Merriott Lyle Distribution / BB-Demo – Onboarding
Callcompleted
Merriott Lyle Distribution: documents · 2025-03-14 10:30
Onboarding call on 14 Mar 2025. Deepa Chauhan wants one version of each trade account and needs an early result she can show regional directors against £116k a year. Access and matching steps were agreed.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26Onboarding call on 14 Mar 2025. Deepa Chauhan wants one version of each trade account and needs an early result she can show regional directors against £116k a year. Access and matching steps were agreed.
What happened: Onboarding call on 14 Mar 2025, two weeks after signing on 28 Feb 2025. Callie Brennan agreed the source order, access needs and account matching with Deepa Chauhan and Tariq Saleem.
Customer view: Deepa wants orders, disputes, calls and invoices together on one trade account. She said the regional directors will ask what £116k a year buys, so she needs an early visible result.
Commercial: Value is being tested against a pilot mid-sized account. Rollout is staged across 200 licensed users, starting with key-account managers and credit control.
Watch: Mailbox access depends on a colleague in IT. The branch system keeps disputes in separate tables from orders, so the mapping needs care.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Onboarding, account matching, value proof
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Tariq to send the table list, field dictionary, CRM service user and accounting credentials in writing.
- Callie to prepare a draft match over a sample and the setup note.
- Deepa to set up the credit control session and name the pilot account.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Regional directors are questioning what £116,500 a year buys, so an early visible result is needed.
- Mailbox access depends on a colleague in IT and has not been confirmed.
- The field dictionary is an old spreadsheet that may not match the live tables.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- A pilot mid-sized account showing disputes, calls and invoices together would give Deepa her proof point.
- Showing who asks the questions once there is usage could strengthen the value case.
Transcript
Callie Brennan NoneHello, can you both hear me alright?
Deepa Chauhan NoneYes, loud and clear. Morning, Callie. Tariq's just joining, I can see him in the lobby.
Tariq Saleem NoneMorning both. Sorry, the camera's being slow. Can you hear me?- Callie Brennan NonePerfect. Morning, Tariq. Right, so, the plan for the next forty minutes or so. First, a quick look at where we are, which is a couple of weeks on from signing on 28 February 2025. Second, the sources one by one, and what I need from your side is written access for each. Third, the account matching, because I know that's what you two care about most. And last, who does what before we switch on the refresh. Does that work?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneThat works. Can I say the one thing I need from today, just so it doesn't get lost?
- Callie Brennan NonePlease.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneOne version of each trade account. That's it. Whatever we connect, when a branch manager looks at an account I want the orders, the disputes, the calls and the invoices sitting together, and I want credit control looking at exactly the same thing they are.
- Callie Brennan NoneUnderstood, and that maps cleanly onto how we scoped it. So we're pointing the right way.
- Tariq Saleem NoneCan I open with the tickets? There's only the one open and it's mine. It's about the role in Snowflake. I think it's sorted, but I haven't confirmed it.
- Callie Brennan NoneWhich role, the one the brain runs under?
- Tariq Saleem NoneYes. I created it earlier in the week and afterwards I couldn't see the schema. Probably a grant I missed, but I don't want to guess at it. I'll check the grants and come back to you.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's fine, I'll put it down as your action. Right, the sources. As I have it: the CRM first, then the branch system, then mailboxes, the call recorder, the helpdesk, and the accounting system for invoices. Is that the list you're working from?
- Tariq Saleem NoneThat's my list. Although I'd say the branch system is really two things.
- Callie Brennan NoneGo on, two how?
- Tariq Saleem NoneThere's the orders and deliveries, which sit in one set of tables, and then the disputes and credit requests, which the branches key into a separate module. Same system on the surface, but different tables, and they don't refresh at the same time.
- Callie Brennan NoneOkay, that's useful, because I only had one. So that's a mapping question.
- Tariq Saleem NoneIt is a mapping question, yes. I'd rather get it right than get it quick.
- Callie Brennan NoneAgreed. I don't sign off a mapping I haven't checked, so can you send me the table names for both, in writing?
- Tariq Saleem NoneI'll send the table list today. And the field dictionary, such as it is. It's a spreadsheet, sorry.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneIt's a spreadsheet that's been passed round by email for about three years, so I wouldn't trust it to match what's live.
- Tariq Saleem NoneWhich is exactly why I want to check it against the live tables first.
- Callie Brennan NoneGood. Let's take the CRM. What I need from your side is a read-only service user, and I need the details in writing before I touch anything. Is that with you, Tariq?
- Tariq Saleem NoneYes. I'll create it and send the details by the secure route, not by email.
- Callie Brennan NoneThank you. Once that's in, the CRM usually lands on the first night without drama: accounts, contacts, opportunities, activity history. What I'll look at is custom fields. Have the key-account managers added many?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneMore than I'd like. Which account, which branch? Half of them are the same thing entered three different ways.
- Tariq Saleem NoneIt's not the managers' fault. The CRM grew as the business grew, and nobody was ever given time to tidy it.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneNo, and I don't want this to turn into a blame conversation. It's a data question. We fix it once and it stays fixed.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's how I'd frame it too. So I'll list every custom field that's actually populated and you tell me which ones matter. Give me a moment, I'll share my screen with the mapping sheet.
- Callie Brennan NoneRight, can you see that? Left column is what's in the CRM, right column is where it lands in the brain. Anything in amber is something I'm not sure about yet.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneI can see it. Scroll down a little. There, credit status. Does that one come across?
- Callie Brennan NoneIt does at the moment, as a text field. But where does it get its value, do you know?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneCredit control update it by hand, and then it drifts. Which is why I want the invoices coming in. Show me where that number comes from is a question I get every month, and I'd like the answer to be a link rather than a story.
- Callie Brennan NoneThen I'd treat the accounting system as the source and the CRM field as a label only. I'll mark that as a decision, and tell me if you disagree.
- Tariq Saleem NoneFine by me. I'll tell Deepa before I change anything, so nothing moves without her knowing.
- Callie Brennan NoneGood. Which brings us to account matching. Tell me how a trade customer looks in the branch system.
- Tariq Saleem NoneEach branch has its own account code for a customer. So a plumbing firm buying from four branches has four codes. The CRM mostly has one record for the firm. There's a parent field in the branch system, but it's only filled in for the bigger customers.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneAnd that's where the rumours start. We've got about a hundred and twenty branches, and one of them thinks a customer is on stop while the next has never heard of it.
- Callie Brennan NoneSo the plan is, we match on the parent where it exists, and where it doesn't we fall back to the trading name and the delivery address. Anything that doesn't match cleanly goes on a review list rather than being guessed. I'd rather show you a gap than hide one.
- Tariq Saleem NoneA review list I like. Who looks at it?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneMy monthly account-data review. I chair it with credit control and the regional directors, so it can go there. Let's get credit control in the room for the first one, because they know which accounts are genuinely duplicates and which are just similar names.
- Callie Brennan NoneGood. I'd suggest a short session before the first refresh, about an hour, with me, Tariq and someone from credit control, to walk through the first batch of unmatched accounts.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneI'll set it up. Will you have something to show?
- Callie Brennan NoneA draft match over a sample, not the whole estate, so you're reacting to real rows rather than a slide.
- Tariq Saleem NoneMm, a sample is right. I'd pick a region we know is messy, not a tidy one.
- Callie Brennan NoneNoted. Next, people. You've got 200 licensed users. How do you want to bring them in?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneNot all at once. Key-account managers and credit control first, then the branch managers, region by region. A handful of people are in already, just poking about, so I don't want to make a big announcement until it's showing the right accounts.
- Tariq Saleem NoneOn admins, it's me and Deepa. I'd like it to stay that way for now, so only two of us can change a mapping.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's sensible, and I'd rather leave you able to run it alone than have me in the middle of everything. I'll write a setup note so the whole thing is on one page, with the mappings and who approved each.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneGood. And look, I'll be honest, the regional directors will ask what we're getting for £116,500 a year. Early on I need one or two things I can show them that came out of the brain and not out of a spreadsheet.
- Callie Brennan NoneFair. What would be the one thing?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneAn account where the disputes, the calls and the invoices appear in one place, and someone can see straight away why a customer is on stop.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's achievable once those three sources are live. I'd pick a pilot account with you from the mid-sized ones.
- Tariq Saleem NoneMid-sized, a few branches each. Not the biggest, those have too much history.
- Callie Brennan NoneAgreed. So the order is the CRM first, then accounting for invoices, then branch orders and disputes, and calls and mailboxes last. I never start a connector without written access, so that's also the order the credentials need to arrive in.
- Tariq Saleem NoneI'll do the CRM and accounting credentials first. Mailboxes depends on a colleague in IT, so I'll chase them.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneOn mailboxes, can we be careful about which ones? I don't want branch inboxes dragged in by accident.
- Callie Brennan NoneWe'll start with the key-account and credit-control mailboxes only. You name them, and nothing else is read.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneGood. Thank you.
- Callie Brennan NoneOne more thing on timing. Once it's switched on, the nightly refresh should be complete by 07:00 each business day, so people have something fresh before they start. Before we switch it on, I want the first batch of matches agreed, so that the first morning isn't confusing.
- Tariq Saleem NoneWhile you were talking I had a look at the role, actually. It has usage on the database but not select on the schema. That's the whole problem. Give me a minute and I'll grant it and check.
- Callie Brennan NoneTake your time. Deepa, while Tariq does that, training. Once the refresh lands I'd do a short walkthrough for the key-account managers, using their own accounts, rather than a generic demo.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneYes, their own accounts. I won't promise the regions anything that doesn't exist yet, so I'd say to them, you'll be able to ask about your accounts and see the orders, disputes and invoices together. That's all. Let's not oversell it.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat's exactly the right level. I can put the same wording in the note so everyone is saying the same thing.
- Deepa Chauhan NonePlease. And show the questions people ask, not just the pages. I'd like to see who's asking, too.
- Callie Brennan NoneWe can do that once there's usage to look at. Tariq, any luck?
- Tariq Saleem NoneDone. I can see the schema now under the brain role. I'll run the check again tonight and send you the result tomorrow, so you've got it in writing.
- Callie Brennan NoneLovely, that's one off the list. Right, let me recap what I've got, and shout if I've got it wrong. Tariq: the table list for both parts of the branch system, the field dictionary, the CRM service user and the accounting credentials, all in writing, and the grant check. Deepa: the session with credit control, the names of the mailboxes, and a view on which mid-sized account is the pilot. Me: the draft match over a sample, and the setup note, with Lewis Kerr on the commercial side and Amara Obi, who'll be your CSM after go-live, copied in.
- Tariq Saleem NoneThat's what I have. I'd add that I'll tell you before I change any mapping on our side, Deepa, not after.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneThank you, that's all I ask. And I'll invite credit control today, so we've got a date before the end of next week.
- Callie Brennan NoneBrilliant. If the credentials arrive before the session, I'll have the first sample ready for it. If they don't, we still have the session, but it'll be the table list and the rules we've talked through.
- Tariq Saleem NoneThey'll arrive. Worst case, the CRM one is tomorrow and accounting is the day after.
- Callie Brennan NoneThat would be ideal. Anything else from either of you before we stop? Anything I've skipped?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneNot from me. This was useful, actually. I came in worried we'd spend the hour on connectors and not on the accounts.
- Tariq Saleem NoneNothing from me either. I'll send the table list straight after this.
- Callie Brennan NoneGreat. I'll send the note this afternoon. Thanks both, speak soon.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneThanks, Callie. Bye, Tariq.
- Tariq Saleem NoneCheers, both. Bye.
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