Certified Real Estate Lead Specialist
An online lead generation and conversion course and certification for real estate agents.
Respond faster, follow up longer and convert more of your leads.
About the CRLS
What the Certified Real Estate Lead Specialist covers
The Certified Real Estate Lead Specialist designation teaches you to turn contacts into appointments and appointments into clients. You will build a response routine for new inquiries, a referral system that keeps your sphere and past clients close, and a respectful approach to expired listings and for-sale-by-owner sellers that follows do-not-call and consent rules. You will also design follow-up that continues for months when a lead is not ready, and a weekly schedule that protects time for prospecting alongside client work. It suits newer agents building a business from scratch and established agents whose pipeline rises and falls with the seasons.
Why it matters
Why agents earn the CRLS
Because buyers now sign a written agreement before touring and sellers often interview more than one agent, the earliest conversations decide who gets hired, and an agent who responds well and follows up consistently earns commitments that others let drift away.
Who it is for
Is this designation right for you?
- Newer agents building a pipeline from their first contacts
- Agents whose business swings between busy and empty months
- Agents who want to prospect expireds and FSBOs respectfully
- Agents with a large sphere but few referrals from it
The curriculum
What you will learn
4 units, each with a practice quiz and a hands-on assignment, then the final exam. The topics they cover:
Responding to new inquiries
A quick, personal first reply for every inquiry source, with questions that move the conversation toward a meeting.
Your sphere and referral engine
Organizing past clients and personal contacts into a regular, useful touch plan that makes referring you easy.
Expired and FSBO prospecting
Approaching expired listings and owners selling on their own with value, while following do-not-call, consent, and calling-hour rules.
Follow-up systems that last
Building long-term follow-up in your CRM so not-ready leads keep hearing from you until they are ready.
From conversation to commitment
Moving buyers to a written agreement before touring and sellers to a listing appointment with clear, honest explanations.
A weekly routine and time blocks
Protecting regular prospecting and follow-up time on your calendar alongside showings, paperwork, and client calls.
The payoff
What you will be able to do
- Answer new inquiries quickly with a personal, specific first message
- Run a year-round touch plan for your sphere and past clients
- Prospect expired and FSBO sellers within do-not-call and consent rules
- Keep long-term leads in a follow-up system that never stalls
- Block weekly time for prospecting and keep that time consistently
In practice
What the CRLS looks like in your business
Calling an expired listing the right way
A listing in your area expired overnight, and you want to reach the owner before a crowd of other agents does. Before you dial, you check the number against the National Do Not Call Registry and your brokerage's internal do-not-call list, and you confirm your state's calling-hour and consent rules, which may be stricter than the federal ones. If the number is on a list, you send a letter or drop off a short note instead. When you do reach the owner, you skip the pitch. You ask what they think kept the home from selling and listen, because frustrated sellers want to be understood before they want a new agent. You offer to show them what similar homes did differently, and you set a time to meet. If they relist with their previous agent, you thank them and stop calling.
A past client's home anniversary
Two years ago you helped a couple buy their first home, and the anniversary of their closing falls next week. Your CRM reminds you, and you already have notes on what they cared about: the yard, a shorter commute, and a kitchen they planned to remodel. You send a short message asking how the remodel went and attach a simple summary of what nearby homes have sold for recently, without asking for anything. They reply with photos and mention that a coworker is starting to look at homes. You thank them, ask whether the coworker would welcome a call, and reach out only with that permission. Afterward, you send a handwritten thank-you note. The course treats your sphere as a relationship system with dates, notes, and genuine reasons to be in touch, rather than a mailing list you remember when business slows down.
Guarding the weekly prospecting block
You have set aside Tuesday and Thursday mornings for prospecting and follow-up, and early on Tuesday a client asks to see a house at ten. The block is about to disappear, as it did last week. You check whether the showing can move to the afternoon, and usually it can. When it cannot, you move the block to a specific slot later that week rather than skipping it. Inside the block, you work from a list prepared the evening before: three past clients to call, two expired owners to write to, and the leads whose follow-up dates have arrived. You track conversations held, not time spent, so you can see whether the routine is producing appointments. The course helps you build a calendar that matches how real estate days actually unfold, with the flexibility to move a block instead of losing it.
Who earns it
Who earns the CRLS and why it pays off
CRLS is for agents who want a steady pipeline they can explain and repeat. Newer agents earn it to build their first business on more than luck, which is why it sits on the New Agent Path. Experienced agents use it when referrals have thinned or a busy year left their sphere neglected. Team leaders use it to give every agent the same response and follow-up standard, so leads are handled consistently whoever receives them. The designation also changes how prospects experience you. A homeowner whose listing expired hears from an agent who asks thoughtful questions and respects their wishes, and a buyer who meets you early gets a clear explanation of the written agreement before any tour. Lenders and other agents who send referrals notice when those contacts are reached promptly and kept informed. CRLS pairs naturally with the Certified Social Media Marketing Pro designation, which starts conversations, and with the Certified Buyer Consultation Specialist designation, which turns a new buyer conversation into a signed representation relationship.
Licensing, CE credit and NAR
The Certified Real Estate Lead Specialist is an independent designation from ACI. It is not a real estate license, it does not authorize any activity that requires one, and it does not count toward state continuing-education requirements. ACI is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). No NAR designation covers this exact niche of lead response, referral systems, and direct prospecting. The course is not legal guidance on telemarketing or messaging law: it teaches you to check federal Do Not Call rules, consent requirements, and your state's limits before you call or text. CRLS is completed online at your own pace, ends with an exam that includes written answers read by a person, and is renewed each year with a short update.
What is included
Every ACI designation includes
- Scenario-based lessons built around real transactions and client conversations
- Copy-and-use scripts, checklists, and templates you can apply this week
- A final exam with written answers read by a real marker, not just a click-through quiz
- A printable certificate plus a verifiable digital badge
- Post-nominal letters you can add to your name and marketing
The process
How it works
Enroll online
Get instant access to the CRLS coursework. No scheduling, no classroom.
Learn at your pace
4 practical, scenario-based units with practice quizzes and hands-on assignments.
Pass the exam
Multiple choice plus short written answers, read by a person. 2 attempts included.
Earn your designation
Receive your CRLS certificate, a shareable badge, and a public verification page.
30-day money-back guarantee
Enroll with confidence. If a designation is not right for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No forms, no hassle.
Two exam attempts are included with every designation, and if you need another we add it at no extra cost.
Your CRLS certificate
- 1A full US Letter certificate in your name, as a print-ready PDF and an image for your website and listings.
- 2Dated the day you pass and valid for 12 months, with a verification ID anyone can check on our public register.
- 3Renewed each year with a short update on what changed and a ten-question check ($29, or free with All-Access). You get a re-dated certificate and badge.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is the Certified Real Estate Lead Specialist designation affiliated with NAR?+
No. The Certified Real Estate Lead Specialist is an independent designation from Agent Certification Institute. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Association of REALTORS. It confirms that you completed our lead conversion and prospecting training and passed the final exam, and it appears on a public verification page anyone can check.
Are there prerequisites for CRLS?+
No. CRLS suits agents at any stage, and it is part of the New Agent Path because a steady pipeline is usually the first problem a new agent faces. Experienced agents use it to rebuild a referral system or add expired and FSBO prospecting. You need only an active real estate practice, or one about to begin, and a willingness to apply the routines each week.
Does CRLS cover buying leads or running ads?+
Not in depth. CRLS focuses on what happens once a contact exists: response, follow-up, referrals, and direct prospecting. Choosing lead vendors and running paid ads sit outside its scope. Agents who want to create more conversations through content and video usually pair it with the Certified Social Media Marketing Pro designation, which also covers advertising rules and fair housing in ads.
Does CRLS cover texting and automated follow-up?+
Yes, as part of building follow-up systems. The course looks at when a text is appropriate, how to keep automated sequences sounding personal, and why consent matters before you text anyone or use automated dialing. Federal and state rules on calls and texts change over time and can carry serious penalties, so the course teaches you to confirm current rules with your brokerage before launching any automated campaign.
How does CRLS handle FSBO sellers who say they do not want an agent?+
It treats that as a real position to respect, not an objection to overcome. The course shows how to offer something useful, such as information on recent nearby sales or a list of questions to raise with their attorney or title company, without pressure. Some owners later decide they want help, and they tend to remember the agent who was courteous. If an owner asks you not to contact them again, you record it and stop.
Is CRLS useful for agents who already run on referrals?+
Often, yes. Referral-based agents tend to rely on memory and goodwill, which works until a busy season pushes the sphere aside. CRLS gives that business structure: a touch plan with dates and notes, a comfortable way to ask for introductions, and prompt handling of every referral so the person who sent it looks good. The expired and FSBO material then gives you a second source of business for slower seasons.
How long does it take?+
It is self-paced and fully online: 4 units, each a solid evening of reading plus a practice quiz and a short assignment you do in your own business. Most agents finish over a week or two. Written exam answers are marked within two business days.
Is it verifiable?+
Yes. Every CRLS holder gets a public verification page and a shareable digital badge for LinkedIn, your bio, and your email signature.
How long is it valid?+
Your CRLS certificate is dated the day you pass and is valid for 12 months, and your badge shows the years it is current for. A month before it lapses we email you. Renewing means reading that year's short update on what changed for CRLS holders and answering ten multiple-choice questions, for $29; you then get a re-dated certificate and badge. All-Access members renew free.
Is there a guarantee?+
Yes. Enroll with confidence. If a designation is not right for you, email us within 30 days for a full refund. No forms, no hassle. Two exam attempts are included with every designation, and if you need another we add it at no extra cost.
Can I get this and others for one price?+
Yes. The all-access membership unlocks CRLS and every other designation for $199 a year, and saves $1450 against buying the catalog one at a time.
Be first in when the CRLS opens
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Guides for agents
Part of a learning path
CRLS is one step in these paths: a suggested set of designations, in the order an agent tends to need them.
