At the beginning of this month, Nick Van Assche wrote a FEATURED BLOG POST about the e-Pro Designation and its value. During the 100+ Comment barage, the conversation turned from a specific designation to a generalized conversation about all designations.
Comments such as..... "Viewed through the eyes of your customers, what value does any designation bring? Apparently, not much.".......began to fly.
I do not claim myself to be an expert in the validity of any form of education. However, I do claim everyone's right to express their opinion about the effectiveness of designations.
Whatever your opinion, it is correct! If you think you are going to fail, you're probably going to fail. If you think you're going to be a success, you're probably going to be a success.
Here's the point! Life is what you make it! That includes DESIGNATIONS!
Viewed through the eyes of customers, do designations bring value to a real estate transaction?
Let me ask a question in return! Should we not be talking about the benefits of obtaining a designation? Shouldn't this forum be used as a way for us to improve our industry and how those perceive us as real estate licensees?
When I first started in real estate, I was sure about one thing. I NEEDED SOME TRAINING! The licensing classes only taught how to pass the state exam and how to avoid complaints from being filed at the real estate commission.
These classes didn't address how to build a business or service a client. Where do you get this training? Are their non-designation classes that provide some of this information? Yes..........
ESPECIALLY AT KELLER WILLIAMS UNIVERSITY (shameless plug)!
However, let's not discount the value of designation classes.
Within nine months of obtaining my license, I obtained my ABR Designation. The three days of classes helped me develop business plans for attracting and servicing buyers. Plus, I am still in touch with some of my ABR classmates that work in other areas of the country. Can we agree that networking is important in our real estate business?
Within nine months after obtaining my ABR Designation, I earned my CRS Designation.
The CRS materials helped me look at real estate sales AS A BUSINESS and how to provide exceptional service to my seller clients! The CRS classes also gave me a huge level of confidence. It's not a matter of if I'm going to get the listing; it's if I want to take it.
Do the letters behind your name make a difference to home buyers and sellers? Who knows?
Here's the bigger question. Should we be educating ourselves to obtain letters behind our name or to provide the best service possible to our clientele?
Education should be used to enhance the real estate experience of our clients and not just to attract them.
I'm sure that our clients will appreciate it!
From the author of The Patterson Files
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