our Guest:

Russ Thornton is the founder and principal of Wealthcare for Women, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. For almost 30 years, Russ has been delivering personal financial advice to clients and families. For instance, he has guided countless women to prepare for retirement, take care of their families, protect their wealth, and, most importantly, live life to the fullest.

When he was young, his mom went through a divorce and what she needed was someone in her corner to help her navigate financial uncertainty and look out for her best interests.

 As an adult, he devoted his career to helping women like his mother. That’s why he started Wealthcare for Women to empower them to make financial decisions that enable them to live comfortably without having to worry about money.


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Ep. #35 Before you ask for referrals, get your mindset right with Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE



Your ability to ask for referrals – to get more new clients through personal introductions – has to start with your mindset. This means that before you ask for referrals and introductions you must first eliminate any limiting beliefs and mistaken assumptions. Without the right thinking and perspective, you’ll be unlikely to use the methods proven to work.

Most previous episodes of Top Advisor Podcast involve Bill interviewing a top advisor or top consultant – to bring forth their brilliance for you to put into action.

In this episode, Bill’s conversation is with YOU – designed to flip the switch in your brain so you can begin to ask for referrals without begging or pushing.

No, you can’t answer through the podcast, but we guarantee this episode will get you talking to yourself about your own current perspective around referrals and personal introductions. 

In this conversation with you, Bill discusses:

  • The 4 strategies that allow you to ask for referrals and create introductions without looking like “That Cheesy Referral Guy.”
  • The limiting beliefs and mistaken assumptions that hinder many advisors from creating a highly successful referral-only business. 
  • An example of how one advisor achieved phenomenal growth once a switch inside his brain flipped into the right way of thinking.
  • … And much more!

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Ep. #34 “Growing Wellthy”: The Importance of Holistic Financial Planning With Stevyn Guinnip



6% of retirees say that health is more important than wealth.

Are you helping your clients (regardless of their age) with their most important asset – their health? 

There are two ways you can be of value to your clients in terms of holistic financial planning:

  1. Be a purveyor of great information in this area. Your clients will appreciate this added value. 
  2. Be a role model of someone who is – as our featured guest would say – wellthy.

In this episode, Referral Coach Bill Cates interviews Stevyn Guinnip, “the girl named Stevyn”, Founder & CEO of Grow Wellthy about holistic financial planning. Bill and Stevyn discuss how many financial advisors are creating value and building stronger relationships with their clients by helping them with both their financial wellness and physical wellness – guiding their clients to become wealthy AND wellthy.

Stevyn discusses with Bill:

  • What role wellness plays in holistic financial planning. 
  • How advisors are helping their clients turn their health into their most valuable asset.
  • The two ways she helps financial advisors, and their clients improve their state of wellness.
  • What steps advisors can take to protect their own health.
  • How advisors can comfortably offer health-related advice to their clients AND the impact of doing so.
  • How you can offer “Wellth Webinars” to your prospects and clients.
  • …And much more!

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Stevyn Guinnip:     

About Our Guest:

Stevyn Guinnip, MS, CWC is the founder & CEO of Grow Wellthy™ and the creator of the Wellth Academy™. She grew up a financial advisor’s daughter & enjoyed 20 years as an exercise physiologist and certified wellness coach in the US & Australia. Now Stevyn has blended the world of finance & fitness, helping financial professionals & their clients earn back their health so they can retire ‘wellthy.’


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Ep. #33: How This Advisor Built a $1M+ Boutique Financial Practice Taking 248 Days off per Year



What if you could net over $1M per year working 30-hour weeks and taking 13 full weeks off every year?   

What would that mean to you?  More time with family and friends?  More time on the golf course, boating, fishing, cooking, traveling, and whatever the heck you feel like doing?

And what if you could build a successful referral-only practice tapping into a goldmine of referrals from certain types of estate planning attorneys?  What would that mean for your business and how would that feel?

Is this achievable?    Well… Yes, it is!

In this episode, Bill Cates interviews Anat Yoder, CFP®, CRPS®, Principal and Wealth Manager at Yoder Wealth Management. Anat explains how she and her business partner (husband Michael Yoder), have been able to significantly reduce the amount of time they spend working so they can have a healthy work-life balance. 

Bill and Anat discuss: 

  • What motivated her (and her husband) to have a healthy work-life balance by working just 30 hours per week and taking 13 weeks off each year
  • Anat’s process for releasing clients into the loving care of another advisor to free up her time to serve wealthier clients. 
  • How she cracked the code for referrals from estate planning attorneys to reach wealthy clients. 
  • Her unique approach to getting to know her client’s children BUT NOT working with them. 
  • ….And more!

Resources: 

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Anat Yoder:

About Our Guest:

Anat N. Yoder began her professional career in structural engineering, earning her PE license and working on several notable projects, including the Bay Bridge. She became a financial advisor in 2004 in order to direct her problem-solving skills toward work that was more personally meaningful for her. She is active in the community and serves on the board of a local non-profit organization. Anat has a BS in civil engineering, as well as an MS in structural engineering, both from UC Berkeley.  She is a Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP) and a Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist (CRPS).

 


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Ep. #32: 5 Brilliant Steps to an Effective Client Acquisition Process with Sandro Forte, FCII, FPFS, FPSA, CSP



Sandro Forte serves as a financial advisor to the Royal Family in the United Kingdom. But that’s not why we interviewed him.

We interviewed Sandro because of the insight and wisdom he brings to the client acquisition process.  

In this episode of The Top Advisor Podcast, Referral Coach Bill Cates sits down with Sandro Forte, CEO of Forte Financial Group, a financial planning firm in the U.K.

Sandro is all about using the right processes AND the right words to move prospects along to becoming clients.

Bill and Sandro discuss:

  • Why you should schedule meetings with your prospects and clients and not appointments
  • The importance of not positioning yourself as subservient with prospects and clients.
  • The 2 most critical rules to follow when approaching prospects in your client acquisition process.
  • His 3-step approach to dealing with objection. 
  • The mindset needed to create sustained success and profitability.
  • How to maximize your productivity and profitability over time.
  • ….And more!

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect With Sandro Forte:

About Our Guest:

Sandro Forte is a dedicated, passionate and highly qualified personal success coach. As one of the most influential and sought-after speakers in the world, Sandro has built up an extensive network of contacts and proven himself to be a popular hit with people from all walks of life. Having spoken to more than 1 million conference and session attendees across 86 countries, Sandro has been all over the world providing his message of empowerment and self-improvement.

As one of the few speakers to hold the prestigious titles of Certified Speaking Professional Fellow of the Professional Speakers Association, and a Global Speaking Fellow, Sandro is well known for not just being able to motivate and inspire but to create positive outcomes for all the clients he works with. All of his solutions and outcomes are tailored, focusing on the unique needs of the individual to guarantee something actionable.

With such an extensive list of clients and a proven success rate, it’s not surprising that all the speaking work he does is actively endorsed by the clients from his past projects.

Sandro is a man who has come from a challenging background but has used that as a way to thrive. His unending optimism and enthusiasm are some of the things that his clients love about him because even in the face of challenges, he doesn’t give up.