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Melissa Perttunen

Director

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Contact

  • Phone +1 312 935 1406
  • Email
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Professional Experience

Associated Office

Location

300 N LaSalle
Suite 600
Chicago, IL 60654

Get Directions
Contact
  • +1 312 935 1400

Melissa Perttunen is a Director with Turner & Townsend Furniture Advisory Services. Melissa leads the team of Furniture Analysts, who collect, manage, and analyze the discounting data from RFP responses to monitor patterns and trends, and to deliver value and cost savings to clients. The data collected serves as the baseline for all contract negotiations which, to date, has achieved and demonstrated cost reductions ranging from 5%- 28%.

Melissa works within the RFP process to level all bid responses and create comprehensive pricing summaries. She works with dealers and manufacturers to validate discounting accuracy and ensures that discounts are maintained through invoicing. Additionally, Melissa performs audits on clients’ previous furniture purchases to assess buying patterns, evaluate contract compliance and identify opportunities for improved processes and discounting.

Prior to joining Turner & Townsend (CBRE) in 2016, Melissa worked for 10 years as a designer/specifier at Chicago-area furniture dealers.

Relevant Experience

Corporate Office

  • Austin Energy, Austin, TX
    246,000 SF
    4:1 Value to Fee Ratio
  • Cargill, Wichita, KS
    175,000 SF
    32:1 Value to Fee Ratio
  • Home Chef, Chicago, IL
    74,000 SF
    10:1 Value to Fee Ratio
  • Horizon Therapeutics, Chicago, IL
    660,000 SF
    13:1 Value to Fee Ratio
  • Mondelez, Chicago, IL
    77,000 SF
    5:1 Value to Fee Ratio

Financial

  • Confidential Bank, Chicago, IL
    490,000 SF
    20:1 Value to Fee Ratio

Technology

  • Confidential Tech Co., Confidential Location
    1,800,000 SF
    25:1 Value to Fee Ratio

Healthcare

  • Cook County Hospital, Chicago, IL
    282,000 SF
    63:1 Value to Fee Ratio

Higher Education

  • Dallas College, Dallas, TX
    30:1 Value to Fee Ratio

Education

  • Oklahoma State University, Bachelor of Science in Interior Design + Facilities Management

Team Overview

With furniture typically making up 30% of a project budget, we work with clients to develop a bidding strategy and/or a furniture management program designed to meet their objectives, increase awareness, and reduce costs. The Furniture Advisory team is comprised of furniture experts who have first-hand experience with every step of the process. We know how to set up the ideal bidding landscape to maximize competition and how to develop a measurable and meaningful furniture program management.

To date, we have worked on over $1B worth of projects ranging from 30,000 RSF to 13M RSF and have been successful in delivering an average cost reduction of 17%. We maintain a discounting data base of every RFP response that we leverage to develop data-driven negotiation strategies. The database, comprised of over 11,000 data points, allows us to verify if the discounting offered in the bid responses align with the project volume and to provide assurance to our clients that they are paying what they should paying for their furniture.

The client savings we achieve are based on our ability to:

  • Develop a product RFP package and process which maximizes competition to increase discounting.
  • Negotiate final discounting based a data-driven approach.
  • Review quotes prior to order placement to confirm discounting compliance.
  • Competitively bid installation costs prior to order placement to ensure 100% of the client’s spend is protected.

My Team

  • Julie Deignan

    Senior Director

    Photo of Julie Deignan
    • Phone +1 312 861 7874
    • Mobile +1 312 835 8524
    • Email
    View Profile
  • Kim Maziarz

    Director

    Photo of Kim Maziarz
    • Phone +1 312 5404657
    • Email
    View Profile
  • Aileen Pendleton

    Senior Furniture Advisor

    Photo of Aileen Pendleton
    • Phone +1 708 646 6569
    • Email
    View Profile
  • Molly Ellingsen

    Senior Furniture Advisor

    Photo of Molly Ellingsen
    • Email
    View Profile
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