Have you earned multiple designations and you’re not sure how to list them in your email signature or marketing materials? There’s no official way that you must list your designations, and you don’t necessarily need to include them all in every communication. The first designation listed may be the only one people notice, so make sure you’re smart about its placement.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
The GRI
If you’ve earned the prestigious Graduate, REALTOR® Institute designation, you can put it before all others to show you’ve had in-depth industry training covering legal issues, professional standards, and sales.
The Specialty Designation
List designations most relevant to your specialty and intended audience. For example, if you specialize in helping seniors, list your SRES first.
You can also create different signatures to use depending on who you are communicating with. If you’re contacting a prospective residential buyer, use the signature that lists your Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR) designation and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS).
The Texas-Specific Certification
Texans love Texas, and they’ll be especially interested to know if you’ve got qualifications that are specific to the state.
The Potpourri Designations
Some designations may be easier to place than others. For those that don’t have a clear spot, try sorting them alphabetically, by the dates you earned them, or the order in which you’d prefer to explain them to prospects and clients.
I acquired my GRI in 1989 and I discovered the content boosted my education for sales. I strongly suggest this designation. I also have the Certified Residential Specialist Designation and it has proven to be a good referral base and many education offerings.
The designations are a well kept secret to the public. They have never heard of them or what they mean. I’ve spent time and money to take what I consider necessary to better serve my clients. I have never seen any of the Associations to which I belong or pay dues every have a campaign to educate the public
Doris you are right, the public has no idea what those designations mean and we spend a ton of money to achieve them. Other than we like to be educated, I can’t imagine they get agents to take those courses at those costs for it to make no difference to clients. Money would be better spent on marketing.
CRS does a fair job of trying to promote to the consumer thru rider signs and brochures explaining the difference from a non CRS agent versus one that has the designation.
Good thing to know! Thanks as always!🙏