What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26At the 27 Jan 2025 QBR, Paul Rigby reported duplicate repairs rows since the housing system upgrade. Usage is spreading beyond two people. Tom Ashdown proposed a spring renewal conversation and no extra spend.
What happened: Paul Rigby showed repairs jobs counted twice since the housing system upgrade. Natalie Eze proposed a load rule keeping one row per job reference, as part of looking after the service rather than new work.
Customer view: Helen Marsden says the argument over pack figures is shorter than before. Paul used to spend most of a morning matching exports by hand, and had not raised a ticket for the duplicates.
Commercial: Tom Ashdown said no purchase is needed, as only a fraction of the 40 licensed users are active. He proposed a spring renewal conversation and will confirm Growth at £44,000 and the term to 1 Sep 2025 against the order form.
Watch: Paul is the only admin and a second is to be chosen. A satisfaction survey source would be a new connector, with room to be checked.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Natalie takes the duplicate row rule to engineers and gives Paul a date by Friday.
- Tom confirms plan details and connector room against the order form and sends renewal diary options.
- Helen and Paul choose a second admin that week.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Duplicate job references inflate repairs counts for anyone asking in chat, not only on Paul's filtered dashboards.
- Paul is the only admin, so the brain rests on one person until a second admin is chosen.
- A batch survey source could stop loading properly if the survey tool changes.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- A satisfaction survey connector, if connector room on Growth allows, would add to the board view.
- The finance team session and sharing Paul's dashboards with housing managers would deepen use.
- Theme finding across tenant calls for the complaints team could show further value.
Transcript
- Natalie Eze NoneAfternoon, both. Helen, Paul, can you hear me alright? Tom's just joining, I think.
- Helen Marsden NoneAfternoon, Natalie. Yes, fine. I can see Paul's here too.
- Paul Rigby NoneAye, I can hear you. Can you see my screen? I've shared it.
- Natalie Eze NoneNot yet, it's just coming up. There we go. Is that the repairs report?
- Tom Ashdown NoneSorry, sorry, I was stuck on another call. Hello, everyone. Helen, how's your week been? It's only Monday, I know, so that might be a daft question.
- Helen Marsden NoneHello, Tom. It's started, put it that way. A lot of people on leave and a lot of reports due. How are you?
- Tom Ashdown NoneCan't complain. Well, I could, but no one would listen. Right, Natalie, I'll let you drive. I'm only here to listen and nod, really.
- Natalie Eze NoneHa, we'll see about that. Paul, you've got something on screen already, so go on.
- Paul Rigby NoneThat's the repairs jobs by patch for last week. It's wrong. Double-counted again. Same job ref, two rows, and the total's inflated for three of the patches. Job refs are attached in my spreadsheet, I've put it in the chat.
- Helen Marsden NoneAnd that's the one that goes into the repairs section of the board pack, so these don't reconcile with the figure the contractor team quote. The board will ask.
- Natalie Eze NoneOkay. Thanks for flagging it now rather than later. Paul, when you say it's the same job ref twice, is that in the housing system itself or only on the dashboard?
- Paul Rigby NoneIn the housing system. Since the upgrade. I've checked the source table and it's there twice. Not the brain doing it.
- Natalie Eze NoneRight, that's what I'd guess, and I'm glad you've checked it. The brain is faithfully copying both rows, because the source says there are two. What we can do is add a rule in the load, inside your own Snowflake account, so that only one row per job reference comes through. Then your dashboards don't need a workaround.
- Paul Rigby NoneI've got a filter on mine. It catches most of it. Not all.
- Natalie Eze NoneSure, and the filter only protects your dashboard. If Helen or someone else asks a question in chat, they'd see the inflated count. A rule at the source of the load protects everyone.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's my worry, to be honest. Paul knows about it. Nobody else does. Someone in the team asks the brain a question about repairs and quotes the answer in a meeting.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo drama, but I'd say that's worth sorting properly. Natalie, is that something that costs anything, or is it just part of looking after the thing?
- Natalie Eze NoneIt's part of looking after it. It's a data quality fix, not a new piece of work. I'll get it with our engineers this week and come back to Paul with a date.
- Paul Rigby NoneAny update on this? Is what I'd ask in a week. So a date's good.
- Natalie Eze NoneFair. You'll have a date by the end of this week. Can you also tell me which patches and which job refs, so we can test against your list? The spreadsheet's perfect.
- Paul Rigby NoneIt's all in there. Job ref, patch, date, which row's the duplicate. I've kept it since the upgrade.
- Natalie Eze NoneThat's gold. Thank you. Right, I'll note that down and we'll move on, otherwise we'll lose the whole hour on it. QBR. Let me share mine. Can you all see the usage page?
- Helen Marsden NoneYes. It's quite a pleasing line.
- Natalie Eze NoneIt is. So over the last month you've averaged getting on for eight people active, and that's up by getting on for half again on the previous quarter. Questions asked are up with it. And the more interesting thing is the spread. Previously it was mostly Helen and Paul. Now there are several others asking regularly.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's what I like to hear. Not one person holding it up.
- Helen Marsden NoneIt's mostly the analysts. And a couple of the housing managers have started asking things themselves, which I didn't plan. One of them asked about void properties by area and came to tell me the answer, a bit pleased with herself.
- Natalie Eze NoneThat's exactly the pattern. When people stop asking an analyst and start asking the brain, you've got the value you bought. Paul, your dashboards are on the page here as well. You've built quite a few.
- Paul Rigby NoneFour. Maybe five. I use them before the morning stand up. If the repairs numbers are right I can say so in two minutes and we move on. If they're wrong I've got to go and find out why.
- Natalie Eze NoneWhich is why the duplicate rows matter so much to you. I get it.
- Paul Rigby NoneAye.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCan I ask, Paul, how was it before? Before the brain, before you had the dashboards?
- Paul Rigby NoneSpreadsheets. I used to export from the housing system, then from the scheduling side, and match them by hand. Took most of a morning. Now it's there when I log in.
- Tom Ashdown NoneBrilliant. Most of a morning, every week?
- Paul Rigby NoneEvery week. Longer at month end.
- Helen Marsden NoneAnd for me it's the pack. Before, three of us would spend days reconciling figures before the board pack could go out, and we'd still argue about which version was right. Now I can say where each figure came from. I'm not claiming it's perfect, we've just talked about a duplicate, but the argument is shorter.
- Natalie Eze NoneI'm going to write that down more or less word for word, if that's all right. It's the sort of thing I want in the QBR summary.
- Helen Marsden NonePlease do. Though check I've said it fairly. I don't want it to read as more than it is.
- Natalie Eze NoneI'll send you the wording and you can change it. Let me go on to tickets, which is the dull page. You've had none in the last month. Is that a sign everything's fine, or have you been wrestling quietly?
- Paul Rigby NoneBit of both. The big ones got sorted. The duplicates I handle myself with the filter, so I didn't raise a ticket. Maybe I should have.
- Natalie Eze NoneRaise it. Honestly. I'd rather have the ticket than not know. It gives us a record, and a clock on it.
- Paul Rigby NoneRight. I'll put it in today with the job refs.
- Helen Marsden NonePlease do, Paul. Then we're all looking at the same thing.
- Tom Ashdown NoneLeave that with me as well, if it helps. If it drags, I'll nudge from my end. But I doubt it will.
- Natalie Eze NoneIt won't. Right, availability. Nothing to report, nightly refresh has finished on time throughout the quarter. That's the page I'm happiest to show. Any thoughts on any of that?
- Helen Marsden NoneNo. It's been there when we've needed it. And that's the high bar for me. If the numbers aren't there before the pack goes out I'm in trouble.
- Natalie Eze NoneFine. So, looking ahead. Last time we talked, Helen, you were thinking about the complaints team and your finance team. Where did that get to?
- Helen Marsden NoneThe complaints team have started. I sat with two of them and we did a few questions together. The finance team, not yet. I wanted the arrears figures nailed down first, because they'll compare them straight away to the ledger.
- Natalie Eze NoneSensible. And I think we got to the bottom of the arrears timing in the new year, so you're clear to bring them in whenever you're ready. Do you want me to run the session?
- Helen Marsden NoneYes. On their own questions, if you can. They'll want to see it handle a month end.
- Natalie Eze NoneMonth end, then. Tom, I think that's one for you too, in the sense of keeping track of where the account's going.
- Tom Ashdown NoneAye, absolutely. So, Helen, you've got forty licensed users, and from what Natalie's showing only a fraction of them are active, so there's no need to buy anything. If anything it's the reverse, I'd rather you filled the ones you've got before anyone talks to you about more.
- Helen Marsden NoneI appreciate you saying that.
- Tom Ashdown NoneIt's true. And the long game's better for both of us. I'd much rather you got the value and told your counterparts at other housing associations than I squeezed anything out of you.
- Helen Marsden NoneWell. That's refreshing.
- Natalie Eze NoneHe means it, for the record. Helen, you mentioned something about satisfaction scores earlier, before the call, in your email.
- Helen Marsden NoneYes. The board would like repairs satisfaction alongside complaints, by area. At the moment satisfaction lives in a separate survey tool and I get an export from it. I wondered whether the brain could hold that as well, so it sits next to the repairs and complaints views.
- Natalie Eze NoneIn principle, yes. It would be a new source, so we'd need to connect it. Let me check what you've got left on connectors on the Growth plan before I promise anything. I believe you've got room, but I'd rather confirm than guess.
- Tom Ashdown NoneSame from me. I'll check the order form so we're not relying on memory, either of us. If it's within what you've got, it's just a piece of setup. No drama.
- Helen Marsden NoneCan you show me the source for the satisfaction data, once it's connected? I'd want to know what's in it and how often it's refreshed. The survey results come in batches.
- Natalie Eze NoneYes. And that's a good point, because a batch source won't refresh nightly with new rows. We'd show the last updated date on the page, same as we're doing for arrears.
- Helen Marsden NoneGood. That's what I'd want.
- Paul Rigby NoneCan I ask a daft one? If the survey tool gets another upgrade, does that break it like the housing system did?
- Natalie Eze NoneNot a daft question at all. It might, yes. If a source changes shape, a connector can stop loading properly, so we watch the number of records coming in. If it goes flat we'd see it, and we'd pick up the phone. It's also why I keep asking you to tell us before a system changes.
- Paul Rigby NoneRight. I'll let you know.
- Helen Marsden NoneBoth of us will. It's on my list now.
- Natalie Eze NoneLovely. Let me ask about people and roles. Who's the main admin on your side? It's Paul, I think, for the day to day. Is there someone covering when Paul's off?
- Paul Rigby NoneNo. It's me. I'm off a week in the spring and it'll just sit.
- Helen Marsden NoneWhich is a fair point, and I'd rather not leave it that way. I could be a second admin, but I'm not the right person for the day to day. Perhaps one of the analysts.
- Natalie Eze NoneI'd go for the analyst. Admin's a small job, mostly adding people and keeping an eye on the sources. I can run an hour with whoever you choose, and Paul can hand over his spreadsheet. It means the brain doesn't rest on one pair of hands.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's something I'd have flagged on a renewal anyway, so good to do it now. Key person thing. Not that it's a worry.
- Paul Rigby NoneI'll have a think who.
- Helen Marsden NoneI'll have a think too, and we'll decide between us this week.
- Natalie Eze NoneGreat. Now, one thing about the pages themselves, if it's useful. Paul's dashboards are built from his questions. If you want, I can show you how to share them with the housing managers so they see the same numbers he does, rather than asking separately.
- Helen Marsden NoneYes, I'd like that. Share what's correct, rather than people creating their own versions.
- Paul Rigby NoneOnly once the duplicates are sorted, mind. I'm not sharing a wrong report with a dozen people.
- Natalie Eze NoneAgreed. Duplicates first, then share. That's the order.
- Tom Ashdown NoneGood plan. Can I jump in on the commercial side, just so nobody's surprised? Helen, you're on Growth, £44k a year as I remember it, though I'll confirm against the order form and send you the details. Term runs to 1 Sep 2025. You've been with us since 2 Sep 2024, so you're nearly five months in.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat matches my understanding. £44k, yes.
- Tom Ashdown NoneGood. Nothing needs doing now. What I'd suggest is we get something in the diary for the spring, a proper renewal conversation, so it's not a rush in the summer. You'll have Natalie's usage summary by then, and we can talk about what you want from the next year rather than what the paperwork says.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's sensible. I'd rather plan it than have it arrive. Will you need anything from me?
- Tom Ashdown NoneOnly what you've already said today, really. What it's done for the board, what you'd like it to do next. And if anyone above you needs to be in the room, we'll arrange that.
- Helen Marsden NoneI'd bring the person who signs it off, yes. But I'd want to show them the pack first. Can you show me the source, if they ask, is what I'm saying. I want the evidence ready.
- Natalie Eze NoneThat's what the summary's for. Each line will say where it comes from. And if there's a figure I can't evidence, I'll leave it out and say so.
- Helen Marsden NoneGood.
- Tom Ashdown NoneLet's get something in the diary, then. I'll send a couple of options once I've had a look at everyone's calendars. Probably a month or so out from the end of the quarter.
- Natalie Eze NoneWhile we're on diaries, the next QBR would be about a quarter from now. I'll send a date. Between now and then I'm happy to do the ad hoc sessions, the walkthroughs and the admin handover.
- Paul Rigby NoneCan I go back to the duplicates a second? I want to be sure I've got what's happening and when.
- Natalie Eze NonePlease do.
- Paul Rigby NoneYou get a date by Friday. You add a rule so one row comes through per job ref. I raise a ticket today. And I don't touch my filter until you say it's live.
- Natalie Eze NoneThat's exactly it. One more thing from me: once it's live, I'd like you to check last week's patch totals against your own count and tell me they're right. You know the figures better than anyone.
- Paul Rigby NoneI will. They'll be right or I'll tell you.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's the answer I wanted. Thank you, both.
- Natalie Eze NoneAnything else anyone wants to raise? We've got a bit of time.
- Helen Marsden NoneJust one. The complaints team asked me if the brain can pick out themes in tenant calls, rather than just count them. Is that fair to ask?
- Natalie Eze NoneIt's fair. The call recordings are one of the sources, so you can ask what tenants have been raising about, say, damp or heating in a given area and get a summary with the calls behind it. It's worth trying with the complaints team in the session. Bring a theme you already know is there, and we'll see whether it finds it.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's a good test. If it finds the one we already know about, I'll believe it on the one we don't.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's the right way to do it. Trust it on what you can check.
- Natalie Eze NoneAnything else? Paul?
- Paul Rigby NoneNo. That's me.
- Natalie Eze NoneOkay. Let me recap what everyone's got, so nobody leaves unsure. I take the duplicate row rule to our engineers and give Paul a date by Friday. I check your connector room for the satisfaction survey, with Tom confirming against the order form. I run the walkthrough for the finance team, built on month end, and a session for the new second admin. And I send the QBR summary with Helen's wording on it.
- Helen Marsden NoneAnd from us. Paul raises the ticket today with the job refs. We decide on the second admin this week. I send you the questions from the finance team. And I tell you if any of our systems are going to move.
- Tom Ashdown NoneAnd I send some diary options for the renewal conversation in the spring, and confirm the plan details from the order form. Leave that with me.
- Natalie Eze NoneThat's everything. Thank you all. It's been a good quarter, honestly, and you should say so to your teams. Most of the credit's yours for actually using it.
- Helen Marsden NoneThank you, Natalie. We do tend to forget to say it. I'll pass it on.
- Paul Rigby NoneCheers. Speak Friday, then.
- Natalie Eze NoneFriday it is. Take care, everyone.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, all. Speak soon.