Tag Archives: Retirement Parties

#107 – 3 Top Advisor Growth Strategies – Part 1 with Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE



Welcome to a special solo edition of the Top Advisor Podcast! In this episode, host Bill Cates pulls from decades of coaching, interviewing, and his own experience to deliver a powerful session on best practices for bringing in new clients and creating real advocates for your business.

Unlike typical interview-driven episodes, today’s focus is on actionable principles, strategies, and tactics that top advisors are using right now.

Bill dives deep into what it means to be truly referable and remarkable, i.e., “worthy of remark” – exploring the vital difference between simply keeping clients happy and elevating your relationships to the level where clients enthusiastically introduce you to others.

You’ll hear real examples from standout advisors, learn about the game-changing 3 Rs of relationship marketing, and discover how targeting the right markets, building strong personal connections, and embracing your clients’ money beliefs can transform the growth and reputation of your practice.

Packed with concrete examples, episode references, and tested tools, this solo session is your roadmap to moving from incremental to exponential growth, cultivating a culture of introductions, and becoming the advisor everyone talks about.

Tune in for inspiration, insights, and practical steps you can start using today.

3 Top Takeaways

  • Being Referable Means Going Beyond Good Service: Bill Cates emphasizes that referability is about creating deeper engagement and trust with clients. It’s not just about solid financial planning; it’s about forming value connections and personal connections that turn clients into advocates.
  • Build a Clear Target Market and Reputation: Many top advisors cited in the episode have a well-defined target market, which makes their messaging more relevant, strengthens their reputation, and leads to more introductions. As Bill Cates points out, “vague intentions produce vague results; clear intentions produce clear results.”
  • Leverage Empathy & Money Stories: Helping clients explore and reframe their beliefs about money builds lasting relationships and positions you as a trusted advisor. Bill Cates shares how unpacking “broken money stories” brings a rich value to your clients that few advisors leverage. This strategy creates advocates and unsolicited referrals.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro, just starting out, or somewhere in between, these principles, strategies, and tactics are game changers for client acquisition and building a thriving practice.


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Ep. #6: Client Appreciation Events: Using Retirement Parties to Grow Your Business with Joe De Sena, CFP®



Retirement is such a major milestone in everyone’s life. And while there is no shortage of ideas for client appreciation events, retirement parties are definitely one worth considering. Hosting one of these unique client events not only helps financial advisors create client loyalty for life, it also provides an excellent opportunity for reaching new qualified prospects.

In this episode, Bill Cates interviews Joe De Sena, CFP®, MBA, private wealth advisor at Siena Wealth Advisory Group, about how Joe has leveraged this event marketing strategy to build and extremely successful financial practice. 

Bottom Line: Joe De Sena’s retirement parties yield new clients almost every time. These are not just “feel-good” events. These are business-building client engagement, client appreciation events. 

In this episode, Bill and Joe discuss: 

  • The success Joe has found in hosting retirement parties for his clients – to help him exceed the $1 billion in AUM mark.
  • What it truly looks like to organize these client appreciation events, whether they are virtual or in-person.
  • How retirement parties lead to appointments with qualified prospects right at the event – without asking for them.
  • Other events Joe’s firm has used to enhance client engagement.

Connect With Bill Cates:

Connect with Joe De Sena

About Our Guest:

Joe De Sena CFP®, MBA is a private wealth advisor at Siena Wealth Advisory Group. Joe has been a financial advisor for 27 years. Joe is passionate about protecting his clients and their families from the unexpected. Joe loves to travel, read, run marathons and do charity work.