Are Designations and Certifications Important?

Should real estate agents be concerned about securing special certifications to become more appealing to clients?

I always used the fact that I was a broker (and not a sales associate), and that I had certain designations, which allowed me to differentiate myself from other REALTORS®, and provided a little material for a conversation about the industry with my clients. 

One day, I received the following message from my youngest daughter (41 years old).

How important do you think it is that we find a REALTOR® with an “official designation” of being a “Buyers Rep,” designated by NAR when we look for a house here?

An acquaintance of mine who moved to Florida highly recommended her REALTOR®. So I just contacted her today. I haven’t made any plans to see any houses or anything yet. Then I thought to look this up, and she’s not on the list for being an official NAR “Buyer’s Rep.” She is an official REALTOR® though.

There are some local REALTORS® who do have the designation of “Buyer’s Rep” who work in my area. Do you think I should just contact one of them instead of this other REALTOR® my friend recommended?

As she was telling me about her beginning search, she mentioned that she liked REALTOR.com. But she didn’t like them much in the past because she said, it was not user-friendly, and preferred Zillow. Yesterday she was very positive about how she found REALTOR.com has changed. I was glad to hear this from her as it backed up what I've seen happen over the past years with the REALTOR.com website.

Clearly, my daughter considered certain designations important, as a real estate agent, perhaps you should too.