Merriott Lyle Distribution / BB-Demo – Qbr
Callcompleted
Merriott Lyle Distribution: documents · 2026-05-06 11:30
Enterprise QBR held on 6 May 2026. Just under sixty of two hundred licensed users are active, down a single-digit percentage. The CFO asked whether the seats are unused headroom and wants a written value case ahead of renewal.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26Enterprise QBR held on 6 May 2026. Just under sixty of two hundred licensed users are active, down a single-digit percentage. The CFO asked whether the seats are unused headroom and wants a written value case ahead of renewal.
What happened: Amara Obi reported just under sixty active users against two hundred licensed, down a single-digit percentage on last quarter, with the exact comparison promised in writing. Questions asked are holding up, one ticket was closed, and loads are landing on time.
Customer view: Deepa Chauhan thinks branch managers replaced after the reorganisation were never set up. Malcolm Ridgway wants one sentence he can give the board and asked whether he is paying for unused headroom.
Commercial: Lewis Kerr confirmed £128k a year, invoices matching the order form, and a term to 27 Feb 2027. He will send the renewal position in writing, and seat count is left for the renewal conversation.
Watch: a handful of people, including Deepa and credit control, ask a fair share of the questions. The branch system connector is the one most likely to change without notice.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Usage dip, renewal value case
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- Tariq Saleem to send Deepa the list of branch managers without a login before changing anything.
- Amara Obi to send the usage comparison with its base stated and a separate view of credit control use.
- Lewis Kerr to send the renewal position in writing ahead of the ninety-day notice.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The CFO is questioning whether two hundred Enterprise seats are justified by just under sixty active users.
- A small group of heavy askers, including Deepa and credit control, makes the question volume a key-person risk.
- The branch system connector can change underneath the customer when branches update their processes.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- If the dip is missing logins for new branch managers, the seats are about to be used and the renewal case strengthens.
- Credit control usage evidence kept separate from the customer's own ledger numbers can give the board its one-sentence answer.
Transcript
Amara Obi NoneHello, can everyone hear me? I've got the little bars moving but I never quite trust them.
Deepa Chauhan NoneLoud and clear. Morning, Amara.
Tariq Saleem NoneMorning. Same here.- Amara Obi NoneLovely. Lewis is just finishing something and should be along in a minute. How's the week been so far? Anything dramatic?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneThe branch managers' conference was Monday, so my inbox is a bit of a graveyard. Otherwise fine. Everyone has opinions about the new stock screens.
- Tariq Saleem NoneRaining in Birmingham, which won't surprise anyone.
Lewis Kerr NoneMorning all, sorry, sorry. The previous call ran over. Can you hear me alright?- Amara Obi NonePerfect, you're not late, we've only been talking about rain. Malcolm, are you with us?
Malcolm Ridgway NoneI'm here. Line's not brilliant, I'm in the lift lobby between meetings. So, what has changed since the last one?- Amara Obi NoneFair question, and a good place to start. For anyone I haven't spoken to properly, I'm Amara, I look after the account on the customer success side. I've read the history rather than lived all of it, so please tell me where I've got something wrong. What would good look like for you this quarter? What would make this hour worth it?
- Deepa Chauhan NoneFor me, one thing. I want to be able to take something concrete to the account-data review next month. Credit control and the regional directors will ask whether the account view is being used or whether it's just sitting there.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneMine is shorter. Is it earning its keep, and can I say so to the board in a sentence.
- Tariq Saleem NoneAnd I'd like to go through the open tickets, but there's only one, so that won't take long.
- Amara Obi NoneGreat, that's the agenda then. Usage first, then the ticket, then Lewis on the contract so nothing surprises anybody, and then what we do next. I'll share my screen. Tell me if you can't see it.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneYes, I can see it. A bit small.
- Amara Obi NoneLet me bump that up. Better? Right. Here's what the numbers say. You have two hundred licensed users on Enterprise. On a typical day just under sixty are actually active over the last month. That's a little lower than last quarter, down by a single-digit percentage.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneDown by how much, exactly? And what's the base?
- Amara Obi NoneFair. The base is the average daily active users across the previous quarter, and this quarter's average is a bit under that, so it's single digits. I'd rather not quote a decimal I can't defend on a bad line, I'll put the exact comparison in the follow-up note.
- Malcolm Ridgway NonePut it in writing. Yes.
- Amara Obi NoneWill do. The thing I'd say is that a dip isn't a collapse. The questions people are asking the brain are holding up, which is the measure I care about most. The shape worries me more than the level.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneWhich shape? Which branches, which teams?
- Amara Obi NoneThat's the right question. From what I can see, the people who have stopped logging in are mostly in the branch groups. The key-account managers and credit control are steady. So it isn't evenly spread.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneThat fits, actually. A couple of the area managers moved after the reorganisation, and I'm not sure their replacements were ever properly set up. I'd have to check.
- Amara Obi NoneMm, that would do it. Who else should have access, do you think? Because if it's new managers who never got an invitation, that's an easy fix rather than an adoption problem.
- Tariq Saleem NoneI can pull the list of current branch managers from the CRM and compare it with who has a login. That's a thirty-minute job. Then we'll know instead of guessing.
- Deepa Chauhan NonePlease. And Tariq, don't just add them, tell me first, because I'd like to brief them before they get an invitation out of nowhere.
- Tariq Saleem NoneOf course. I'll send you the list before I change anything.
- Amara Obi NoneBrilliant. Let me show the next one. Questions asked, month on month. It's fairly flat, with a small bump around month end, which I'd expect from credit control. One thing I do want to flag is that a fair share of those questions come from a small group of people.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneA small group meaning what? Three people? Thirty?
- Amara Obi NoneCloser to a handful than thirty. Deepa is one of them, and a couple of people in credit control. It's a good sign that they use it so much, but it's a risk if one of them is away or moves on, because then a big chunk of the questions disappears.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneWhich I'm aware of, and slightly embarrassed by. I do ask a lot. But credit control is the point, isn't it? That's where the money is.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneIt is. So tell me what it does to debtor days. Not in theory.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneI can't give you a clean number, Malcolm, and I'd rather not pretend. What I can say is how the work has changed. Before, the credit controller rang a customer about an overdue invoice without knowing there was an open dispute on a delivery, or that the branch had spoken to them the day before. Now they see the orders, the dispute, the calls and the invoice on one page. So they ring with the right question, or they don't ring at all.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneFewer wrong calls. That's an anecdote.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneIt's an anecdote today. Which is why I'd like to measure it properly. Show me where that number comes from, and then I'll take it to the review with credit control in the room.
- Amara Obi NoneI think I can help there. What I can pull is how often credit control opens the account view before a chase, and how many disputes were visible at the time. That's usage, not debtor days, so I'd want to be careful about claiming it moves the debtor figure. But combined with your own ledger numbers it makes a case.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneGood. Separate the two. What you can show and what we have to show. I don't want a slide that claims more than it has.
- Amara Obi NoneAgreed. I'll label them exactly like that.
- Lewis Kerr NoneIf I can add one thing on that, it's helpful for the commercial side too. If the case is clean, it makes the renewal conversation a short one, rather than a debate.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneWe'll get to that. Not yet. Tariq, you said one ticket.
- Tariq Saleem NoneYes. Just the one in the last month, and it wasn't high priority. It was a question about account matching between the branch system and the CRM, a mapping question, not a fault. Support answered it and I've confirmed it's closed on our side.
- Amara Obi NoneAnd response was inside what you'd expect on Enterprise, as far as I can see. I checked the timestamps rather than the wording. Nothing was missed.
- Tariq Saleem NoneAgreed, no complaints there. What I'll say is that the nightly loads have been landing on time. I check the load log most mornings. No gaps that I've noticed.
- Amara Obi NoneGood, because that's the other thing I watch. Records indexed are still growing steadily, so the brain isn't going stale on you. Every connector is loading. No flat lines.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneWhich connector would you worry about first, if you had to pick?
- Tariq Saleem NoneThe branch system one. It's the one that changes underneath us when the branches update their processes. Everything else is fairly stable. If that one changed without telling me I'd see it in the load log first.
- Amara Obi NoneThen let's make that a standing item. If there's a change planned on the branch system, you tell me and Tariq before it goes live, and we check the first load after it.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneYes. I'll make sure that's in the change checklist on my side.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneRight. Lewis. The contract.
- Lewis Kerr NoneThanks, Malcolm. I'll keep it practical. You're on Enterprise, contracted at £127,500 a year, that's plus VAT, and the invoices match the order form exactly. Nothing is overdue on your side. The term runs to 27 Feb 2027, and the renewal date we have is 28 Feb 2027.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneSame as the schedule I signed. Has anything changed on price?
- Lewis Kerr NoneNothing changes mid-term, the order form stands. For the renewal, I won't quote from memory. I'll send the renewal position in writing, with the VAT position stated, ahead of the ninety-day notice, so you have it well before you need to decide anything.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneAhead of it. Not on it.
- Lewis Kerr NoneAhead of it. Understood.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneAnd I'll ask the awkward one. Two hundred users licensed, just under sixty active. Am I paying for headroom I'm not using?
- Lewis Kerr NoneIt's a fair question and I'd rather answer it plainly. I'm not here to push anything the usage doesn't support. Whether two hundred is the right number is a conversation for the renewal, and I'd want to look at it with Amara once we know whether the dip is missing logins or missing interest. If it's missing logins, the seats are about to be used.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneAnd the cost of that conversation is?
- Lewis Kerr NoneNothing today. It's a review of the numbers, no commitment attached. I'd just rather you hear it from us now than find it in a quote later.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneFine. That's honest. Put that in the note too.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneCan I add something on that? I don't want the regions to hear that we're thinking of cutting seats before we've even worked out who's missing. They'll start to think the brain is optional.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneNobody's cutting anything on a Wednesday morning, Deepa.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneGood. Just saying it out loud.
- Amara Obi NoneThat's helpful, and I'll be careful with the wording. So, to pull it together. Tariq checks who in the branches has no login and sends the list to Deepa first. Deepa decides who gets briefed and invited. I send the usage comparison with the base stated, and the separate view of what credit control does with the account page. Lewis sends the renewal position in writing ahead of the notice period. Have I missed anything?
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneA date. When is the next one?
- Amara Obi NoneFair point. Let's get the next QBR in the diary before we all disappear. I'll send three options this week, and I'd aim for after the account-data review so Deepa has the result to hand.
- Deepa Chauhan NoneThat works. Thanks, everyone. This was useful, and I'll tell the regions the numbers are better than they feared.
- Tariq Saleem NoneCheers all. I'll have that list across to you by the end of the day, Deepa.
- Malcolm Ridgway NoneThank you. Send it in writing.
- Lewis Kerr NoneWill do. Kind regards all, speak soon.
- Amara Obi NoneThanks all. Best, Amara. Bye for now.
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