Finding the Right FF&E Planning Service
By: Bob Roskos

If you have never been involved in a major furniture, fixtures, and equipment (FF&E) purchase, you have probably heard different things from different people who have already experienced the process. 

Many school administrators who have done it the hard way – that is, without the help of a successful FF&E planning service – will tell you how much time and energy they spent selecting their furniture and equipment. They may also have frustrating stories about how some, or all, of their purchases didn’t turn out the way they intended.

By contrast, administrators who have worked with a highly reputed planning service will be eager to let you know how well things turned out thanks to the support they received from their FF&E consultants.

Of course, it’s important to note that there are many planning services on the market, not all of which have the same track record of success. With that in mind, if you will soon be making a large FF&E purchase – or if you’ve already begun to evaluate products – how can you find the right FF&E planning service for your Christian school?

Before deciding to work with a particular service, you should carefully consider a number of factors. 

First, be sure to pay attention to the way that various planning services initially assess your school’s needs. It’s definitely a positive sign when representatives of a service take the time to ask detailed questions about your budgetary guidelines and the furniture and equipment you’d prefer; if they ask to meet with faculty members to get their input on the project, that’s even better!

You’ll be able to tell if these representatives are good listeners by the follow-up questions they ask after hearing what you and anyone else from your school have to say about product preferences. In addition, experienced FF&E planning consultants will make a point of asking you about furniture and equipment needs for different environments within your school (classrooms, library, labs, food service areas, offices, etc.). They’ll also want to know about your project deadlines, as well as any special delivery or installation challenges.

On the other hand, beware of an initial assessment that obviously adopts a “cookie cutter” approach to your school’s FF&E requirements. If a consultant suggests an obviously pre-planned solution for your school and isn’t really interested in listening to your concerns, it’s probably a good idea to look elsewhere for FF&E planning support.

Another factor to consider when choosing an FF&E planning service involves the budget analysis they propose based on your guidelines and your furniture and equipment preferences. A reputable service should provide you with an item-by-item cost analysis of all targeted products; that way, you’ll be able to easily see what you’ll be paying for student chairs and desks, teachers’ furniture, office products, and specialty items. And, by seeing the comparative costs of each of these groups, you’ll be in a better position to evaluate whether you can afford to spend extra money to enhance the quality of higher-priority furniture and, if necessary, to reduce costs on items that aren’t as essential.

A high-quality planning service should respond quickly to any requests you make for product changes in light of their budget analysis. And, before even preparing your budget analysis, they should offer you a variety of furniture and equipment choices – and be prepared to help your compare features, benefits, values, and prices – among competing product lines. After all, since you’ll be spending thousands of dollars (if not hundreds of thousands of dollars) on a major FF&E purchase, you will want to review a wide range of furniture lines before making your final decision.  

If a planning service can’t or is unwilling to provide you with the detailed budget analysis and related services described above, that’s not very helpful. It’s always preferable to work with an FF&E consultant who goes the extra mile to help you make the best decisions for your school.

When it comes to actually purchasing new furniture and equipment, there’s nothing like the ease and convenience you get by using a recognized national contract, which gives you thousands of product choices for your school at highly competitive prices. An FF&E planning service that offers you this benefit has real advantages over competing services that are limited to a cumbersome, time-consuming procurement process. Make a point of asking about the availability of contract procurement before selecting your FF&E planning service.

Finally, it’s essential to consider the product management capabilities of various planning services. If your day-to-day schedule is like that of most administrators, you won’t have nearly enough time to manage the details of an FF&E installation for your school. Not surprisingly, this is one of the key areas where experienced FF&E consultants really shine. They will work with you to set up delivery and installations dates for your products; when the actual dates arrive, you can rely on them to be on-site to assist in any possible way. After everything’s been delivered, they will be in touch to make sure that you are satisfied with the products and services you’ve received.

In summary, FF&E planning services – and the consultants/representatives who work for them – can ultimately be assessed in terms of how well they communicate with you and how well they follow through on your requests.

And, while you’ll be able to evaluate the communication skills – particularly, as already mentioned, the listening skills – of FF&E planners at an early stage of the process before commitments are made, it isn’t always easy to gauge if a persuasive person or an apparently well-run company will actually come through for you as promised when it’s time for your furniture and equipment to be delivered and installed. 

That’s why FF&E planning service recommendations from colleagues you trust can be so valuable. You can also ask the FF&E planning services you are evaluating to provide written testimonials from satisfied customers; you can even ask for contact information to speak to them directly about their testimonials. 

With all of these recommendations in hand, you’re now well equipped to find the FF&E planning service that’s right for your Christian school.

Bob Roskos is the corporate copywriter for Virco Inc., www.virco.com.