Merriott Lyle Distribution / BB-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Merriott Lyle Distribution: documents · 2025-12-10 10:30
Renewal call with CFO Malcolm Ridgway: not unhappy, but he will not sign without a side-by-side schedule and evidence on debtor days. BB-Demo's open deal is above the current £116k; target signature is 17 Feb 2026.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26Renewal call with CFO Malcolm Ridgway: not unhappy, but he will not sign without a side-by-side schedule and evidence on debtor days. BB-Demo's open deal is above the current £116k; target signature is 17 Feb 2026.
What happened: On 10 Dec 2025 Lewis Kerr and Amara Obi met Malcolm Ridgway and Bernadette Lowry to discuss the renewal. Lewis confirmed the term ends 27 Feb 2026 and that BB-Demo is aiming to close by 17 Feb 2026.
Customer view: Malcolm wants a return he can show the board, and named debtor days as the test. Bernadette said she stops trusting the brain if it disagrees with the ledger.
Commercial: The current Enterprise figure is £116k a year. The open renewal deal in BB-Demo's system is one hundred and twenty-seven thousand five hundred, and Lewis did not explain the difference on the call.
Watch: Bernadette reported a morning last month when accounts looked a day behind, and Enterprise credits data freshness. Malcolm asked not to be chased before Christmas.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Renewal price and value proof
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Lewis Kerr to send the renewal schedule today, with the current order form and proposed renewal side by side and the service credit wording.
- Amara Obi to send a note on the reconciliation test and to check the stale-data morning once Bernadette gives the day.
- Amara Obi to book the next QBR for the new year, and Malcolm to say where he stands after Bernadette's debtor days check.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Malcolm will not sign a renewal he cannot explain, and the open deal sits above the current annual figure with no breakdown given on the call.
- The brain has not yet been shown to move debtor days, which is the only return the board would accept.
- A stale-data morning and an unreconciled dispute on a heating contractor account could erode Bernadette's trust.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Headroom within the two hundred licensed users lets more branches join without extra cost, which builds goodwill.
- A short branch manager session could widen use beyond Bernadette's team and a few key account managers.
- A reconciliation test on one account could show the brain agrees with the ledger.
Transcript
Amara Obi NoneHello, hello. Can you hear me all right? I've got the recording going, so we're live.
Malcolm Ridgway NoneLoud and clear. Bernadette is just dialling in from the other room.
Bernadette Lowry NoneI'm here. Sorry. The laptop wanted an update, of all things, at half past ten.
Lewis Kerr NoneMorning, both. Always happens when you've got somewhere to be. Lewis here, and Amara's with me.- Amara Obi NoneMorning. Cold enough for you? I came in on the train and there was ice on the platform, so I'm already behind on coffee.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneBirmingham's no better. Half the lorries are sat in the yard because of the frost. Anyway. What's changed since we last spoke?
- Amara Obi NoneFair question, and a good place to start. So, for the record, Malcolm, Bernadette, I'm Amara. I'm the customer success manager on your account. I joined in October, so I haven't been with you from the start, and I'd rather say that plainly than pretend I have. Lewis has been with you from the order form, so he has the history on the commercial side.
- Amara Obi NoneWhat I can do is tell you what the numbers say. And before I do that, what does good look like for you this quarter? I'd like to aim at that rather than at what I think matters.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneGood is simple. I can put a return in front of the board that I believe. And I don't have to explain a line on the bill that I can't defend.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneAnd for me it's the ledger. If the brain says an account is fine and the ledger says otherwise, I stop trusting the brain. Quickly.
- Amara Obi NoneRight. Understood, both of those. So, usage first. Here's what the numbers say. Over the last quarter, regular users are up. In a typical month you've got a little over sixty people actively asking questions, against two hundred licensed users. So there's plenty of headroom, and the direction is the right one.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneA little over sixty out of two hundred. That's, what, under a third.
- Amara Obi NoneIt is, yes. I'm not going to dress that up. But the trend is what I'd look at. It was lower the quarter before, and it's the branch and credit control teams that have come on, not just head office.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneMm. And the two hundred. We pay for two hundred whether they log in or not.
- Lewis Kerr NoneThat's the licence, yes. Enterprise, two hundred licensed users. I'll come on to the commercial side in a moment, if that's all right, Amara. Let's finish the health picture first.
- Amara Obi NonePlease. Tickets: you raised one in the last month, and it was a how-to. Nothing high priority, nothing open that's worrying me. And no overdue invoices on your side, which I'm told is a nice change from most of my accounts.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneWe pay on time. We're a wholesaler, we live on trade credit. If I paid late I'd be a hypocrite.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneCan I ask about the ticket? What was it? Because if it's about a dispute not showing, I want to know.
- Amara Obi NoneGood question. It was a how-to, from a key account manager, about filtering orders by trade account. It was answered the same day. Nothing about disputes. If it had been, I'd have flagged it to you before this call.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneOkay. Because there's a customer I'm worried about, a heating contractor, and I've had a dispute sat on their account that the branch say is resolved. The ledger says otherwise.
- Amara Obi NoneRight. And is that something you've seen the brain get wrong, or is it that the branch and the ledger disagree and the brain is showing both?
- Bernadette Lowry NoneThat's what I don't know. That's the problem. Who changed that? Was it the branch note, or the accounting system?
- Amara Obi NoneSo I'm going to be careful here, because I haven't seen that account and I don't want to guess. What I can say is how it's meant to work. The brain reads the accounting system for what's invoiced and paid, and it reads the calls, emails and tickets for the story around it. If the two disagree, the invoice record is the one that decides money. The notes are context.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneIs that what it actually does, or what it's meant to do?
- Amara Obi NoneFair. That's why I'd like to sit down with you and do it on that one account. Take a statement, take what the brain shows, and line them up together. If it reconciles, great. If it doesn't, we find out why.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneI'll believe it when it reconciles. But yes. Do that. I'll pick the account.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneGood. That's useful. Put that in writing, Amara, whatever you agree with Bernadette. Not because I don't trust you. Because I'll be asked.
- Amara Obi NoneOf course. I'll send a short note after this call with what we're going to test and who's doing what.
- Lewis Kerr NoneCan I bring in the renewal side, then? Malcolm, I'd rather confirm what you want to do and by when, so I'm not guessing. Your current term ends on 27 Feb 2026. The renewal date is 28 Feb 2026. And what we've got in our system is a renewal that we're aiming to have closed by 17 Feb 2026, which gives everyone a clear week and a bit before the term runs out.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneSeventeenth of February. Okay. That's after the board meeting, which I'd rather not be waiting on a signature for.
- Lewis Kerr NoneUnderstood. We can move it earlier if you'd rather. Tell me what works and I'll work back from it.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneLet's see the numbers first. What are we looking at? The figure.
- Lewis Kerr NoneSo, to put a number on it. You're on Enterprise at one hundred and sixteen thousand five hundred a year today. That's what's on the order form and what you've been invoiced. The renewal deal I've got open is for a hundred and twenty-seven thousand five hundred. Now, that's the total value of the deal as it stands in our system. I want to be careful, because I'm not going to read the breakdown out from memory. I'll send it over today, in writing, from the order form.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneA hundred and twenty-seven five against a hundred and sixteen five. That's a gap. And the cost of that is?
- Lewis Kerr NoneEleven thousand, yes, the difference between the two figures. What I don't want to do is tell you what's inside it before I've checked it against the schedule. If I say it wrong, you'll quite rightly hold me to it.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneI would. Is that annual? Is it a one-off? Is it a percentage of something? I never accept a percentage without the base.
- Lewis Kerr NoneNo percentage in what I'm showing you, Malcolm. Just the two totals. And I'll write down in the schedule which part is the annual subscription and which, if any, is something else. You'll have it side by side.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneGood. Side by side. And I want the current term next to it, so I can see what's changed line by line.
- Lewis Kerr NoneDone. Current order form, proposed renewal, both on one page.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneCan I ask something about the licence while we're here? Two hundred users. Does that include the branch staff who only look at one account a week? Because I've got people who'd use it in a pinch and not otherwise.
- Amara Obi NoneIt's a licensed user count, so anyone with access counts against the two hundred. That's why I asked at the top who else should have access. If there are branch people you'd like to bring in, there's room, and you don't need to pay for more to do it.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneSo I could add more branches without it costing us.
- Lewis Kerr NoneWithin the two hundred, correct. And I won't tell you to buy more than you use. At a little over sixty active, you've got plenty of room before it's a conversation.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneThat's a refreshing thing to hear from a supplier. Write that down as well.
- Lewis Kerr NoneIt'll be in the note.
- Amara Obi NoneCan I come back to your first point, Malcolm? The return you can show the board. I'd like to build that properly rather than say it nicely. What would the board actually believe?
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneDebtor days. If the credit team are finding disputes earlier and clearing them faster, that should show up. I don't want a slide about questions asked. Nobody on my board cares how many questions were asked.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneAnd it should be me telling him, not you telling him. If it's real I'll say so.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's fair, and I think that's the right way round. Here's what I can offer. I can show you who is asking what, so you can see whether credit control's questions are about disputes, ageing and stops, which is the kind of use that points to money. But I can't measure debtor days for you. That's in your ledger, and it's yours to say.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneOkay. So you give the usage, Bernadette gives the debtor days, and I put the two next to each other.
- Amara Obi NoneExactly that. And if it doesn't show, we'd rather know that too. I'm not going to pretend it will.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneMm. Right.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneSorry, I was just checking something. Is the nightly refresh still done before we start? I had a morning last month where the accounts looked a day behind.
- Amara Obi NoneIt's meant to be complete by seven in the morning on business days. That's the commitment on every tier. Do you remember which morning? If you can give me the day I'll check it against the records rather than answer from memory.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneI'll find it. It might have been a Monday. After a weekend.
- Amara Obi NoneSend me the day and I'll come back to you. And on Enterprise, data freshness is covered as well as availability, so if it was a miss, that matters, and I'd want to know.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneCovered how?
- Lewis Kerr NoneIt's a service credit, Malcolm, in the terms. I'll set out exactly what the order form says in the written schedule, rather than paraphrase it. It's one of the things that sits with the Enterprise tier.
- Malcolm Ridgway NonePut it in writing. Then I'll read it.
- Lewis Kerr NoneWill do.
- Amara Obi NoneCan I ask one more thing about who uses it? Because one of the things I'd like to avoid is it living in one person's head. Is it Bernadette's team doing most of the asking, or is it spread out?
- Bernadette Lowry NoneMostly my team. And a few key account managers. Branch managers less so. They'd rather phone someone.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's useful. Then I'd like to get a few branch managers into a short session. Not a training day, just forty minutes on how to ask the question they'd otherwise phone about.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneIf it saves them a phone call, they'll come. If it's a lecture, they won't.
- Amara Obi NoneThen I'll keep it to their questions, not mine. Who would you pick?
- Bernadette Lowry NoneLeave that with me. I'll talk to the regional people and come back.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneRight. Let me say where I am. I'm not unhappy. Use is going the right way, the bills are right, and the one ticket was handled. But I haven't seen what it's done to debtor days, and I won't sign a renewal that I can't explain. So I need the schedule, the side-by-side, and Bernadette's check.
- Lewis Kerr NoneThat's all reasonable, and I'd rather you went in with your eyes open. To be clear on timing: I'll send the schedule today. If you're happy, we aim for signature by 17 Feb 2026, well ahead of the term ending on 27 Feb 2026. If you need longer, say so now and we'll plan around it.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneI might. Let's see what Bernadette finds. Don't chase me before Christmas.
- Lewis Kerr NoneNot a word until the new year. I'll send the paperwork and leave it with you.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneGood.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneOne more. If I find the account doesn't reconcile, what happens? Who do I ring?
- Amara Obi NoneMe, first. Direct, not through the helpdesk, if it's about the account being wrong. I'll look at it that day, and if it needs an engineer I'll bring one in. And I'll tell you what I know and what I don't.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneOkay. That's what I wanted to hear.
- Amara Obi NoneI'll also put the next QBR in the diary. Let's get it booked for the new year, so the renewal isn't the only time we sit down.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneFine. Not a Monday.
- Amara Obi NoneNot a Monday. Noted.
- Lewis Kerr NoneCan I just recap, so we all leave with the same list? Amara sends a note today on the reconciliation test with Bernadette. I send the renewal schedule today, current term and proposed side by side, with the licence and the service credit wording from the order form. Bernadette sends Amara the morning she saw stale data, and picks the account for the test. Malcolm reads the lot and tells us where he is in the new year.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneThat's the list. And a few branch managers for the session, Bernadette.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneYes, I have that.
- Amara Obi NoneAnything we haven't covered? Anything you were expecting me to say and I haven't?
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneNo. I'd have said if there was. You've answered the question I asked, which not everyone does.
- Amara Obi NoneI'll take that. Thank you both. Have a good week.
- Lewis Kerr NoneThanks, both. Speak soon.
- Bernadette Lowry NoneBye.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneGoodbye.
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