I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Dobson, an estate-planning attorney from Los Angeles. She had this advice for financial services professionals who want to win referrals from estate-planning attorneys:

Are you using video to connect with prospects, clients, referrals, and potential alliances? Did you know that a website...

FOUR QUICK HIT REFERRAL IDEAS by Bill Cates Every time I host a Referral Champions Boot Camp, I walk away with great ideas from the attendees - and the latest camp was no excep...

GIVE A lsquo;THANK YOU' GIFT by Bill Cates Giving a Thank You gift is a simple strategy that will have people saying good things about you and generating ong...

HERE'S HOW TO REACH THOSE HARD-TO-GET REFERRALS by Bill Cates Here's a little strategy that you're going to love, because it's so easy to use and so effective. I got this from ...

When choosing a Health insurance program, it's all too easy to drown in an alphabet soup of acronyms -- everything from ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) to WHRN (Whole Health Resources Networks).

HOW DO YOU HANDLE CLIENT COMPLAINTS? by Bill Cates In this extended hard market, the chances of having a client complain to you have increased. Although I assume that you work hard to ...

HOW GOOD IS YOUR COMPETITION? A Competitive Position Analysis Agencies can benefit from comparing themselves to their closest competitors: other independent agents, direct writers, even b...

In 1976, 12 insurance executives spent a day trying to pinpoint the reasons for their success. Their large insurance agency had doubled in size over the last three years. The company's employees had worked hard to achieve a high rate of referrals and were aggressive in their roles as producers. But what factors led to their astonishing success? How did they attract a client? And most of all, what made each client buy and renew year after year?

HOW TO BE A HIGH-PERFORMING FIRM by Catherine Oak, CIC, AAI The more effectively you sell, market, and service, the more valuable your agency. ...