with Member Perks Committee Chair Terri DeLorenzo

How would you explain the Member Perks Program to someone who has never heard of it?

Well, there is power in numbers, and with more than 60,000 New Jersey Realtors®, we use that power to negotiate discounts and special deals for our members. The Member Perks Program is a liaison between those discounts and the membership.

I love this question! We have so much to offer—from technology (Lenovo, HP) to health and safety services (Health Line Screening, Singlecare), travel and car rental (TNT Vacations, Avis, Budget) and, of course, marketing support for our business (Constant Contact, Photofy). I haven’t even mentioned all the categories of perks available to us, never mind all the companies offering additional perks to our members.

Before a discount or special deal is offered to our membership, the company must submit (and present) a comprehensive presentation to the Member Perks Committee. The committee members are given a chance to ask questions of the presenter(s) after which the committee discusses the merits or issues, followed by a vote. Sometimes a program is tabled until further information is received, and sometimes a program is voted down, but the best programs with the most value move forward to be offered to our members.

There is a lot of thought that goes into determining which partners’ programs are offered to the membership. Even before they are presented to the committee, our staff liaison, Mary Pilaar will review to make sure this particular perk doesn’t conflict with a perk offered by the National Association of Realtors® or conflict with New Jersey Realtors®. She makes sure it is something that will benefit our members in some way. Sometimes Mary and I will review together prior to the committee meeting. From there, it will move forward to the committee for a presentation, discussion, and vote.

So easy! On the NJ Realtors® site, click on “Membership,” then on “Member Perks.” You’ll be prompted to log in to ensure our discounts and special offerings are only used by members. Once there, click on the icon of the company you are interested in and within the description there is a link to the partner’s site, usually with the discount already set for your order, or sometimes you are provided with a discount code. You work directly with the partner.

I have used Photofy (free), Constant Contact (additional 10% off the prepaid discounts), AVIS (up to 35% off) and LifeLock (35% off).