What was said
What this says
Current to 10 Oct 26Mark Siddall, Managing Director, verbally agreed to move from Starter to Growth from 1 Dec 2024, replacing the Starter renewal. Tom Ashdown quoted £44,000 as the whole deal value and will confirm figures in writing; the order form is due signed by 18 Nov 2024.
What happened: Liam explained that usage had outgrown one team, with about seven people on a typical day. Tom proposed Growth and Mark agreed on the call after hearing the value case.
Commercial: Tom said the Growth deal comes to £44,000, implementation included and not a yearly figure, against £19,500 a year on Starter. These are spoken figures, to be confirmed in writing, and no executed order form is in the evidence.
Customer view: Mark trusts Liam and does not haggle. His test is that retailers do not ring BB-Demo, BB-Demo rings them.
Next moves: Liam wants dashboards per depot, a warehousing source and an early quarterly review. Tom would not promise a go-live on that connector until it is scoped.
Watch: the finance director wants paper, and Joanne in accounts payable will match to a purchase order.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Tom sends the order form to Mark and Liam with the figures confirmed in writing, to be signed by 18 Nov 2024.
- Marcus books a first dashboard session for early December and scopes the warehousing source.
- Liam warns Joanne in accounts payable that the order form replaces the Starter renewal.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The agreement is verbal; no signed order form is in the evidence and the signing date is 18 Nov 2024.
- The finance director and accounts payable will check the paperwork line by line, so a mismatch could delay payment.
- The warehousing connector is not scoped, so no go-live can yet be promised.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Growth brings forty users, eight connectors, the dashboards builder and quarterly reviews.
- Warehousing accounts could be added as a new source and further teams brought in.
Transcript
- Tom Ashdown NoneHello, hello. Liam, can you hear me? I think you might be on mute, mate.
- Liam Doherty NoneSorry, sorry, yeah. Is that better? I had the headset on the wrong input again.
- Tom Ashdown NoneLoud and clear now. Afternoon. How's your week been?
- Liam Doherty NoneBusy. Good busy, mostly. A couple of the retail contracts had a rough weekend on deliveries, so Monday was all exceptions and phone calls. But I could actually see it all in one place this time, which, honestly, love that. One view, that's the point.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo drama, that's what I like to hear. Is Mark joining us? I've got him on the invite.
- Liam Doherty NoneHe said he would. He's in a meeting that's overrunning, so he'll dial in when he's out. We might get him halfway through.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's fine. Let's make a start and he can catch up. Shout if I ramble, I do that.
- Liam Doherty NoneYou? Never.
- Tom Ashdown NoneHa. So, the reason for today, as I see it. Last time we talked about whether Starter still fits you, and I think you've got a few things to tell me about how people are actually using it. So go on, give me the honest picture.
- Liam Doherty NoneYeah. So the short version is more people are in it than when we started. It was basically me and a couple of the account managers at head office. Now the depot account managers have got logins and they're actually asking it things. Delivery exception tickets, which retailer's been let down twice this month, that sort of thing. We're up a lot on the quarter. It's about seven of us on a typical day now, and that's a proper change from where we were.
- Tom Ashdown NoneSeven on a typical day, out of the fifteen seats.
- Liam Doherty NoneRight, out of fifteen. So on paper we've got room. But the thing is, it's not about seats, it's about teams. Starter's one team, isn't it? And I've got revenue ops, I've got the depot managers, and now the warehousing side are asking if they can see their client accounts in there too. So, you know, can we get the depots on it? Yes. But not on one team's licence, not really.
- Tom Ashdown NoneYeah, that's the nub of it. Starter's built for one team. Growth is the several-teams tier. You get forty users rather than fifteen, eight connectors, and the dashboards builder, which I know you've been asking about.
- Liam Doherty NoneThe dashboards, yeah. Because right now I'm taking answers out of the chat and pasting them into slides for the depot managers. Which defeats the point a bit.
- Tom Ashdown NoneHa, it does a bit. You'd build it once and they'd just look at it. And you get a quarterly review on Growth as well, instead of the six-monthly check-in.
- Liam Doherty NoneMarcus has been good, to be fair. I'd want to keep him.
- Tom Ashdown NoneOh, he's not going anywhere. Same Marcus, same number, more of his time if anything.
- Mark Siddall NoneSorry, lads. Meeting ran over. Afternoon. Bottom line?
- Tom Ashdown NoneAfternoon, Mark. Good timing, actually. Bottom line is Liam's team are using the brain a lot more than when you signed, it's outgrown Starter, and the sensible move is Growth, from 1 Dec 2024. That lines up with where your current term finishes.
- Mark Siddall NoneWhat's it doing for us?
- Liam Doherty NoneTwo things, Mark. One, we spotted a retail contract going wrong before the retailer rang us. That's the reason we bought it in the first place. Two, the depot account managers can see their own accounts, the tickets and the calls together, without waiting for me to send a spreadsheet round. One view, that's the point.
- Mark Siddall NoneGood. That's the one I care about. Retailers don't ring us. We ring them.
- Liam Doherty NoneExactly that.
- Mark Siddall NoneI trust Liam on this. What's it cost?
- Tom Ashdown NoneRight. So, and I'll say this straight, Mark, I don't want to quote you from memory and get it wrong, so I'll confirm every figure in writing. But the Growth deal comes to forty-four thousand. That's the whole deal value, the implementation included, so it's not a yearly number. You're at nineteen and a half thousand a year on Starter today.
- Mark Siddall NoneSo more.
- Tom Ashdown NoneMore, yeah. No hiding from it. But you get several teams on it, forty users instead of fifteen, the dashboards builder and the quarterly reviews. And it replaces the Starter renewal, so you're not paying for both.
- Mark Siddall NoneIs that a fair number?
- Tom Ashdown NoneIt's where Growth sits on our price list, Mark. No games. I'm not going to pretend there's a secret one under the table.
- Mark Siddall NoneFine. I don't haggle. Liam, you're sure?
- Liam Doherty NoneSure. Honestly, I'd have pushed for it sooner. Seven of us on a normal day, up a lot on last quarter, and the depot lot haven't even started properly yet.
- Mark Siddall NoneThen crack on. Growth. From 1 Dec 2024.
- Tom Ashdown NoneLovely. Just so I've got it right for the notes, you're agreeing Growth from 1 Dec 2024, with Starter ending on 30 Nov 2024 as planned.
- Mark Siddall NoneYes. Growth. That's agreed.
- Tom Ashdown NoneBrilliant. Thanks, Mark. I'll get the order form over to you and Liam. I've got 18 Nov 2024 down as the date we want it signed by, so there's plenty of time.
- Mark Siddall NoneWho signs? Me. Send it to me and Liam. Our finance director will want it on paper. He'll go through it properly.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo problem at all, and that's sensible. Leave that with me. If you want him copied in from the start, just give Liam a nod and I'll add him.
- Mark Siddall NoneLiam'll sort it. Anything else? I've got a yard full of lorries.
- Liam Doherty NoneOnly the depots, Mark. Can we get the depot managers on it properly now it's Growth?
- Mark Siddall NoneYes. Do it. They'll moan, then they'll use it. Right, that's me. Crack on.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, Mark. Speak soon.
- Tom Ashdown NoneWell. That was painless. Told you he'd be quick.
- Liam Doherty NoneHe's quick when he trusts you. I wrote him a note last week so he'd not have to read anything. He doesn't read long emails, you know that.
- Tom Ashdown NoneHa, good call. Right, so now we've got the yes, let's talk about how it actually lands, because I don't want the order form to be the end of it. What do you want the first month to look like?
- Liam Doherty NoneDepots first. There's Trafford Park and the five others, and I want the account managers at each one to have a login and a dashboard that shows them their own retailers. Delivery exceptions, open tickets, when we last spoke to the retailer. If they've got that on a Monday morning they don't need me.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's a good use of the dashboards builder. Do you want to build them yourself or have Marcus sit with you for the first one?
- Liam Doherty NoneSit with me for the first one. Then I'll copy it for the rest. I know what I want it to show, I just haven't done it in your tool before.
- Tom Ashdown NoneSensible. I'll ask Marcus to get a session in the diary for early December. And with eight connectors you've got more room than you do now, so if there's a source you've been wanting to add, now's the time to say.
- Liam Doherty NoneThere's a couple. The warehousing side have their own set of records that aren't in there yet. I'd want those in so the contract warehousing accounts look the same as the road freight ones. Same view, same questions.
- Tom Ashdown NoneRight. I'll flag that to Marcus so he can scope it before you start, rather than finding out in the middle. I don't want to promise a go-live on a connector until he's had a look at it.
- Liam Doherty NoneFair. I'd rather it was right than fast. Last thing I want is the depot managers seeing half the picture and deciding it's rubbish.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo, completely. That's the thing to protect. If the data's stale people stop asking, and then you've paid for something nobody uses.
- Liam Doherty NoneWhich is why I keep banging on about the depots. Usage is the whole game, isn't it? If they ask it things it's worth it. If they don't, it's an expensive filing cabinet.
- Tom Ashdown NoneI'd not put it better myself. One thing I'd suggest, and you can tell me to get lost, is that you pick one champion in each depot. Not the manager necessarily. Whoever's the sort of person who'll actually ask it a question and then tell the others what it said.
- Liam Doherty NoneLove that. Yeah. There's one lad at the Trafford Park depot who's already doing it without being asked. I'll make him the example. Then it's not me telling them, it's one of theirs.
- Tom Ashdown NonePerfect. That's worth ten emails from head office.
- Liam Doherty NoneHa, definitely. Right. Money side. Do I need to do anything before the order form comes, or do I just wait?
- Tom Ashdown NoneTwo things, if you can. One, give Joanne in accounts payable a heads up that a new order form's coming, and that it replaces the Starter renewal rather than sitting on top of it. I don't want her thinking she's got two invoices to deal with. And two, let me know if your finance director wants anything particular on it, a purchase order reference or whatever.
- Liam Doherty NoneJoanne's very particular. She'll want it to match a purchase order down to the line. I'll tell her it's coming.
- Tom Ashdown NoneGood. That's what I'd want, honestly. I'd rather she was fussy than we had a payment sat in a queue because something didn't match. And I'll confirm the split of the deal value in writing, so it's clear what's the implementation and what's the subscription. I'm not going to quote that from memory on a call.
- Liam Doherty NoneNo, that's what I'd want. Put it in the cover email so I can forward it as it is.
- Tom Ashdown NoneWill do. Leave that with me.
- Liam Doherty NoneOne more thing, and it's a bit of a worry, I suppose. When we move across on 1 Dec 2024, does anything go dark? Because the depots are using it already and I don't want a day where it's switched off while someone presses a button.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo, shouldn't be. It's the same brain in your same Snowflake account. What changes is what you're entitled to, not where it lives. So nothing gets rebuilt, you just get the extra users and connectors and the dashboards builder switched on. I'll get Marcus to confirm the exact mechanics, but I'd be very surprised if there's any downtime at all.
- Liam Doherty NoneGood. That's what I hoped. I'll tell the depots nothing changes except they get more.
- Tom Ashdown NoneExactly. More, not different. Anything else on your list? You normally come with a list.
- Liam Doherty NoneHa. I do. Yeah. Mostly it's done now. The other one is the six-monthly check-in versus quarterly, can we make the first quarterly one early in the new year? I want to show Mark what the depots have done with it, in numbers, so he's not just taking my word.
- Tom Ashdown NoneI'll pass that to Marcus, he owns those. But yes, that's exactly what they're for. Start with what the depots are asking it, how many questions, who's asking, and what changed in how you handled a retailer because of it. Mark's the sort who likes one page, isn't he?
- Liam Doherty NoneOne page, big print. Ha. But yes. That's the one. Give him the story and then the numbers.
- Tom Ashdown NoneDone. I'll make sure it's in Marcus's notes. Right. Recap, so we both leave with the same picture. Mark's agreed Growth from 1 Dec 2024. Starter finishes on 30 Nov 2024 and Growth replaces the renewal. I send the order form to you and Mark, with the figures confirmed in writing, and we want it signed by 18 Nov 2024. You warn Joanne it's coming. Marcus books you a session for the first dashboard in early December and scopes the warehousing source.
- Liam Doherty NoneThat's the lot. And you'll copy our finance director if I nod?
- Tom Ashdown NoneI will. Just say the word.
- Liam Doherty NoneBrilliant. Thanks for making it easy, Tom. I did think Mark might want to go through it all line by line.
- Tom Ashdown NoneHe trusts you. That's the whole reason it went like that. Honestly, you've done the hard work. All I've done is turn up with a form.
- Liam Doherty NoneHa, don't undersell the form. Right, I'd better get back to the exceptions. The Monday backlog doesn't clear itself.
- Tom Ashdown NoneGo on then, I've kept you long enough. Enjoy the rest of your week, and let's get something in the diary for the order form once you've seen it. If anything looks off, ring me, don't sit on it.
- Liam Doherty NoneWill do. Cheers, Tom.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, Liam. Speak soon.