When a new member joins the association

This process begins when you receive a Realtor® member application on paper or by email.

Is this person already in GrowthZone?
1. In Contacts, search for their name. If they’re already in there, are they already connected to a member office?
2. On the off chance that this is a former Realtor® returning to the business and nobody mentioned it, you might want to look them up in M1. Search their name, in the state of Washington. If you find a match, call and see if that is them at a previous association – in that case they already have a NRDS ID, which you’ll need shortly.
Before you add anybody to GrowthZone, look and see what the next NRDS number is.
1. Everyone in the NAR’s M1 system has an ID number. Their number is assigned by you when you create their record. You’ll get an error if you try to create a duplicate number.
2. Our association is #8725 so all member IDs we create ought to start with 8725, followed by five digits.
3. In OneDrive, in the NRDS folder, is a list of all our members by NRDS ID, so you can choose the next one available. You won’t break anything, but this avoids duplicates and clarifies what numbers are available.
In GrowthZone, go to Setup > Miscellaneous > M1 Id and Membership Numbers.
1. You’re going to add a new office or a new member.
2. If you don’t do anything here, then GZ will assign your new office or member the next number available (the last number + 1).
3. If you’re creating a new agent or office, then GZ will send this info up to M1. So make a note of the Next Agent M1 Id Assigned or Next Office M1 Id Assigned.
4. Then if it’s a new agent, put that same number also in Next Membership Number Assigned. So our ID number in our system is the same as their NRDS ID in M1.
5. (None of this is exactly required – but it is frustrating when we have random member IDs that don’t match up with M1.)
In GrowthZone, go to Contacts. If you’re adding an agent to an office, look up the office.
1. In that office’s Contacts section click the Plus (+).
2. Enter the agent’s first and last name.
3. If they’re already in GZ, then it will prompt you (did you mean this person?) Click the right one, and everything will auto-fill.
4. Add whatever details you’ve got for this person, and click Done.
In the office’s Contacts area, find and click the new agent’s name.
1. Under Memberships, you’ll see Realtor® Office. So now they’re connected. But they are not yet personally a member of the association.
2. In the Memberships area, click the Plus (+).
3. A window pops up with the agent’s name already in it.
4. In Type, choose Realtor®.
  1. Most new members are primary members of the WWVAR, so you choose this type. They’ll pay their national, state, and local dues annually through WWVAR. In 2024 this was $797/year.
  2. If they are already a member of another association – e.g. Tri-City Association of Realtors® – and they’re staying a member there, then they’ll be a secondary member here. They’ll pay national state, and local dues in their primary association, and we’ll only invoice them for our local dues (this year that’s $302.) So you’ll choose Secondary Realtor® local.
5. If they’re a primary member in another state, then they’ll pay national, state, and local dues in their primary association, but we’ll invoice them for local and Washington State dues. In that case you’ll choose Secondary Realtor® Local/State.
6. Other types are:
  - Staff — that’s WWVAR staff, i.e. you.
  - Affiliate — that is an individual non-Realtor® member, like an appraiser, banker, or insurance professional.
  - Non-Member Salesperson — We are not using this type at present. This might be a property-management employee or other non-Realtor® at a real estate firm.
7. Most other fields will fill themselves or can be skipped. If you click in Billing Contact, Billing Address, and Billing Email, there will be one or more options to choose, and I always choose their work address.
8. Fee Items will fill automatically (with dues amounts pro-rated if they join during the year.) They won’t automatically get an invoice yet, though – you’ll send that to them later.
9. Finally set expiration to the end of this year: e.g. 12/31/2024.
Click Done!
Now in the person’s record under Offices, their access level is Guest. Click the edit (pencil) icon, and choose Broker and Done. Now they can edit their own contact information.
The new agent is now a Realtor® member. But they are not yet recorded at the NAR’s M1 system.
In the person’s Contacts record, just under their name at the top, you can see and copy their member ID.
Now click into the Real Estate tab.
You will probably see Sync to M1 says No. Click the Edit (pen) icon.
1. Before you click Sync to M1, paste their Member ID into the M1 ID field, then add all other info you have.
  1. Member type is Realtor.
  2. Active since today, and status is Active.
  3. Local Join Date is today, unless there’s some reason to make it retroactive to the first of the month or year.
  4. Our Association ID is 8725 and Primary State is Washington.
  5. Next to M1 License Number, click the Plus (+) and enter their Washington State real estate license number. If they already have a license number from another state, leave it and add the new one.
  6. Office M1 Id: When you click it, it should auto-fill.
  7. For Preferred Mail. Phone, etc, choose Office for all.
  8. Click and choose Home Address.
  9. In Mailing Address, pone option should be their office address; use that.
  10. Fill in their Cell and Business Email.
  11. If their office has a website, it ought to autofill as well.
2. Check the Sync to M1 box at top. If any required info is missing, then the Done button will not work.
3. Now if they can be found in M1, then GZ will copy down all their info. If they are new, then the info you entered will be sent to create them a record in M1.
Finally, invoice them for their new membership.
1. In the person’s Contact record, click the Billing tab.
2. Find their open invoice, click the ••• icon and choose Send Email.
3. For Template, choose WWVAR Annual Invoice Email.
4. Put yourself in From (To should already have their name).
5. Look at the text in the email message – if anything needs customizing, edit away.
6. Click Send, and the invoice is now sent to their email.