Bill Cates
Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE, is the President of Referral Coach International and the author of Get More Referrals Now , Beyond Referrals , and Radical Relevance . He is the founder of The Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing(tm) , as well as the host of the popular podcast www.TopAdvisorPodcast.com . Bill is offering PowerAdvice readers a complimentary guide www.MultiplyYourBestClients.com . For over 25 years, Bill has helped financial professionals move from incremental growth to exponential growth by communicating more compelling value and multiplying their best clients. Thousands of financial advisors are using Bill's Relationship Marketing System(tm) to enhance client engagement, create more effective personal introductions, and communicate more relevant and compelling value. Plus, Bill has coached some of the most successful advisors in our industry. Before starting his current business, Bill built and sold two successful book publishing companies. Bill is also the founding member and leader of the Million Dollar Speakers Group. In 2010, Bill was inducted into the prestigious Professional Speakers Hall of Fame (with such members as Ronald Reagan and Colin Powell). A highly sought-after international speaker, Bill Cates has spoken at the prestigious Million Dollar Round Table six times, including the main platform in the United States, Korea, Malaysia, Australia, and India. Learn more here .
Articles by Bill Cates
- Practice Growth
Why the Best Advisors Will Build Bionic Practices — Not Artificial Ones
I think a better question is this: If everybody has access to the same technology, how am I going to stand out?
- Practice Growth
Getting More Referrals Starts With Something Surprisingly Small
So, here’s one of the simplest ways to turn those quieter clients into highly effective advocates.
- Practice Growth
Referrals Aren’t Dead. Bad Referral Strategies Are.
And thanks to AI, half the content on the internet sounds like it was co-authored by an intern working with a robot at 2 o’clock in the morning.
- Practice Growth
Referrals Don’t Happen by Accident—They’re Designed Through Client Experience
Feel natural, but NOT accidental. It’s a crucial distinction that could transform the quality and quantity of clients you attract.
- Practice Growth
Most Advisors Miss This: The First 90 Days That Drive Future Referrals
It’s a chance to deepen engagement and make yourself not only indispensable, but genuinely referable.
- Practice Growth
You Can Make More Money—You Can’t Make More Time
As advisors, we optimize portfolios… and we often waste hours. Let’s INVEST the next couple of minutes to develop a new take on time.
- Practice Growth
Make Referrals Feel Natural: Strategy That Gets You Shared More Often
You want to be flexible. So, here’s one of the simplest ways to turn those quieter clients into highly effective advocates.
- Practice Growth
Clients Do Care Who You Are but Only After You Earn It
They SAY that your clients don’t care about your story. I think that advice is incomplete and it could be costing you the trust
- Practice Growth
Advisors Are Wasting Prime Website Real Estate
Think of it as the billboard for your website. It won’t tell your entire story. It shouldn’t try. But it does have a very important job.
- Practice Growth
5-Second Test That Exposes Weak Advisor Headlines
Think of it as the billboard for your website. It won’t tell your entire story. It shouldn’t try. But it does have a very important job.
- Practice Growth
You Managed Everything … Except This Moment That Costs You Clients
Most trusted voice in the room and 96% are at least open to replacing you at the biggest liquidity event of their lives. What’s up with that?
- Practice Growth
Visual Roadmaps That Move Prospects Across the Bridge
Sometimes the biggest growth opportunity isn’t finding more prospects, it’s making it easier for the right ones to move forward.
- Practice Growth
Advisors Who Earn Steady Referrals Share These Three Traits
Look at the highest-performing referral pros across decades, firms, and business models, three common denominators show up every single time.
- Practice Growth
Clients Who Can Explain Your Value Become Your Best Advocates
I want to expand on this concept of getting your clients to speak the value aloud and apply it to a strategy that will make you even more referable
- Practice Growth
Grow Your Practice by Helping Clients Leave a Legacy
Jeffrey has elevated strategic philanthropy to a fine art, and in doing so, unlocked a powerful pipeline of wealthy clients.
- Practice Growth
Stop Chasing Prospects. Start Attracting the Right Ones with a Clear, Credible Message
Cut Through the Noise: Transform Your Marketing Message
- Practice Growth
Why Clients Panic, Freeze, or Self-Sabotage—and How Neuroscience Helps Advisors Respond
How the latest neuroscience insights can transform the way you work with your clients – as well as understanding your own money on the brain.
- Practice Growth
How Julia Carlson ‘Fired Herself’ To Build an 8-Figure Advisory Firm
How she grew her practice from scratch, building a dynamic team and eventually stepping into a visionary leadership role yes, firing herself in the process
- Practice Growth
7 AI-Powered Referral Strategies Top Advisors Swear By
Not yet be able to ask for introductions in a truly human, authentic way, but it can lend a hand to make your referral process smarter and more efficient.
- Research
How Your Brain Shapes Your Advice: Neuroscience Strategies To Build Trust and Ease Client Anxiety
Your clients’ brains – as well as YOUR brain – that offers insight into the way we think, feel, and act around money.
- Practice Growth
Why ‘Great Service’ No Longer Wins Clients: The New Rules of Deep Financial Advisor Engagement
Why empathy, thoughtful communication, and personalized experiences are now the keys to standing out – to attract and retain ideal clients.
- Practice Growth
How to Become the ‘First Call’ Advisor: Lessons from Guiding the World’s Wealthiest Families
What can financial advisors learn from those guiding the world’s wealthiest and most complex families?
- Practice Growth
If You Own the Problem, You Own the Business: What Top Advisors Do Differently
How clarity of purpose, the right words, and emotional connection can transform an advisor’s business and make competitors irrelevant.
- Practice Growth
Why Your Referral Machine Stalled — And How To Restart It for Consistent Growth
One that’s authentic, intentional, and repeatable, is what creates consistent growth and steady introductions to right-fit clients.
- Practice Growth
Michael Kitces Reveals What Actually Works for Financial Advisors Today
How do today’s top advisors cut through the noise, establish credibility, and attract clients in a way that actually works?
- Practice Growth
The Real Money Thieves: How Limiting Beliefs Rob You Blind
The real danger came from an invisible thief that had been holding one of my fellow hostages captive long before we stepped foot in that bank
- Practice Growth
Women Will Soon Control Most U.S. Wealth. Is Your Practice Ready?
How the financial industry has historically overlooked women clients and what needs to change to better serve and retain them.
- Practice Growth
How Relationship-First Advisors Are Building More Sustainable Practices
They came to you through one undeniable fact: human-to-human connection still drives this business.
- Practice Growth
Is Your Digital Marketing Strategy Wasting Time and Money?
Where to focus your time, energy, and marketing dollars, the answer is both old-school and profoundly human: building trust, one relationship at a time.
- Practice Growth
How Elite Advisors Build Momentum—Insights From David DeCelle
David shares actionable insights on scaling your business effectively while maintaining passion and enthusiasm.
- Practice Growth
29 Proven Benefits of Keeping in Touch With Clients and Prospects
Whether it’s a serious check-in on their portfolio or a light-hearted birthday wish, it all adds up to trust, loyalty, and a stronger connection.
- Opinion
How to Exit Your Business and Maximize What You Walk Away With
Imagine spending decades building your advisory practice, only to be disappointed when it comes time to sell. #advisors
- Practice Growth
Why Going Niche Is the Smartest Way to Scale Fast
The wider the marketing net you cast, the less relevant and effective your messaging becomes. #advisors #niche #growth
- Practice Growth
Why Digital Trust Is the New Currency for Client Growth
It’s no surprise that advisors may literally be the last industry to embrace online reviews as a powerful tool for social proof. #growth
- Future of Advice
America’s Wealth Tsunami Is Here—Will You Catch It or Get Crushed?
Boomers aren’t sprinting to the endzone they’re strolling there, and they’re carrying roughly $84 trillion in assets with them. #Boomers
- Future of Advice
The Next Wave: Key Trends Reshaping Financial Advising and Practice Growth with Ric Edelman
Early in your career or an industry veteran, Ric’s perspective will challenge and inspire you to think bigger, act bolder, and adapt smarter.