Bill Cates is the Founder of Referral Coach International, a company that helps professionals grow their business by generating referrals and personal introductions through proven relationship marketing systems. He is a bestselling author of several books on referrals and business growth, including Get More Referrals Now and Radical Relevance. Bill has spent over 25 years helping thousands of financial professionals and business owners move from incremental to exponential growth by improving client engagement and communication. He also hosts the Top Advisor Podcast and founded The Cates Academy for Relationship Marketing.

Many professionals struggle to grow through referrals without feeling awkward, pushy, or inauthentic. At the same time, deeply held money beliefs — often shaped by fear or scarcity — can quietly sabotage both personal finances and client relationships. How can leaders overcome these hidden barriers to build trust, growth, and lasting wealth?

Bill Cates, a referral expert, bestselling author, and coach to financial advisors, explains that referrals still dominate how people choose advisors — but only when handled with empathy and intention. He emphasizes shifting from asking to creating natural introductions, planting referral seeds through service, and aligning growth strategies with how clients want to connect. Bill also highlights the importance of understanding money mindsets, recognizing the emotional stories behind financial decisions, and transforming fear-driven behaviors into confident actions through education and awareness.

In this episode of The Customer Wins podcast, Richard Walker interviews Bill Cates, Founder of Referral Coach International, about growth through referrals, money mindset, and client trust. Bill discusses why introductions outperform leads, how scarcity thinking affects advisors, and how storytelling can reshape beliefs about money.

Chirag Gandhi is the Co-founder and CEO of Mili, an AI-powered platform that automates administrative workflows for financial advisors, helping them save time and focus on client relationships. Under his leadership, Mili has raised funding and expanded its enterprise AI platform in the wealth management space. Chirag previously worked in venture capital and growth equity, where he helped raise and manage significant investment funds, gaining deep experience in financial services. Before founding Mili, he held roles in investment firms and served as an angel investor supporting early-stage startups.

Financial advisors are overwhelmed by administrative work, fragmented systems, and rising expectations to adopt AI — without compromising compliance or client trust. Many teams experiment with AI tools, only to find they don't fit real workflows or create new risks. How can firms use AI to save time and scale impact without losing control?

Chirag Gandhi, a fintech entrepreneur and AI systems expert, explains how advisory firms can apply AI in practical, compliant ways by focusing on workflow-specific automation. He emphasizes starting with meetings as a data source, using real-time note structuring, and integrating deeply with existing systems rather than layering generic tools. Chirag also shares why safe design choices, human-in-the-loop oversight, and clarity on build-versus-buy decisions are critical to making AI actually work in regulated environments.

In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Chirag Gandhi, Co-founder and CEO of Mili, about applying agentic AI in financial services. Chirag discusses designing compliant AI systems, deciding when to build versus buy AI tools, and how agents can automate tasks while preserving human relationships.

Ellen Rogin is a CPA, CFP, and financial intuitive at Create Great, a company dedicated to helping people transform their relationship with money and build lasting prosperity. She combines decades of experience as a traditional financial advisor with her intuitive insights to guide clients toward greater financial confidence and abundance. Ellen is a New York Times bestselling author and sought-after speaker whose work has been featured on major media outlets and helps individuals and entrepreneurs reshape their money mindset. Her approach focuses on easing money stress, expanding wealth potential, and empowering people to use money as a force for good.

Many people believe that earning more money will automatically reduce stress and create happiness, yet financial anxiety often persists no matter how much income grows. Deep-rooted money beliefs formed early in life can quietly drive worry, overwork, and dissatisfaction. How can individuals change their relationship with money so that it feels supportive and empowering rather than stressful?

Ellen Rogin, a CPA, CFP, and financial intuitive, explains that lasting financial well-being starts with awareness of money beliefs and emotional patterns, not just numbers. She encourages noticing the language people use around money, replacing worry with clarity, and questioning beliefs like money must be hard to earn. Ellen also highlights practical steps such as journaling for insight, balancing generosity with self-care, and using intuition alongside logic to make aligned financial decisions.

In this episode of The Customer Wins, Richard Walker interviews Ellen Rogin, financial intuitive at Create Great, about transforming one's relationship with money. Ellen discusses financial intuition, reshaping money beliefs, and the impact of generosity, while also exploring ancestral money patterns, mindful language, and her four-step prosperity framework.