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Lewis Kerr

Merriott Lyle Distribution / BB-Demo – Proposal

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Merriott Lyle Distribution: documents logo Merriott Lyle Distribution: documents · 2025-01-07 16:15

Malcolm Ridgway, the CFO, reviewed the £146k Enterprise proposal with Deepa Chauhan. He wants the subscription, implementation and VAT split in writing, treats 14 Feb 2025 as a target only, and noted freshness credits.

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What was said

What this says

Current to 11 Oct 26

Malcolm Ridgway, the CFO, reviewed the £146k Enterprise proposal with Deepa Chauhan. He wants the subscription, implementation and VAT split in writing, treats 14 Feb 2025 as a target only, and noted freshness credits.

What happened: Lewis Kerr walked Deepa and Malcolm through the Enterprise proposal for branch, key-account and credit-control teams on 7 Jan 2025. Malcolm said he was not there for a features tour.

Customer view: Malcolm called 14 Feb 2025 a target, not a commitment, and said the figure is in the range he took to the board. He was struck that freshness is covered, not just availability.

Commercial: Lewis said £146k plus VAT is the total including fixed-fee implementation, not an annual price. Malcolm will not sign without reading the written split and service schedule.

Watch: The security review can move the date. The credit control roles session may also change scope.

AI · claude-sonnet-5-5 · 11 Oct 2026

AImade from

Themes

Current to 9 Oct 26
Theme
Enterprise proposal, written split
Importance
upsell
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
decision-maker
AImade from

Who was there

BB-Demo

CRMmade from

Them

CRMmade from

Follow-up

Next steps

Current to 9 Oct 26
  • Lewis Kerr sends the written proposal today with the split, the base on every line, VAT, the service schedule and the insurer page.
  • Deepa Chauhan brings credit control and a regional director together next week and introduces an IT colleague this week.
  • Malcolm Ridgway reads the schedule and sends Lewis any questions.
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Risks

Current to 9 Oct 26
  • The security review could move the 14 Feb 2025 target if the questionnaire goes out late or returns incomplete.
  • Malcolm will not accept a percentage without its base, and the debtor days case has no figure yet.
  • Scope may change after the credit control and regional director roles session.
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Opportunities

Current to 9 Oct 26
  • Freshness credits are an Enterprise feature Malcolm had not assumed, and he tied them to the cost of stale credit data.
  • Enterprise leaves connector headroom beyond the first four sources, such as the order system, without changing tier.
  • An agreed baseline for debtor days and disputed invoices, reviewed quarterly, gives a value case.
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Transcript

  1. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Hello both, can you hear me all right? Good afternoon.
  2. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Afternoon, Lewis. Yes, loud and clear. Malcolm's just coming in, I can hear him in the corridor.
  3. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Afternoon. Sorry, I'm here. Is my camera on? It says it is.
  4. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    It is, and you're very clear. Thanks for making the time, both of you. I know it's the first proper week back.
  5. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Don't remind me. It was dark when I got in and it's dark now. I've not seen daylight since Monday.
  6. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Same here, honestly. Right, shall we...
  7. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Before we start. What has changed since the last call?
  8. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Fair question, and it's a short answer. Two things. The proposal is now written up properly against Enterprise, and I've put Deepa's point about credit control into the scope rather than leaving it as a note. Everything else is as we discussed. So, just to confirm what I understand you want to buy and by when: Enterprise, for the branch, key-account and credit-control teams together, with a target of signing on 14 Feb 2025. Is that still right?
  9. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    A target, yes. Not a commitment. I'll come to that.
  10. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    It's right for me. And the one thing I need from today, if I can say it first, is that the proposal says plainly who sees what, account by account. At the moment branch managers act on rumour. I want them acting on the account view.
  11. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Understood, and I'll make sure that's written into the scope, not just said on a call. Shall I share my screen and walk you through it?
  12. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Go on. But I'll say now, I'm not here for a features tour. Scope, cost, and what it does for us.
  13. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Agreed, I'll keep it to that. Give me a second, sharing now. Can you see the first page?
  14. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    I can see something. It's a bit small. Oh, that's better.
  15. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Yes. I can read that.
  16. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    So page one is the summary. Enterprise tier, one brain built and run inside your own Snowflake account, so the data stays in your estate. Three groups of users: branch, key-account and credit control. The sources we've talked about are your CRM, the accounting system, the helpdesk and the call recorder, plus wherever the order and dispute records sit. And each trade account gets one view, with its orders, disputes, calls and invoices together.
  17. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Which account, which branch? That's what I need to see. If a builder has a dispute open with one branch and is placing an order with another, does the second branch see the dispute?
  18. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Yes, that's the point of it. The account is the unit, not the branch. So the second branch manager would see the open dispute and the credit position on the same page as the order. What each person is allowed to see is set by role, and we agree that with you during implementation. We don't guess it.
  19. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Good. Because it's the roles I'd want credit control and the regional directors to agree. Let's get credit control in the room before this is signed. Not after.
  20. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I think that's sensible. I'll come back to it at the end, because I'd like to put a date on it.
  21. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Right. Cost. Let's have the number.
  22. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Of course. To put a number on it, the proposal comes to £146,500, plus VAT. That's the total for the deal, with the fixed-fee implementation included. So I wouldn't read it as an annual price on its own.
  23. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    One hundred and forty-six five. All in. And the split is?
  24. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    The subscription and the implementation are separate lines on the schedule, and I'd rather not quote the split from memory when you'll be reading the page yourself. It will be in the pack I send you today.
  25. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Then I want it in writing before I say anything else. Subscription, implementation, VAT on each. And I don't take a percentage without the base. If there's a percentage anywhere, show me what it's a percentage of.
  26. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Understood. Every line will have its base next to it.
  27. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Malcolm, can I just check, is that figure what you were expecting, or is it a surprise?
  28. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    It's in the range I took to the board. I'd rather not say more than that on a call.
  29. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Fine. I just wanted to know whether I should be defending it or not.
  30. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    You shouldn't be defending anything yet. Neither of us should. So. What does that do to debtor days?
  31. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I'll be straight with you, I can't put a figure on debtor days from here and I'd be guessing if I did. What I can say is what the brain changes. Credit control and the branch see the same account: the orders, the open disputes, the calls and the invoices together. So when an account is on stop, or an invoice is being held because of a dispute, the person on the phone to that customer can see it.
  32. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    That's the bit I care about. A dispute lives in one system, the invoice in another, and the call about it in somebody's notes. Nobody joins them up until the invoice is badly overdue.
  33. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    So the board case is disputes. Invoices held up by a dispute that credit control didn't know about.
  34. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Partly. It's also the reverse, a branch manager agreeing a favour for an account that's already over its limit. Show me where that number comes from, though, Malcolm, and I'll build it with credit control. I don't want to guess it.
  35. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Put it in writing. What gets measured, from what starting point, reviewed when.
  36. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    That's reasonable, and I'd want it too. A baseline for debtor days and for disputed invoices, agreed at the start, with your accounting system as the source rather than anything we calculate. Then reviewed at the quarterly review with Amara Obi, our customer success manager, and the executive sponsor that comes with Enterprise.
  37. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    And the cost of that review is?
  38. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    It's part of the tier. No separate charge.
  39. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Good.
  40. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Let me go to the scope page. This lists the connections: the CRM, the accounting system, the helpdesk and the call recorder. Enterprise gives you a good deal more room than those four, so if you want the order system added later, or something else, there's headroom without changing tier.
  41. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Which would be good. But I'm not promising the regions anything beyond the first four. If it isn't in the document, it doesn't exist as far as I'm concerned.
  42. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    That's the right way to do it. And it's easier for us too.
  43. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Can I ask about the branch managers, actually? They won't read a manual. They'll look at the account before they ring the customer, if it's quick, and not otherwise.
  44. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Yes. They'd have the account page, and they can ask in plain words in the chat. Something like, is this account over its limit and is anything disputed. The answer comes back with the source behind it, so they can see which record it came from.
  45. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    With the source. Yes. That's the show me where that number comes from again. Good.
  46. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    We'd plan training for the first branches with Amara, so they're not left to work it out. I'd keep that part of the plan with you rather than set it from here.
  47. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Service. If the data is stale, what happens?
  48. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Two different things, and it's worth keeping them apart. Availability is whether the brain answers at all. Freshness is whether it's answering on last night's data. On Enterprise both are covered by service credits. The nightly refresh is meant to be complete by seven each business morning.
  49. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Credits are a percentage of what?
  50. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    A share of one month's fee, for each month with a breach. The exact share is in the order form and I won't give it from memory. You'll have it on the page.
  51. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    A share. Which share? No, don't answer. I'll read it. I don't sign anything without reading the schedule.
  52. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I wouldn't expect you to.
  53. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Give me a minute. I want to read this page properly.
  54. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Of course. Take your time. I'll stop sharing the scope and leave the service page up.
  55. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    While he's reading. Lewis, who is the person on your side once we've signed? I don't want to find that out on the day.
  56. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Amara Obi. She's our customer success manager and she'd own the implementation plan with you. I stay with the commercial side, so anything on the order form comes back to me.
  57. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Good. Amara, I think I've met by email. Thank you.
  58. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Yes, she's been copied on a couple of things.
  59. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Right. I've read it. Freshness is covered, not just availability. That's different from what I assumed.
  60. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    It's one of the things Enterprise has that the lower tiers don't. If the brain is up but answering on stale data, that's a miss on the freshness side, and it's credited.
  61. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Because stale data in credit control is worse than no data. Someone ships to an account on stop because the brain was behind.
  62. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Which is exactly what happens now, without the brain, only nobody can say why.
  63. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Hm. Yes.
  64. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    A different question. Once a year the credit insurer asks me how we monitor accounts on stop. If this shows it, can I tell them that?
  65. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I wouldn't put words in the insurer's mouth. What I can do is document what the brain shows, who sees it and how fresh it is, and you take that to them. What they make of it is theirs to say.
  66. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    That will do. In writing, again.
  67. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I'll add it to the pack as its own page.
  68. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    One more item from my side, and then I'll stop. On Enterprise there's a security review, and we support it. Is there someone in IT who should get the questionnaire?
  69. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    A colleague in IT, yes. I'll introduce you this week. I don't want it landing on them cold.
  70. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Thank you. The sooner it starts, the less likely it is to sit between you and 14 Feb 2025.
  71. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    What does the review do to the date if it overruns?
  72. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Then the date moves. I'd rather say that now than promise a date the review decides. The target holds if the questionnaire goes out early and comes back complete.
  73. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Fair.
  74. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Can I come back to rollout? The regional directors will ask when their branches get it and what they'll see on day one.
  75. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Implementation is phased, by agreement. Amara would own that plan with you once there's an order form. Until then I'd keep what you tell the directors to what's on the scope page, so nobody's expecting more than we've written down.
  76. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    That's what I'll do. I'm not going to promise a region something before it exists. It always comes back.
  77. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    It does.
  78. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Which brings me back to credit control in the room. Next week, with a regional director, so the roles are agreed before Malcolm finishes the schedule.
  79. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    I'll read the schedule either way. But a session on the roles is sensible. Better they say it's wrong now than after.
  80. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I can join the first part of that session, if it helps, just to answer questions on how roles work. Not a demo. Malcolm, I know.
  81. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Good.
  82. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    I'd like that. People ask better questions when someone from your side is there to answer them straight.
  83. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Lewis. Back on the money. Is the price you've given me firm until the date, or does it move?
  84. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    The proposal is the proposal. If scope changes, the number changes, and I'd show you the change line by line. I'm not going to move it on a call and then write it up afterwards.
  85. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Good. I don't like a price that moves in the room.
  86. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    No, nor do I. It's cleaner for both of us.
  87. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Can I ask the daft question? If we sign, when does the first branch actually see an account page? Roughly.
  88. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Not a daft question at all. The implementation has a fixed length and I'd rather quote it from the document than from memory. It'll be in the pack, and Amara will confirm it with you when she's in front of the plan.
  89. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Fine. I'll look for it there.
  90. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Is there anything on the order form I'm going to dislike?
  91. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I don't think so. It's the standard terms, with the Enterprise schedule attached. But you read these things differently from me, so read it with a pen. If something's unclear I'd rather you ring me than sit on it.
  92. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    I will.
  93. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Can I say one thing for the record? I've been waiting for this for a while. A single version of each trade account. If we get that, I don't mind how long the rollout takes, as long as it's honest.
  94. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Honest is how we'd want to do it. Thank you, Deepa.
  95. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Anything else from either of you? I have a call at the half hour.
  96. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Not from me. Lewis, can you recap, so I've got it written down?
  97. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Yes. So, from me: I send the proposal pack today, with the split between subscription and implementation, the base on every line, the VAT position on each, the service schedule and the page on what the brain shows for the insurer. Deepa, you bring credit control and a regional director together next week, and you introduce your colleague in IT this week. Malcolm, you read the schedule and send me any questions. And we keep 14 Feb 2025 as the target.
  98. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Target. Yes. Send it today.
  99. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I'll send that over today. You should have it before the end of the afternoon.
  100. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    I'll set up the session for next week and copy you in, Lewis. And I'll send the IT introduction tomorrow, so it's not left until Friday.
  101. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Thank you. That's helpful. And if the roles session turns up anything that changes the scope, tell me before Malcolm finishes reading, so the pack isn't out of date.
  102. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Will do. Honestly, I think it will, a little. It usually does when credit control get involved.
  103. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Then it's better to hear it before I read it.
  104. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Agreed. Right, I'll let you go. Thanks both, I appreciate the time.
  105. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Thank you. Speak soon.
  106. Deepa Chauhan
    Deepa Chauhan None
    Thanks, Lewis. Speak next week.
  107. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Cheers both. Bye.
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