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Your Church, May/Jun 1998
Ten Tips for Big-Ticket
Transactions
Take the pain out of purchase with these pointers
by Jennifer A. Schuchmann
Your church may have to spend a lot of money
on new software, electronic music equipment, choir robes, or a security system.
Such purchases will stretch your budget, but they'll also stretch your skills
in engineering, computer science, fashion, and physics.
Most pastors or church administrators don't qualify as experts in those areas,
of course, but they could make up for lack of expertise by making the following
preparations for big-money decisions:
1. Appoint the Right
Committee
A church that's researching a product will usually ask a member who is familiar
with the product or technology to be on its purchasing committee. If the
committee consists of two or three such members, the influence of the committee
could shift to people who understand little about the daily workings of church
ministry.
John Keller, membership-care pastor at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi,
Minnesota, suggests picking committee members who are knowledgeable but not
biased about a product, open to looking, and willing to work as a team. Variety
of experience is also important. A technical guru may not be as helpful as
someone with office experience, he says. Similarly, an entrepreneur or
small-business owner may have a better understanding of the church's needs
than the CEO of a large company.
Make sure that the committee is balanced by including staff members who fairly
represent the church's needs.
2. Sales Materials Aren't
Enough
You can't choose the right piano or the best software by just looking at
brochures. Even a software-demonstration diskette can be misleading, warns
Ken Emert, minister of administration at Scottsdale Bible Church in Arizona.
Emert avoids being inundated by advertising material by first asking for
a list of needs from his church, then calling churches similar in size to
see what they use, then asking select vendors for materials.
Example: Scottsdale Bible Church needed a new phone system. Emert
began the search for one by asking people at a staff meeting what phone features
the church needed. Next, Emert began calling other churches to find out what
systems they used and to ask for their recommendations. After narrowing a
list to four vendors, Emert began soliciting bids, thereby saving himself
the hassle of reading dozens of proposals.
Bob Arthur of Fellowship of Life Church in Cheshire, Connecticut, uses the
Internet to research big-ticket products for his church. For example, when
his church needed a printer, he began pulling up the Web sites of printer
manufacturers.
According to Arthur, such Web sites offer far more than a Yellow Pages directory,
which is usually local and limited to names and addresses. A company's Web
site contains a lot more information: product listings, photos, prices, and
news on the latest products. "It saves a lot of time and eliminates the necessity
of talking to a salesperson," Arthur says. "I can then organize my information
and make a more informed decision as to a product or vendor."
3. Include the Pastor
Your pastor is busy and has delegated the task of purchasing a product to
you. But in the end, the senior pastor leads the church. So get his input.
Don't waste his time, though. Ask for 15 minutes to make an executive-level
presentation to the pastor once you have narrowed your choice to two or three
products. Present an overview of how the product works, its benefits to the
church, and the differences between products. Remind the pastor that the
committee is responsible for the decision, but ask if there are any
considerations that the pastor would like to include in the final analysis.
Example. Before Emert decided on a new phone system, he talked to
his church's pastors about their concerns. Then he brought in vendors and
let the pastors ask questions. The session took care of a lot of staff concerns.
It also helped the vendors understand what was important to the church leaders.
4. Avoid Departmental
Bias
What's best for missions may not be best for accounting. That means that
when it comes to buying a big-ticket item, everyone may not get everything
they think they need. Some departments may have to give up features or functions
to meet the larger needs of the church.
Linda Hawley, church administrator of First United Methodist Church in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, recommends hashing out such differences at a staff meeting.
For example, she says the music department at her church really wanted a
Macintosh computer, but the church decided to purchase PCs. So Hawley brought
up the matter at a staff meeting.
Pick committee members
who are knowledgeable but
not biased about a product,
open to looking, and willing
to work as a team
The problem was solved when the director of another department volunteered
to donate to the music department a Mac he could no longer use in exchange
for the purchase of the PC he wanted.
5. Consider the Future
Plan how the product or service you'll be purchasing will be used a year
from now, five years from now, and so on. Keller recommends hiring a consultant
if the technology is beyond your expertise. He also advises spending more
on products that guarantee future upgrades or compatibility with other systems.
Consider also how a future best-case scenario (church membership doubles
or triples) or worst-case scenario would affect the decision you make.
6. Buy Training
New technology requires training. But too often churches look at training
expense as a discretionary item. Many believe that if they can eliminate
training costs, they can buy a bigger and better system.
That decision will backfire. Without proper training, staff members won't
be able to use the features and functions that you carefully researched.
Emert says that workers for his Management Information Systems spend
approximately 75 percent of their time training. For computers and software
programs especially, include money for ongoing training and maintenance in
your budget each year.
7. Check Out the
References
A phone call isn't enough. If you're about to make a significant purchase,
spend a couple of days visiting churches near you that have bought the system
or product you need. See if the churches are fully satisfied or if they've
had problems.
Then ask what Emert says is the magic question: "Knowing what you know now,
if you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?"
Hawley recommends staying in touch with other business administrators to
share experiences. Learn from their mistakes to avoid making them yourself,
he says.
8. Allow Time to
Adjust
Large purchases often require a period of adjustment. So if you're planning
on using a new piano for your Easter service, have it delivered at least
two weeks before Good Friday. That way the pianist and sound people have
time to get used to the new instrument.
Likewise, if you're installing a computer system, build extra time into your
schedule for hardware delays, software installation, and the staff's learning
curve.
9. Check Out the
Company
With many large purchases, you're not just buying a product; you're buying
an ongoing relationship with a company. So before you invest, ask questions:
How long has this company been in business? What kind of service does it
offer? Has it worked with churches before? How many installations does it
have? Are its salespeople reliable and trustworthy?
Be cautious about buying only on price. Hawley says that when a committee
at his church recommends the cheapest product, he tells the members, "The
cheaper version is not always the thing that will last."
Remember, companies with good service departments often have products that
are a bit more expensive than those of competitors who don't offer service.
10. No Agreement, No
Purchase
If members of your staff or committee are split about which product or program
is best for your church, get them to agree that research will continue until
more people can support a choice. Hawley says his church asks members who
disagree with a proposal to present their findings to an administrative
committee, which then votes to break a tie.
Emert's church may take a controversial proposal to its board of elders,
but Emert admits that the real problem may be that the church isn't really
ready to make a decision. He recommends doing more research or getting additional
expertise before proceeding.
After walking through these steps, you should have a pretty clear idea about
which product or system is best for your church. You'll also have the support
you need to make the purchase and to put the big-ticket buy to good use.
So buy—and enjoy!
Jennifer A. Schuchmann is a management consultant from Marietta,
Georgia, who formerly worked in sales and marketing for church-management
software.
Copyright © 1998 by the author or Christianity Today International/Your
Church Magazine. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or e-mail
yceditor@yourchurch.net.
May/June 1998, Vol.44, No. 3, Page 62
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