Having a long-lasting marriage is an accomplishment in itself, so it’s even more amazing when a couple also manages a successful business partnership. Venue sat down with Realtors® Perrin and Diane March to find out how they make working together work – for themselves and their clients.
Venue Magazine: If you had to identify one key to a successful marriage-business partnership, what would it be?
Perrin March: At the end of the day, being in business together means we see each other a lot, so enjoying one another’s company is crucial. Diane and I have been together since high school and have raised four children. We see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, but also respect each other’s different perspectives, different problem-solving strategies and original ideas.
Diane March: Each person has to bring his or her own talents to the partnership, and to recognize the other’s strengths. Perrin and I have really complementary skills sets. Perrin has a lifetime’s knowledge of the real estate market. He is passionate about the homes we represent, their histories and architecture, as well as the families who have lived there. His ability to recognize what makes a home remarkable, and then communicate it to potential buyers is unrivaled in the business. My strengths lean toward nurturing solid client relationships and delivering the very best customer service. My career choices have relied, “do-or-die,” on my ability to understand clients’ goals, anticipate their needs and deliver creative solutions.
Prior to acquiring her real estate license, Diane owned and managed the Boutique Hope retail stores in Oakley and Hyde Park, and an equine training and boarding facility in Goshen. She is a longtime partner in a real estate investment company that manages commercial and industrial holdings, as well as an independent investor in residential properties.
Venue Magazine: How do clients benefit from your partnership?
Diane March: There is the obvious advantage that we can be in two places at once. Clients have greater access to their Realtor® and they get the attention they deserve when buying or selling a home. Because Perrin and I are together so much, communication is a real strength that enhances our clients’ experience. A lot of our conversations, at home and in the office, center around work and meeting our clients’ needs. We are definitely not 9:00-to-5:00 Realtors®. Together, we also have a larger personal network of friends and acquaintances than either of us has alone. This offers a wider pool of prospective buyers for the sellers we represent.
Perrin March: The benefits also go back to what Diane mentioned earlier about our complementary skills sets. Our clients get varying perspectives on their sale or purchase. For example, Diane has a knack for spotting ways to add value to a home through smart renovations, and for staging a home to showcase its assets. I really enjoy marketing—using our website and social media accounts to create an online presence with “wow factor” for each home we represent. Then I work with our designer to support the online marketing with brochures and print ads that make people stop and take notice. Having both of us listening to clients’ goals for their sale or purchase is also a big benefit. We’re both good listeners, but sometimes we hear things differently. Something I might miss, or Diane might miss, gets picked up by the other. Or something I hear one way, Diane might hear differently. Because each of us connects independently with clients, our clients have two distinct advocates working on their behalf.
Venue Magazine: People must ask, “How do you not kill each other?” when you’re spending so much time together.
Diane March: It’s actually the opposite. I think people who are married and work together develop a deeper respect for the contributions of their spouse, both at the office and home.
Venue Magazine: That’s an interesting point. Can you give us some examples?
Diane March: I’ve come to really appreciate the painstaking attention Perrin gives to marketing the homes we represent, including researching their histories and investing in professional photography and then spending hours selecting images that best showcase the property, working with our professional copywriter to ensure every word captures buyers’ imaginations and piques their interest, and developing personalized online and print marketing campaigns for each property. He brings that same attention to detail home, whether helping our children with homework or making one of his famous breakfast-for-dinner family meals. His dedication to “doing the job right” in everything he does is impressive.
Perrin March: I respect Diane’s ability to keep so many balls in the air. She is among the most organized people I know, a list-maker who gets so much accomplished. As long as I have known her, she has had a wide range of interests and has committed herself to them fully. She stays on top of every detail at work, and at home she is a master of multi-tasking – making sure our children have a cheering parent on the sidelines of their games, keeping in touch with our friends’ lives and milestones, managing our home and volunteering to improve the lives of women who are caught in human trafficking, homelessness and addiction.
Venue Magazine: You have chosen to work at Sotheby’s International Realty. Is that because of the art backgrounds you both have?
Diane March: I majored in art history and worked at an auction house in Boston after college, so the Sotheby’s brand is certainly a draw for me. The high quality of the company’s marketing sets it – and the homes it represents – apart.
Perrin March: I grew up in a home that valued artistic expression with a mother who is a professional artist. I also acquired business sense from my father, who ran our family’s machine tool business for 70 years. To me, Sotheby’s is a remarkable blend of both. In addition to the worldwide recognition and prestige of the Sotheby’s name, the company offers innovative and exclusive resources and marketing strategies that help us showcase listings to Cincinnati buyers, and to buyers around the world. Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty has the local expertise in the luxury market, with connections regionally and internationally that can’t be matched anywhere else.
Robinson Sotheby’s International Realty is located at 2724 Observatory Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45208. For more information, call 513.379.2253 or visit perrinmarch.com.