RPR Handles Membership Dues Calls, Freeing up ORRA Staff to Focus on Member Growth
When the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association (ORRA) looked to an outside vendor to help them process annual dues calls and emails, they found help in a surprising source: Realtors Property Resource (RPR). RPR’s Omaha Member Support Center handles customer service and 24-hour assistance for its digital property data platform, which includes nearly one million REALTOR® users.
Beginning in 2019, RPR recognized that it had one of the only true REALTOR®-centric member support centers in the industry. As inquiries came in from partners, RPR made the decision to expand its services and is now able to assist or completely service a full range of member support duties for other real estate-focused entities, such as NAR programs and designations, and local/state REALTOR® Associations.
“Partnering with our RPR Member Support Center offers an incredible value to a growing list of real estate organizations and associations”, explains RPR’s COO and General Manager Jeff Young. “When RPR is engaged with members on their support needs, it allows our partners to free up staff time for even more critical issues and program support, benefitting their members across the board.”
Ashley Wheeler, ORRA’s VP of Membership Services and Development, agrees. “We set a new record of early bird renewals in August with a total 4,951 renewals! Between dues renewals and record breaking membership applications, there’s just so much going on every day. For RPR to be first in line to assist with those phone calls, to lighten the load on my staff’s plate, is HUGE.”
RPR Call Center helps ORRA members pay their annual dues
Tapping into RPR’s Member Support team for dues processing frees up Ashley and her team to concentrate their attention on one thing: their members. “With this extra time, our team has innovated quite a bit. In fact, we’re in the process of revamping our onboarding system. We now have one staff member dedicated to personally calling every single new member to welcome them, onboard them, and conduct orientations.
Ashley continues, “We couldn’t have ever done that a couple of years ago. We’re now able to offer more personal one-on-one connections, yet with less staff. At ORRA, members are not just a NAR member number, but a person with a purpose. The RPR Member Support Center helps us do that.”
Convenience and communication
Besides the benefit of not having their members call and get a robot, ORRA members were also afforded more opportunities to reach a live member support representative. The RPR’s Member Support Center is available, 7AM-10PM CDT, Mon-Friday and also offers both weekend and overnight support, effectively running 24/7, 365 days a year, including holidays.
This availability has redefined convenience for Ashley and her staff, “Hearing a member say they couldn't get through during normal business hours was very frustrating for us to hear. But now, to have them be able to reach a human who can answer their questions, is fantastic. Plus, the team in Omaha has industry insight and knowledge, and we didn’t have to train them. They ran before they could walk!”
Ashley wraps up her RPR Member Support experience by saying, “From day one, the entire team we’ve worked with at RPR has been incredible. The forward communication is top notch. I get reports every day. And to go with those daily reports, I get peace of mind every day.
As a leader, working with the RPR team has made my team more effective and more attentive in their day to day responsibilities. We have also been able to invest time in the team’s professional growth, and that is a great feeling.”
The RPR Member Support Center can help you achieve your goals
RPR’s Member Support Center, located in Omaha, Nebraska, is staffed by full-time, highly trained, experienced member support and customer service experts. This professional, REALTOR®-focused team is poised to offer problem-solving solutions including live phone, email and chat in real time and is focused on maximizing your members' needs.
For more information on how RPR’s Member Support team can assist your business or association, please contact RPR’s Vice President of Member Support, Troy Berry, at: [email protected] or (312) 493-8690.
As a relatively recent retiree from an active Real Estate office, I am hoping to obtain access to RPR, which I had used when I was an active agent, but now I am left out, while my brain is saying to me and some former clients, who want to know what is happening in the real estate market, and should they buy or sell now within or out of state.