Under the skilled leadership of Shelley Tomlinson Johnson, Coldwell Banker Tomlinson services six different regions across Idaho and Washington, including Spokane, the Quad Cities, Idaho Falls, Moses Lake, Kennewick, and Boise. The real estate company is part of The Tomlinson Family of Companies, encompassing firms within the Coldwell Banker, Century 21, and Sotheby's International Realty franchises, with approximately 850 agents serving clients in Idaho, Washington, and Montana. 

Johnson's family has a long history in real estate, dating back about 85 years to when her great-grandfather founded what was known as The Tomlinson Agency to sell farmland. However, ranking in the Swanepoel Power 200 list, Johnson made a name for herself separate from her ancestors, growing the company tremendously despite hurdles like COVID-19.

Foregoing Their Franchise-Provided Solution

Like many large franchises in the industry, Coldwell Banker did offer the brokerage a free technology solution. However, this platform wasn't working right for many Coldwell Banker Tomlinson branches.

"We had a solution offered through our franchise network that was not working well for us by virtue of our size and scope," comments Johnson. "We're a multi-state organization, and the solution they were offering really didn't work well in multiple geographies, multiple MLSs."

Although she is busy balancing numerous responsibilities daily, Johnson's commitment remains with her agents. So, since the franchise-provided platform didn't give them all they needed, she began searching for a better solution. After researching many options, it was clear to her and her team that Delta Media Group stood above the rest. So Coldwell Banker Tomlinson partnered with Delta Media Group in 2018.

"We looked at a variety of providers and narrowed it down to three who could do a few things, provide us with a CRM, provide us with a digital marketing platform, and provide us with a website as three of the key ones," recalls Johnson. "We were looking at cost, the ability to ensure customer service support as a consideration, and then the accessibility and service-mindedness of the leadership at the three vendors that we talked to. Candidly, Delta Media Group was head and shoulders above all three; it was an easy decision."

Although the franchise offered them a new and improved solution within the past couple of years, they feel Delta Media Group continues to cater to their needs best.

"Our franchise did offer us a new tool in the last 18 months, and so we have done a pretty heavy evaluation of that solution and Delta Media Group and just the scope of what Delta Media Group can do as far as marketing, open houses, websites, landing pages," says Coldwell Banker Tomlinson Spokane Managing Broker Kelsey Fulton. "At this time, Delta Media Group continues to be a much better fit for us."

A Website That Works For Everyone

When addressing what their Delta websites offer them, Fulton mentions the customization and personalization opportunities and how easy it is for the agents and the consumers to use.

"What the website offers is the ability to customize and use video as well as personalize it," she says. "At the same time, it works for our less tech-savvy agents; it's an out-of-the-box plug-and-go, and it looks aesthetically pleasing and is easy for the consumer to use."

Fulton appreciates that those who want more customization can have it while those who don't can still use the website to generate new leads.

"There's a lot of really good tools for the consumer and agents, so if they want to customize it, they have that ability," she notes. "But if they don't want to do that, it is ready for them to use just out of the gate."

Tools Their Team Loves

There are many tools they love at Coldwell Banker Tomlinson. But, they found that Open House Connector® is the tool used most among agents.

"I think the most used tool, and one of the tools we talk about the most, is Open House Connector," says Fulton. "The ability to have a sign-in opportunity at open houses, capture the information, and have it directly integrated into your CRM so that at the end of your open house, people are automatically getting in and immediately getting communication from you is fantastic."

She mentions that even though the technology was created for open houses, they love that their agents can use the same technology at other events to gather leads and follow up with them automatically.

"Agents can use that same QR code if they're doing an event or something else, so it goes beyond the scope of just sitting in an open house," she says. "If they're doing a bridal show or a trade show, they can use that same technology to have people sign in and capture information and then continue to market without having to do a ton of work to get that communication out."

They also love how simple it is through DeltaNET® to disperse leads and offer pertinent information to their agents based on their location.

"I think what we're using most for that is the lead parsing for agents and allowing them to set up their areas by zip code so they can opt in or out based on the areas they service," Fulton explains. "I also think that there's a tremendous toolset for us in DeltaNET, and the fact that we cover so many different areas and agents can see and access information is wonderful."

As a Managing Broker, Fulton values having the ability to track metrics and see how the agents use the platform.

"We have some great reporting and insight into how our agents are using the technology as far as, are they logging in, what are they doing in there, how are leads being distributed, and how are agents leveraging that platform," she says.

Ready to Roll Out DeltaNET® 7

Coldwell Banker Tomlinson is currently in the process of rolling DeltaNET 7 out to their agents. They are very excited about this. As part of Delta Media Group's advisory committee, Fulton was able to take part in developing this new technology and has been hearing great feedback from the companies already using it.

"I'm part of an advisory group that meets every month with Franklin, and I think that's provided a great voice for the large companies that are using it," she says. "So I think that the product team there has been really thoughtful with the new rollout of the user interface that we're very excited to be rolling out currently."

Having had great success with DeltaNET for the past five years, they look forward to finding more tools to love and seeing where the next generation of the all-in-one platform takes them and their agents. 

For more information on Coldwell Banker Tomlinson branches, visit their websites.