Designations & Your Real Estate Web Site

Furthering your education is a great way to learn new skills, and keep up-to-date. The completion of many classes results in a designation or certificate like Accredited Buyer’s Representative / ABR®, and  NAR’s Green Designation / GREEN or the Short Sales & Foreclosure Resource / SFR®. Many state real estate organizations offer their own classes and designations.

According to the National Association of Realtors, realtors with designations enjoy as much as $27,600 additional annual income over realtors without them. Small wonder they’re so popular even though they take some real time and effort to earn!

In almost all instances, when you graduate from such a class you’re issued a designation logo, or symbol that you can put on your business cards, advertising and, of course, your website.

Real estate designations build trust

There’s no doubt about it, the designations you earn certify that you’ve made the effort to become an expert in that or those real estate niches. That’s why they often result in higher income. You’re right to feel proud of them displaying them on your website only makes sense.

iHOUSE makes it easy. Go into your profile, choose the Designations tab. There you will find many of the most popular designations. You’ll also find logos for the Better Business Bureau and other organizations that signify you’re trustworthy.

Simply check off the designations you’re entitled to use, and those will automatically be displayed at the bottom of your site and listed on your About Me page.

If you’ve earned a state designation that isn’t listed, the chances are you’re entitled to make a copy and upload it to your site.

There is, however, even more you can do.

Clients don’t understand designations well

Your clients and potential clients probably recognize that your designations mean something good about you, but if asked for more information, the chances are they couldn’t be specific.

Yet it’s the subject matter you learned that makes you a more valuable agent. You want your customers to understand that you are specially qualified in that topic.

Of course some of the designation logos do define themselves fairly well. I think most people would understand that NAR’s e-PRO® designation means you know how to put technology to work for both you and your client.

But what about designations like MRP (Military Relocation Professional), RSPS (Resort and Second-Home Property Specialist) ,and BPOR (Broker Price Opinion Resource)?  These and others are a bit obscure. The same is true for many of the state designations.

Educate your clients

You can do yourself and your clients a big favor by defining the designations you use. Your iHOUSE website is an ideal place to do just that.

You can add a definition to each designation on your About Me page – add through the page’s edit function.

Defining your certifications on your iHOUSE blog as well is also a good idea.  Give each designation it’s own post. Define it, sure, but do a bit more. For example you could:

• Talk a bit about what the class was like.
• Describe why you decided to go for that designation rather than any other.
• Highlight what you learned, focusing on what your customer would want to know.
• Tell a story about how that designation helped you help a client.
• Take a picture of yourself that somehow represents the designation. Maybe a particular property, or you doing some action, like using a computer.

Each of these ideas, and many more, give you the opportunity to give your clients some insight into you and your skills. You’re showing a bit of your commitment to your profession and a bit of your own personality – an ideal situation.

How have you used your real estate designations to attract and reassure clients?  Answer this or ask a question in comments and I’ll do my best to get it answered.