Every salesperson has wrestled with the age-old question, “What’s the best way to get referrals?” Depending on how you’ve been trained, you might have a few different ways to answer. Many say “ask” or “ask the right way" or “make sure you’re planting referral seeds along the way to make it easier for someone to provide them to you” but I beg to differ. I have always found that the best way to get referrals is to be referrable. To me, there is only one way to be referrable in our industry: by creating a superior client experience that fosters stark raving fans.

I’ve given dozens of talks on the need for financial professionals to navigate the digital landscape effectively, and invariably the conversations veer into the arena of “what’s the newest, best tech to help me grow?” As a self-avowed tech junky, I am always obliged to engage in this conversation, because it’s a lot of fun to talk technology.

I’ve given dozens of talks on the need for financial professionals to navigate the digital landscape effectively, and invariably the conversations veer into the arena of “what’s the newest, best tech to help me grow?” As a self-avowed tech junky, I am always obliged to engage in this conversation, because it’s a lot of fun to talk technology. However, what most people don’t realize is that I do so significant hesitancy because, I am acutely aware of one thing that, as an outside-the-box thinker with ADD, I have to fight my inner tendency to want newer, cooler, better. I admit it - I like blowing the whole thing up and finding a better way of doing it! If you’re at all like me, suppressing that tendency can be challenging, especially since there seem to be new awesome apps, platforms, and digital tools popping up every single day.

Practicing good social media etiquette is critical in the digital economy

Raise your hand if you like getting solicited from random strangers. Strange, I don’t see anyone’s hand raised.