A seasoned real estate investor and a top agent at Coldwell Banker Tomlinson in Spokane, Washington, Aaron Lennon uses technology to connect with clients and communicate the benefits of buying property.

Aaron Lennon got into real estate about 21 years ago when he purchased his first investment property and began working as a landlord. After reaping the benefits of owning multiple properties himself, Aaron became an agent in 2011 to show others the value of property ownership — whether that be through helping clients buy their first home or their first rental property.

"My passion is showing people how they can make money through real estate and how they can transition from rental housing into owning their own house or my target market, those who want to own their own rental housing," says Aaron. "That's really what drove me to want to do real estate, was the ability to show people how easy it was to transition from rental housing into something permanent you can count on for your future."

A lifelong resident of the area, Aaron has been working for Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Spokane since he first got his real estate license. Not only does he work tirelessly each day to serve his clients, but he is also always supporting the other agents in his office and finding new ways to make the organization better for all.

Kelsey Fulton, Coldwell Banker Tomlinson's Managing Broker, says, "Aaron is a team player and this year received an award from his peers acknowledging how much he does within the organization to help those around him."

A Direct Approach

Aaron believes that the most important quality for an agent to possess is honesty. Customers want to work with someone straightforward and transparent, someone they know they can trust.

"I think the primary quality is just being straightforward and direct with people," states Aaron. "You know, a lot of the industry focuses on how many houses they've sold to try and earn that client and making yourself look as good as possible, and obviously, we don't want to make ourselves look bad, but being able to project to a client that you have their best interest in mind and really listen to what they want to get out of their meeting with you."

He practices this approach daily when speaking with his clients and believes that it has been a major factor in his success as an agent.

"The main thing that I do is I speak very directly with clients," explains Aaron. "I tell them what to expect in the process. I tell them, 'It used to be you'd get 10 offers in one day. Well, now we'll get one offer in 10 days, and as long as we price it right, that's enough. So if you price it right and you get that one offer, then you'll be in really good shape.' I think making sure that customers know that and they own the decision for their pricing on their home, that's been the key to my success over the last few years."

Generating High-Quality Leads

Knowing how necessary it is to connect with new customers, lead generation is a top priority for Aaron. He is willing to do whatever it takes to gain new business.

"He is a lead-generating machine and knows that there are times that you have to try something new and step outside your normal box to generate business," says Kelsey. "He is dedicated to finding the deal and growing his business. Many days he is the last one in the office, sending deltaout texts, homes, and emails to find the deal before the end of the day."

Aaron uses the CRM in DeltaNET® to auto-generate and sort through leads. He finds that differentiating quality leads is simpler when using the platform.

"I buy a lot of internet leads, and so basically a lot of people consider them dumb leads when they come in," says Aaron. "You don't know anything about the person, you don't even know what they're looking for. They filled out a form somewhere online indicating they might be interested in buying or selling a home. When that lead comes in, it drops right into my DeltaNET system and it gets put on automated searches. The whole purpose of the CRM is to be able to filter through these dumb leads in an automated fashion and take the best, highest-quality leads."

Fostering Connections Through Technology

Aaron feels that real estate isn't simply about homes or about technology; it's about people. He believes that the first step in selling a home is going out and meeting people. Then, once you have made that initial contact, you must use technology to help them through the rest of the process and foster that connection. Since technology is such a vital resource in the transaction, you need a system like DeltaNET that's easy for both you and your customers to use. 

"The real estate industry is about people," says Aaron. "And so you need to be out there meeting people, and then once you meet people, helping them through the process, utilizing technology that's easy for you and easy for them needs to be the focus."

One way Aaron uses DeltaNET to foster connections with customers is by sending My Customer for Life automated email newsletters to everyone in his network. Even if someone unsubscribes, Aaron says, he can turn it into an opportunity to connect in a more personal way via phone.

"My Customer for Life emails go out to everybody because at some point they do click on an email," he explains. "Even when they unsubscribe from the email, that's our last opportunity to say, 'Hey, I got you unsubscribed.' I call them, 'Do you want me to remove your phone number too?' And a lot of times that leads into a conversation like, 'Yeah, I decided I have to sell my house, and I just don't want to deal with all these emails anymore.' And maybe by then, they've already decided on a REALTOR®, but at least then you know the system's working, right?"

Since Aaron frequently uses the all-in-one platform as a means to communicate with customers, he appreciates that it offers him the ability to track his success through analytics such as email open and click-through rates, lead response times, and more.

"That's the whole goal, is to talk to people who are buying and selling homes," he says. "And sometimes you'll get that business, but sometimes you won't get that business. And so you just get the opportunity with a good CRM to know and be able to track your numbers, track your success rate."

Aaron also loves the features of his Delta Media Group® website and finds that his website is another way he fosters connections with clients. He is particularly grateful for how easy it is to use the search queries.

"The way that the search queries are formatted is really helpful," he says. "So I can actually use the website just like my customers do, and then what I do is I can put a search together with as many houses on the page as I want, and then I can just copy that URL into a URL shortener, like a Bitly."

Communicating in New Ways

Over the last few years, there have been many advancements in technology that have altered the methods buyers use to communicate. To accommodate these shifts, Aaron has changed some of the ways he connects with his clients, including which social media platforms he uses for messaging.

"For me, I loved Facebook Messenger, but in 2020, a lot of people quit using Facebook compared to 2018 and 2019," he explains. "And a lot of newer users use Instagram for their messaging. And so that's probably a change I made in the last two years with switching to using Instagram more than Facebook, just because that's what the first-time homebuyers want to use."

The advancement Aaron has found to be the most helpful with communication is mass text messaging. He looks back on the ways mass text messaging has evolved over the years and how CRMs have been part of that change.

"Many years ago, five, six years ago, mass texting was available, but it always came from a five-digit shortcode," recalls Aaron. "You never had a real phone number. People would try to call you back and it would say 'disconnected.' But nowadays, we have CRMs that provide a local area code and phone number for every text that goes out and we're able to send 1,000 text messages at a time. And when people respond to those text messages, we can interact with them in real-time rather than just having to check. So to be able to have real-time access to people over text messaging systems is probably the greatest advancement over the last couple of years."

Guiding First-Time Buyers in Their Financial Future

Given that Aaron's ultimate goal is to educate first-time buyers and assist them in buying properties that will generate wealth, he is currently focusing on convincing these buyers to purchase duplexes. He views this as an excellent opportunity for them considering the current market in Spokane. 

"One of the main things I'm focusing on this year is multifamily properties, specifically duplexes," he says. "Probably, the goal for a first-time homebuyer, in my opinion, is to try and buy a small duplex that they can live in and pay less than $400,000 for it. I think being able to get first-time homebuyers into these buildings where they're only $1,500 or $1,600 out of pocket every month, to purchase the building would be an incredible opportunity for a lot of people here in Spokane."

As first-time buyers embark on a path of purchasing property, they need the guidance of a real estate expert like Aaron to simplify a complex process and empower them to make decisions that align with their financial aspirations. Employing easy-to-use technology, he makes the process painless for all parties. As an agent who is straightforward and is truly rooting for his clients to succeed, any buyer or seller in the market would be lucky to have him in their corner. 

To learn more or get in touch with Aaron Lennon, give him a call at (509)-869-2613 or visit his website at spokanespaces.com.