Building on what you learned in the previous session, we will continue discussing conversational selling skills and how to convert prospective clients into official clients. This time we will focus on the “it factor” and how to get “it” by polishing your communication skills and presenting the most attractive (and authentic) public persona possible. This session will drill into:

• What is a personal brand and why it matters
• How perceptions shape choices
• Using intentionally crafted visuals and words to build rapport and trust
• How body language and confidence factor in

Homework Assignment for Session #3: Consider what the panelists said and come to session #3 prepared to share your additional insights with the group.

Bob Veres is an entertaining futurist for the profession, author of The New Profession, and a top source anywhere for the most relevant thoughts, ideas, experiments, and practical tips about how to meet the bright future of the profession on its own terms. He is editor and publisher of the Inside Information (www.BobVeres.com) interactive guide to trends and innovations in the profession and co-produces the Insider’s Forum conference for independent financial advisory firms.

Over his 30-year career in the financial services world, Veres has worked as editor of Financial Planning magazine; as a contributing editor to the Journal of Financial Planning; as a columnist and editor-at-large of Investment Advisor magazine; and as editor of Morningstar’s advisor web site. Veres has been named one of the most influential people in the financial planning profession by Investment Advisor magazine and Financial Planning magazine, and he was granted the Special Achievement Award for service to the profession by NAPFA, and the Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award from the Denver-based FPA.

George Kinder

Author, thought leader, and life planning pioneer George Kinder has been at the forefront of the financial services industry for over 35 years. One of the first 60 members of NAPFA, Kinder is passionate about the fiduciary nature of the fee-only movement. He developed a training methodology 25 years ago for what he felt was the most fiduciary way of conducting relationships between advisors and clients, spearheading a movement that centers the lives that clients long to live within their financial plan.

Kinder has trained thousands of professionals globally in the mindfulness-based field of financial life planning. He founded the Kinder Institute of Life Planning (www.KinderInstitute.com) in 2003 to experientially teach advisors the skills necessary to developing trusting relationships with their clients, leading to the Registered Life Planner® designation. His three books on money, The Seven Stages of Money Maturity (1999), Lighting the Torch (2006), and Life Planning for You (2014), are considered essential works in the field of financial life planning for both professionals and consumers.

Edward Kramer CFP^®

Edward (Eddie) W. Kramer, II, CFP®, assists high net-worth clients in four primary areas: wealth accumulation, wealth preservation, wealth distribution (tax-efficient retirement income strategies), and wealth transfer (tax-efficient estate planning for family and charitable causes). Kramer’s professional experience as boutique Fee-Only financial advisory investment counsel at Abacus Planning Group, Inc., as well as with large-scale wealth management and trust services at USAA Wealth Management, gave him unique insight into two vastly different business models and broadened his understanding of the financial services industry. He is in the process of setting up a Fee-Only financial advisory firm in Texas that will focus on helping individuals, families, and businesses through a community bank setting.

Kramer is the past president and chairman of the Texas Tech University Personal Financial Planning Alumni Advisory Board. He was honored by Financial Advisor Magazine as one of "10 Young Advisors to Watch" for his role in creating a culture of business development. In addition, he made the InvestmentNews “40 Under 40” list.

Meg Bartelt, CFP^®, RLP^® 

Meg Bartelt, CFP^®, RLP^®, is the founder of Flow Financial Planning, LLC (www.FlowFP.com), a fee-only, virtual financial planning firm dedicated to women in their early- to mid-careers in tech. The firm specializes in pre-IPO and IPO planning and not making people feel bad about their finances. Meg received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Wellesley College and a master's degree in Financial Planning from Golden Gate University. She is a Certified Financial Planner™ professional, a Registered Life Planner®, and a member of the Financial Planning Association and the XY Planning Network.

Bartelt has been profiled/quoted by the Journal of Financial Planning, Morningstar Advisor, Kitces.com, Kiplinger, and more. The years before Flow featured a career change from tech, one wedding, two kids, and two cross-country moves. She, her family, and Julia the dog now live and wear fleece in Bellingham, WA.

Marie Swift, moderator

Marie Swift is President and CEO of Impact Communications, a full-service marketing communications firm that works solely within the financial services industry. Prior to establishing Impact Communications in 1993, she served as Director of Corporate Communications for a group independent financial advisors in California. Marie is in demand as a speaker at conferences for financial services professionals and is a prolific writer.