KCRAR’s three membership coordinators, Sophia D’Anna, Lynn
McGee and Christy Tays, process an average of 195 new members per month, answer
2,300 calls per week and input over 1,000 membership updates per month, but
they don’t do it for the numbers; they have a clear desire to help members. Led
by Director of Membership Amanda Brewer, the membership coordinators’ main
responsibilities are to onboard new members and facilitate their joining process,
but Sophia, Lynn and Christy go beyond that.
“I have a lot of members that I love,” Lynn said. “It’s a
more personal experience when you meet with people, because it’s not like it’s
this big corporate type of meeting. They can be comfortable, and it’s kind of
family oriented.”
Lynn has been at KCRAR for almost four years, and she said when
she meets with a new member, she understands they’ve just achieved a huge accomplishment
by passing their real estate license exam, so she tries to make them feel
comfortable here at the Association. Because of moments like that, she and the
other membership coordinators have each built personal relationships with members.
Lynn said it’s not uncommon for members to stop by her office to talk to her
about what is going on in their lives, and Amanda confirmed that the same is
true for Sophia and Christy. Because of these close professional relationships,
Christy, Lynn and Sophia have a special attention to members’ needs.
“Sometimes I’ll write down things if I notice the
application should be changed [in a way] that will help the members, because we
get the same questions every time,” Sophia said. “For instance, I recently suggested
some simple changes to the application, so we can make it less confusing for
members. I think that helped a lot, honestly.”
Amanda is looking forward to improving members’ experiences
through even more improved efficiency made possible by the new database that
operates the KCRAR Member Portal.
“We’re trying to make things easier for our members to meet
them where they are,” Amanda said, “instead of making them come here, and fill
out paper work and things like that. So with our new system in place, we’re
moving towards those changes.”
During Christy’s 13 years at KCRAR, she has seen many
changes, but one thing stays the same, and that’s that she is always working personally
with REALTORS®, and she has her personal favorite part of bringing in a new
REALTOR® member.
“At the end of entering their information, and going over their
membership, I’ll give them their new member pin, and they’re all excited about
it,” Christy said. “It’s the final ‘Now you’re a REALTOR®! Here’s your new
member pin!’ …They’re so glad because that’s the final thing. Everybody wants
that pin.”
In addition to building relationships with members and
helping to smoothly transition new members into the Association, each
membership coordinator has a unique role. Lynn helps to manage Forms R Us,
Sophia works with the Forms Committee with KCRAR’s Senior Vice President Perry
Crume and Christy manages the KCRAR Emeritus program. Amanda said that for her
and her team, no one day ever looks the same as another.
“Although, the base is the same, you always get a random
call that day, or you’ll get a new challenge, or something. Sometimes I like to
think of us as firefighters,” Amanda said. “I think it kind of keeps us all on
our toes. It’s what I like about this job.”
