What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26Tom Ashdown walked Hugh Firth through a Starter proposal on 20 May 2024. Hugh accepted the headline price, expects payback within six months, and was to bring in finance before signing an order form. The evidence does not show it being signed.
What happened: Tom proposed Starter for Vantrell Software: up to fifteen users, four connectors, search and chat. The terms were £6,000 implementation over four weeks plus a £19,500 annual subscription, invoiced in advance on Net 30.
Customer view: Hugh asked for flexibility on the first-year number, then accepted it himself. He said the team expects the brain to pay for itself in support efficiency.
Commercial: Tom told Hugh the renewal would be at the full Starter list price of £19,500. Hugh was to loop in finance, and the order form was promised by the end of that week.
Watch: this is a proposal, not executed paper. Nothing in this call shows a signature, and the finance team had not yet been involved.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Tom Ashdown to send the order form covering price, term, connectors and payment terms by the end of that week.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Finance had not yet seen the deal, so sign-off could still change terms or timing.
- The order form was only promised, so the proposal remains an open item.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Hugh expects payback in support efficiency, which gives a value case to build the first renewal on.
Transcript
- Tom Ashdown NoneHi Hugh, thanks for joining. How's your week going?
- Hugh Firth NoneGood, Tom. The demo a couple of weeks back was really interesting. The team's keen on moving forward.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's brilliant to hear. So I've put together a proposal. Let me walk you through the key points.
- Tom Ashdown NoneFor Vantrell, I'm recommending Starter tier. That gives you up to fifteen users: which covers your customer success team: four connectors, so you'd have Zendesk, your product usage data, and a couple of others. Full search and chat functionality.
- Hugh Firth NoneThat sounds about right for our use case.
- Tom Ashdown NoneGood. So the deal is twenty-five thousand five hundred for the first year, all-in. That's six thousand for implementation: four weeks, end of June, and nineteen thousand five hundred for the annual subscription.
- Hugh Firth NoneOK. So if we sign now, we'd go live at the end of June?
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's the plan. We'd kick off straight away, four-week clock, and you'd be live by the end of June or early July.
- Hugh Firth NoneAnd then the nineteen thousand five hundred is renewable each year after?
- Tom Ashdown NoneYes, exactly. That's the annual subscription. At renewal, so next May, you'd pay the full Starter list price, which is nineteen thousand five hundred.
- Hugh Firth NoneIs there flexibility on the first-year number?
- Tom Ashdown NoneThere can be a bit of room on a first deal, especially if you're ready to sign and go. But I'd need to check with my manager before I'd move on the headline number. What were you thinking?
- Hugh Firth NoneJust checking. I think twenty-five thousand five hundred is OK actually. We think this will pay for itself in the first six months just in support efficiency.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's a really healthy view. Most customers see the value quickly once the team's using it. So I'll assume we're good with the headline number.
- Hugh Firth NoneYeah, let's go with it.
- Tom Ashdown NoneBrilliant. So what I'll do is prepare an order form. It'll cover the price, the term: which is a year from signature: the connectors we've discussed, and the payment terms.
- Hugh Firth NoneWhat are the payment terms?
- Tom Ashdown NoneFor Starter we invoice in advance. So you'd pay the full twenty-five thousand five hundred up front on day one of the contract, Net 30.
- Hugh Firth NoneAnd who do I send the signed order form back to?
- Tom Ashdown NoneI'll include my email on it, so just back to me. I'll countersign and we'll get it back to you. Then Laura from implementation will reach out to set up a kick-off call with you and your customer success manager.
- Hugh Firth NonePerfect. When do you think you'll have the order form ready?
- Tom Ashdown NoneI'll have it to you by end of this week. Hopefully you can get internal sign-off and get it back to me by early June, which leaves plenty of time for a June signature and a June kick-off.
- Hugh Firth NoneThat should work. I'll loop in our finance team so there's no surprises on their end.
- Tom Ashdown NoneGood idea. And let me know if there's anything else you want covered in the order form. But I think we've got everything: connectors, price, term, the implementation timeline.
- Hugh Firth NoneLooks good to me. Thanks, Tom.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, Hugh. Speak soon.