Calderbrook Housing Group / BB-Demo – Qbr
Callcompleted
Calderbrook Housing Group: documents · 2026-04-24 12:30
At the 24 Apr 2026 QBR with new CSM Amara Obi, Helen Marsden and Paul Rigby say the repairs double-count is unresolved, use fell because of trust and IT's in-house build, and finance will ask whether the brain is worth the money.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26At the 24 Apr 2026 QBR with new CSM Amara Obi, Helen Marsden and Paul Rigby say the repairs double-count is unresolved, use fell because of trust and IT's in-house build, and finance will ask whether the brain is worth the money.
What happened: Paul showed duplicate repairs rows, one from the old feed and one from the new, both counted by the brain. Amara committed to an answer from engineers in rows and figures, and to re-prioritise the ticket.
Customer view: Helen says use fell when the numbers stopped matching, and that analysts moved to testing the in-house platform. It is decided it is being built, but not that the board pack moves.
Commercial: Amara restated £44,000 a year on Growth, invoiced and nothing outstanding, with the term ending 1 Sep 2026. Helen expects finance and the executive to question value given the usage.
Watch: Helen asked about running both platforms side by side as a fallback. She is wary of widening access while the repairs figure is wrong.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Value case before renewal
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
champion
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Amara Obi takes Paul's repairs ticket to engineers, re-prioritises it and reports back by the end of the week.
- Amara prepares a short value summary of which board pack figures come from the brain.
- Amara sends three QBR date options this afternoon, avoiding Mondays.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The unresolved repairs double-count keeps the board pack untrusted and use low, with around five active users against forty licensed.
- The in-house platform could take the board pack, and Helen is already asking for a side-by-side fallback.
- Finance and the executive will question value at renewal given the usage.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Repairs team leaders and finance are named groups who could use the brain once the number is right.
- A value summary showing which board pack figures come from the brain, and a side-by-side comparison, could defend the subscription.
Transcript
Amara Obi NoneHello, hello. Can you both hear me? Helen, I can see you, Paul, I think you've just joined.
Paul Rigby NoneAye, I'm here. Can't see myself, mind. Camera's doing summat daft.
Helen Marsden NoneAfternoon, Amara. Yes, I can hear you. Paul, leave the camera, we don't need to see you.- Amara Obi NoneAfternoon both. Thanks for making the time over lunch, I know that's not ideal. Let me introduce myself properly, because we haven't had much chance to talk. I'm Amara, I'm the customer success manager looking after Calderbrook now. I've picked up the account fairly recently, so I've read back through the notes and tickets from earlier check-ins, but I'm not going to pretend I was in the room for them.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's appreciated. We've had a few changes of face, as you'll have seen.
- Amara Obi NoneI did see. And I'd rather say that and then do the work, than skate over it. So the way I like to start is this: what does good look like for you this quarter? Not what's in the contract, what would make you think this was worth it.
- Helen Marsden NoneCan I start with the discrepancy? Because it's still not resolved and it's what good looks like, really. A board pack where the repairs number reconciles to the housing management system. Last month it didn't, and the board will ask again when they see this month's.
- Amara Obi NoneYes. I've seen the ticket history on that. Paul, do you want to show us what you've got? I understand you've got a report.
- Paul Rigby NoneAye. I'll share it. Hang on. Right, can you see that?
- Amara Obi NoneI can see a table, yes. Is that the repairs completed report?
- Paul Rigby NoneThat's it. That's the one that's wrong. Double-counted again. Look at these two rows, same job reference, same address, same date. One's from the old feed and one's from the new. Brain's counting both.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's what I need to be able to say to the board. That's exactly the thing. Can you show me the source, Paul? Which system is each row from?
- Paul Rigby NoneThere's a column. Source system. Left-hand side. That one's the repairs scheduling export, that one's the housing system directly. Both are real. Both are in there.
- Amara Obi NoneSo, if I've understood, since the housing system was upgraded, the same job is arriving through two routes, and the brain is faithfully recording both. Is that fair?
- Paul Rigby NoneI wouldn't say why it's happening. I don't know why. I know it's there and I know it's two.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's fair, and thank you, I won't put words in your mouth. Here's what I can do. I want our engineers to look at this, because whether it's the source or the way it's joined, a number the board can't trust is a number nobody will use. I can't give you the cause today. I can tell you I'll get you an answer rather than another acknowledgement.
- Helen Marsden NoneAn answer with figures, please. I won't take an explanation without the figures.
- Amara Obi NoneWith figures. Before and after counts, row by row, same as Paul's report.
- Paul Rigby NoneAny update on the one I raised? It's been a bit.
- Amara Obi NoneI'll be honest, I've got it open in front of me. It's the only ticket from your team in the last month, and it's not high priority on the form, but I'd say that's the form being wrong, not the problem being small. I'm going to re-prioritise it with the support team this afternoon and I'll tell you both what I've been told by tomorrow.
- Paul Rigby NoneRight. Ta.
- Amara Obi NoneCan I put some numbers up, then, and you tell me whether they match what you see? It's the part of a QBR I'd never skip, even when it's not comfortable.
- Helen Marsden NoneGo on.
- Amara Obi NoneHere's what the numbers say. You're on Growth, forty licensed users. Over the last month the average number of active users has been around five. That's down again on the previous quarter, by a little under a sixth. So there are about thirty-five licences that nobody's touching in a typical month.
- Helen Marsden NoneYes. I'd worked that out. It's lower than I'd like and I won't argue with it.
- Amara Obi NoneI'm not trying to catch anyone out. What I want to understand is whether those people were never really users, or whether they were and have stopped. Because those are different problems with different fixes.
- Helen Marsden NoneSome were users. In the first year we had analysts from complaints, from arrears, a couple from the tenant services team, all asking it questions. Now it's mainly me and Paul and one or two others. People stopped when the numbers started not matching. It's easier to go back to the spreadsheet you trust.
- Paul Rigby NoneMe and Helen. And one lass from complaints, now and again.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's very clear, thank you. So the usage drop has a cause you can name, which is trust. I'd rather hear that than a vague answer.
- Helen Marsden NoneThere's another cause, and I'd rather say it than have you find out sideways. There's an in-house platform being built by our IT team. A few of the analysts have been moved onto testing it. It's taking time that would have gone on the brain.
- Amara Obi NoneThank you for saying so. Can I ask where that sits? Is that a decision that's been made, or something that's being explored?
- Helen Marsden NoneIt's been decided that it's being built. Whether the board pack moves over, and when, hasn't been decided. And for the record, it wasn't my plan. It came from above and a colleague in IT is leading it. My job is to make sure the pack doesn't break in the meantime.
- Amara Obi NoneUnderstood. And I'm not going to pretend I'd welcome it, but I'd rather be useful while it happens than defensive. Can I ask how you'd compare the two, honestly? What does the in-house one do that the brain doesn't, and the other way round?
- Helen Marsden NoneI don't know yet, that's the truth. It's early. It doesn't have the calls or the complaints or the repairs tickets joined up. At the moment it's housing system data and finance. It's tidy, but it's narrow.
- Paul Rigby NoneAnd it'll have its own bugs. It's not like it'll count right first go.
- Helen Marsden NonePaul.
- Paul Rigby NoneWell it won't.
- Amara Obi NoneHa, I'll take that on the record, but I'll leave it alone. What I'd say is that the brain's value for you was always joining the sources up, so the board saw one picture. If that's still what matters, that's the thing to hold the in-house platform up against, whichever way it goes.
- Helen Marsden NoneYes. That's how I'd put it to the board. One picture, reconciled, with the source for each figure.
- Amara Obi NoneThen let's make sure the brain does that properly this quarter, so it's judged on its best, not on a double count. Can I ask the other thing I always ask: who else should have access? You've got a lot of room, and there might be people who'd get value if they knew it was there.
- Helen Marsden NoneHm. Honestly, the repairs team leaders would use it if they trusted it. And someone in the finance team asked about arrears last month. But I'd be nervous about opening it up while the repairs figure is wrong. It would just create more complaints.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's a sensible order of events. Fix the number first, then widen it. I'll note the repairs team leaders and finance as the two groups to come back to.
- Paul Rigby NoneI could do a session for the team leaders. I've done a few. They like it when it's their own jobs on the screen.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's brilliant, Paul, and I'd gladly back you up with that. I can join, or send some material, or just stay out of the way. Whichever is useful.
- Paul Rigby NoneStay out the way till the numbers are right.
- Amara Obi NoneFair enough. Message received.
- Helen Marsden NoneCan I ask about the contract, Amara? So I understand where we stand if I'm asked.
- Amara Obi NoneOf course. Contracted at forty-four thousand a year on Growth, and that matches what's been invoiced, with nothing outstanding. The term ends on 1 Sep 2026, with renewal on 2 Sep 2026. So it's a few months off, and it's why I'd like us to be clear on value well before then.
- Helen Marsden NoneRight. Because I'll be asked, by finance and by the executive, whether it's worth the money, given the usage.
- Amara Obi NoneAnd that's a fair question. I'd rather help you answer it well than have you guess. What would you need to see to be able to say yes, or to say no? Because I'd rather you had the evidence either way.
- Helen Marsden NoneA clear case for the board pack. How many of the figures in it come from the brain, and how many would be harder to get without it. And a plain statement of what the repairs problem was and that it's fixed.
- Amara Obi NoneI can do both of those. The first one's easy enough to pull together. The second depends on the engineers, and I won't give you a date on it that I don't own. What I'll do is tell you what they say by the end of the week, so you've got something firm.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's fine. That's more than I've had.
- Amara Obi NoneCan I take a step back and ask something about how you're using it, rather than whether? Paul, what's your morning like? You said earlier the dashboards need to be right before stand-up.
- Paul Rigby NoneEight o'clock I open the repairs one. If it's wrong I've got ten minutes to find out why before I'm stood in front of the team with it. That's the whole thing. If it's right I never think about it.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's the best description of value I've heard in a while, actually. Nobody notices it when it works. Would a note first thing when the overnight refresh has gone wrong be useful? So you know before you open it?
- Paul Rigby NoneAye. That'd save me some bother. Though it's not the refresh that's the problem, the data's there on time, it's just there twice.
- Amara Obi NoneRight, so that wouldn't catch it. Noted. Availability and freshness are fine, it's correctness. That's a different thing, and I'll make sure it's written that way so nobody on our side thinks it's solved because the refresh runs.
- Helen Marsden NoneThank you. That's the distinction I've been trying to make for weeks.
- Amara Obi NoneIs there anything else outstanding that isn't repairs? Helen, you mentioned complaints and arrears before.
- Helen Marsden NoneArrears is fine. Complaints, I checked this week. It reconciles. So it's just repairs.
- Amara Obi NoneGood. Then it's a narrow problem, which is the best kind. Narrow and fixable.
- Paul Rigby NoneIf it's fixable.
- Amara Obi NoneIf it's fixable, yes. Fair challenge. I'd say I believe it is, but you'll want the figures, not my belief.
- Helen Marsden NoneCan I ask one more thing about the in-house work? Not to put you on the spot. If we ran the two side by side for a period, would that be something you could support, or would you find that awkward?
- Amara Obi NoneNot awkward at all. I'd think it was the sensible thing to do. If the board pack is being compared, the comparison should be on the same figures and the same dates. I'd be glad to help set that up. I'd want you to be the one deciding, though, not me.
- Helen Marsden NoneGood. I'll raise it internally. I don't know the answer, I just don't want to be caught without a fallback.
- Amara Obi NoneThat sounds sensible to me. Okay, I think I've got the shape of it. Can I read back what I've written down?
- Helen Marsden NonePlease.
- Amara Obi NoneOne. I take Paul's repairs ticket back to our engineers and get it prioritised properly, with an answer in rows and figures, and I tell you what they've said by the end of the week. Two. I put together a short value summary for the board pack, which of the figures come from the brain. Three. Once the repairs number is right, we look at opening access to the repairs team leaders and finance, with Paul leading the sessions. Four. If you want to run the in-house platform side by side, I help set up the comparison. Five. We get the next review in the diary, so renewal isn't something that arrives sideways.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's about right. I'd say number one is the one I care about.
- Amara Obi NoneNumber one is the one I'll do first. And on the last one, let's get the next QBR in the diary now rather than leave it. How do the next few weeks look for you both?
- Helen Marsden NoneDon't ask me now, I haven't got my calendar. Send me some options and I'll pick.
- Amara Obi NoneI'll send three options this afternoon. Paul, same for you, but I'll assume you'll go with whatever Helen picks.
- Paul Rigby NoneAye. Not Mondays though. Mondays I'm on the repairs rota.
- Amara Obi NoneNo Mondays. Got it.
- Helen Marsden NoneThank you, Amara. I wasn't sure what to expect, honestly, with a new person. It's been more useful than I thought.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's kind. I'll try and earn it with the answer on repairs. Thanks both for being so open, it makes it far easier.
- Paul Rigby NoneRight, I'll get back to it. Job ref's attached to the ticket if your engineers want it.
- Amara Obi NoneI'll make sure they see it. Speak soon. Best, Amara.
- Helen Marsden NoneKind regards. Bye now.
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