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Transcript

Fast Lane Learning - Season 4 Episode 6 · #HomeForAll Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning and welcome back to Fast Lane Learning.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: I am Kelly Most, your podcast host and ACARS Communications Director.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to talk about confusion with renewal time.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: So fasten your seatbelts for another great episode of Fast Lane Learning.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: For those of you who don't always have time for our full-on 30-minute podcast, and for those of you who are looking for some really fast, really significant information.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: This episode of Fast Lane Learning is going to be fast and wild, so buckle up and let's get going.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: ItCars Fast Lane Learning is a weekly production where we will facilitate quick conversations about key topics in the business of real estate.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: This is an adult show, and some adult language might occasionally creep into the conversation.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to buckle your seat belts and get yourself prepared for some great real estate answers in a great short format.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Fast Lane Learning.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hey everybody out there.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you are not stuck in traffic today as you tune into this episode.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: As always, I'm joined by ACARS membership services and operations manager Ashley Varner.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for coming back today, Ashley.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, no place I'd rather be, Kelly.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think there might be, but I'm gonna take the win.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: There you go.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: So take what you can get.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, before we uh get really started, I'd like it if you could take a minute or two to talk about the name of the episode and explain to our listeners about the words renewal and dues.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Can we talk about that?
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, we can.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: So we've labeled this episode uh dues confusion.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: Let's untangle where your membership dollars go.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um we're going to be using the words dues and renewal interchangeably.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, dues is what you're used to hearing as a member.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Renewal is how we like to present it.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, to you know, continue your membership with ACAR because we provide you with value that helps, you know, establish and maintain your career over the longevity of it.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um so we'll be using those words interchangeably throughout this pod.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: You'll see them used interchangeably across our website and our communications as well.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: But ultimately, renewal and dues are the same thing.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: That's okay.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's so awesome to talk about dues and renewals, Kelly.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's great that we know now that they are exactly the same thing.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Just took my breath away with that answer.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, with all of that background information, let's discuss where the membership dollars go.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because, contrary to popular opinion, we don't keep everything here at the association.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: There are there's local renewal money, there is state renewal and national renewal.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that's super important to know that when you are going to make your renewal, um, that full amount does not stay at ACAR.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: One of the obligations of local associations is that we're responsible for remitting those state and national dues, those dollars, up to those entities.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: So part of uh what we're doing in the background at the membership department is we're remitting funds that ACAR collects on behalf of Ohio Realtors at the state level and NAR at the national level, upwards to both of those entities as well.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that helps to guarantee your membership and access to all of your benefits at both of those levels of membership, too.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: So only a small portion of what you are renewing for is going to stay here at ACAR to help run operations at the local level.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: We also offer several documents and several communications too, where you'll be able to take a look at that breakdown.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're making a renewal with us, it's also important to note that if you're doing it online or if you're doing it over the phone with one of our representatives during our renewal season, you're going to be able to get a breakdown in the receipt that you receive within five or ten minutes after your payment's been processed.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you'll be able to save that for tax time and be able to decide or determine rather how much of your funds went to which entity this year.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the value of membership is is is huge and that breakdown is important so that they know you know our members know exactly what stays here and what doesn't.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: So can we also address what each organization does at their level?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's all quite complex and I can imagine it can be terribly confusing, especially for newer licensees, because what is done at state is way different than what is done here.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it's important to note what each organization is doing at each level of membership, because there are going to be some things that are static, like advocacy is going to exist at every level of membership, membership services are going to exist at every level of membership as well.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: But the way that we carry those forward and some of the benefits that are available at each level are going to change, depending if it's local, state, or national.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: So while we're talking about that, your local board is who is responsible for collecting and remitting those renewal fees.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: We're also going to be your boots on the ground for anything that's happening in your local market or across ACAR's three-county footprint, changes that are happening hyper-local.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: We're also going to be providing you with a lot of continuing education opportunities and kind of helping to connect you to some of the other resources you might not be aware of available to you at those other levels of membership and with other entities that are local to us in Northeast Ohio.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: At the state level, we're also talking about advocacy at maybe a larger level as we're dealing with our state level legislators and nationally as well with NAR.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: But at the state level, they're also going to be the ones responsible for housing all of the forms that our Ohio Realtors are going to need to be able to conduct business on a day-to-day basis.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: They're also going to offer you affinity programs, things like the legal hotline to be able to ask those burning questions that may be affecting your business.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And at the national level, too, some of those even deeper affinity programs, but also things like RPR where you're going to gather data to be able to support your knowledge and be able to carry forth your business.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: You're able to track things that way.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: You're able to give educated opinions as far as pricing goes for your consumers.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Lots of different ways you can utilize just that one tool, but it's just that one tool amongst many tools available to you.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would say it's uh if you haven't been on the Ohio Realtors website or NAR's website lately, I would um highly recommend that you take a take a little trip, take a few minutes, actually more than a few minutes, and kind of dig deep in there because especially um at the national level, it you're gonna see they're they're diving into different segments of our membership.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: So there's like a whole segment for commercial practitioners.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: There is a whole section for brokers.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um so depending on what piece of the real estate puzzle you're you're working with, there's gonna be information there for you um to pick up.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: So well my gosh, this was a lot, right?
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: That was much.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So um for listeners who have more questions, obviously they can contact ACAR at membership at Akron Cleveland Realtors.com, and we will link that in the show notes.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: They can also check out the members section of the website, AkronCleveland Realtors.com.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that puts us at our destination for today.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: That was really fast.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to thank Ashley for being here again and for all of her input in today's episode.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's been uh education, certainly a very fast education.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Please be sure you join us next week for the next episode of Fast Lane Learning.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And until then, drive safely and keep your learning in the fast lane.