Ask
Lewis Kerr

Merriott Lyle Distribution / BB-Demo – Negotiation

Callcompleted

Merriott Lyle Distribution: documents logo Merriott Lyle Distribution: documents · 2026-09-07 09:45

On the 7 Sep 2026 negotiation, the CFO said he will not sign the £4,548 Enterprise expansion until BB-Demo explains a fall in active users. A usage review against the credit team's ledger comes first.

made from

What was said

What this says

Current to 11 Oct 26

On the 7 Sep 2026 negotiation, the CFO said he will not sign the £4,548 Enterprise expansion until BB-Demo explains a fall in active users. A usage review against the credit team's ledger comes first.

What happened: Lewis Kerr and Owen Tallis went in to confirm the £4,548 expansion quote for signature on Monday 14 September 2026. Malcolm Ridgway turned the call to usage: about forty daily users against 200 licensed.

Customer view: Bernadette Lowry said some of her team went back to the ledger after the brain showed a disputed invoice differently from the statement. No ticket was raised. Malcolm said invoices are paid and the issue is a return he can show the board.

Commercial: Price was not the problem. BB-Demo agreed to a usage review led by Amara Obi first, at no charge, and to move the signature date if needed. The quote was held to 14 Sep 2026 and the renewal on 28 Feb 2027 is untouched.

Watch: Malcolm wants a reconciled sample and a clear reason for the fall before signing. The evidence does not show whether the review took place or whether the amendment was signed.

AI · claude-sonnet-5-5 · 11 Oct 2026

AImade from

Themes

Current to 9 Oct 26
Theme
Expansion held for usage review
Importance
renewal
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 to send the quote, draft amendment and usage figures with their base to Malcolm Ridgway and Fiona Marsden on the day of the call.
  • Amara Obi to run the usage review with Bernadette Lowry's team on the Thursday afternoon, using accounts on stop in the sample.
  • Owen Tallis to agree a new written signature date with Malcolm once the review is complete.
AImade from

Risks

Current to 9 Oct 26
  • Active users are down by about a third, with roughly forty of 200 licensed users logging in, which weakens the value case for the February 2027 renewal.
  • Some credit control staff stopped trusting the brain after a disputed invoice differed from the statement, and nobody raised a ticket.
  • The expansion signature planned for Monday 14 September 2026 is unlikely to hold until the review is done.
AImade from

Opportunities

Current to 9 Oct 26
  • A reconciled sample on accounts on stop could restore credit control's trust and rebuild the case for the expansion.
  • A before and after on a handful of accounts could give the CFO a value case he can take to his board.
AImade from

Transcript

  1. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Morning, everyone. Can you all hear me alright?
  2. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Yes, loud and clear. Morning, Lewis.
  3. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Morning. I'm on audio only for a minute, my camera's being stubborn again.
  4. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    That's fine, no problem at all. Malcolm, are you with us?
  5. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Here. Morning. What's changed since the last one?
  6. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Fair question, and I'll come to it properly. Owen's joined us as well, he sits across pricing on our side, so I thought it was worth having him here.
  7. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Morning all. Thanks for making the time on a Monday. Bit of rain down here, is it the same up in Birmingham?
  8. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Pouring. The M6 was a car park, so I'm glad I stayed in the office this morning.
  9. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    I came in on the train and it was twenty minutes late, so I'm already in a mood. Apologies in advance.
  10. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Noted, and fair enough. Lewis, where does this stand against the date?
  11. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    So, just to confirm what we're here to talk about. You asked us to quote an expansion on your Enterprise subscription, and the date we pencilled for signature is Monday 14 September 2026, so a week today. To put a number on it, the quote comes to £4,548 in total, plus VAT, co-termed to your renewal.
  12. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    And the cost of that is?
  13. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    £4,548, plus VAT, all in for the expansion. That's the total for the piece of work, not a yearly figure. Your subscription itself stays as it is at £127,500 a year.
  14. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Right. Against a hundred and twenty-seven five that's not the number that worries me.
  15. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    No, I didn't think it would be.
  16. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    What worries me is the usage report I was sent last week. It says active users are down by about a third on the previous quarter. We're licensed for 200 users. I count close to forty actually logging in on an average day. So tell me why I'm buying more of something we're not using.
  17. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Mm. That's a fair challenge, and I'd rather deal with it head on than skate round it. The dip is real. I've looked at the same figures and I'm not going to tell you otherwise.
  18. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    A third of what?
  19. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Of the average daily active users in the previous quarter. That's the base. It's a comparison of two quarterly averages, not a single bad day. I'll put the base and both averages in writing so you're not taking my word for the percentage.
  20. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Please do. I don't take a percentage without the base.
  21. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Understood. And I'll say this plainly: I don't push an expansion the usage doesn't support. So part of this call is working out whether the expansion makes sense now, or whether we should be doing something else first.
  22. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    I'd add one thing. Nobody on our side wants you signing something on the fourteenth that you'd regret on the fifteenth. What's the next dated step is the question I'd ask, and that depends on what's behind the number.
  23. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Can I come in? Because I think I know part of what's behind it.
  24. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Please, Bernadette.
  25. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Some of my team have gone back to the ledger. Not all of them. A few. They hit something that didn't match what the statement said, and once that happens, they stop trusting it. The ledger says otherwise, and that's the end of the conversation for them.
  26. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Right. Okay. That's useful to hear, genuinely. Can you tell me roughly when that was? Was it one account or a few?
  27. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    I don't have the dates in front of me. It was a disputed invoice on a trade account, and the view in the brain showed it differently from what we had on the statement. Who changed that? I asked at the time. Nobody could say.
  28. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I wasn't aware of that, and I'm sorry it wasn't picked up. Let me be careful here, because I don't want to guess at the cause. It could be the way a source was loading, it could be a timing thing with the nightly refresh. I'd rather our customer success lead looked at the actual account than me speculating.
  29. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    I'll believe it when it reconciles.
  30. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    That's fair. And that's the right test.
  31. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Did anyone raise a ticket? Because if my credit control team lost faith and nobody told you, I'd like to know why.
  32. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    There's been one ticket on the account in the last month. Nothing high priority, and nothing about this. So no, the dispute never reached us formally. Which is a gap on both sides, frankly. We should have seen the usage drop and rung you.
  33. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    I'm not in the habit of raising tickets for something I think is wrong. I'd rather tell my own people to use the statement.
  34. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Which is a perfectly sensible instinct, and also exactly why the numbers fall. We'd rather you told us.
  35. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    So let me say where I am. Invoices are paid, nothing overdue, I've got no complaint about how you bill. That's not the issue. The issue is whether I can show the board a return. And at the moment forty people out of two hundred isn't one.
  36. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Agreed. Paying on time and getting value are different things, and I'm not going to confuse them.
  37. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Can I ask a procurement question while we're on it? Because I want to understand how this would be papered. Is it a new contract, or an amendment?
  38. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    An amendment to your existing order form, under the master agreement you already have. Not a new contract. So the term stays where it is. Your contract runs to 27 February 2027, and the renewal falls on 28 February 2027. The expansion would be co-termed to that, which is why the figure is a total and not a yearly one.
  39. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    And that doesn't change anything about renewal terms? I don't want to find that we've agreed something now that comes back at us in February.
  40. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Let me take that one. Nothing in this amendment changes your renewal terms. The renewal is a separate conversation, led by your customer success manager, and it's some months away. I'm not going to quote you anything on that today, and I won't be quoting a discount against a later term. Discounts are for the first term only.
  41. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Good. I'd like that confirmed in the quote itself, not just said on a call.
  42. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Put it in writing.
  43. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I'll send that over today. I'll write the amendment scope, the total, the VAT position, the co-term date and a line saying it doesn't touch the renewal.
  44. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    While we're on price. Is there movement on the £4,548?
  45. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    There's very little room, and I'll be straight about why. You're already on Enterprise, and let's not discount twice. The quote is the quote. What I can do is hold it as it stands until Monday 14 September 2026, so you're not under pressure from a price changing under you.
  46. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    That's not a concession. That's keeping what you've already said.
  47. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    It is, yes. Fair point. I'd sooner say that than pretend otherwise.
  48. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Mm. Fine. Then the price isn't my problem. The problem is whether I sign anything before I know why the numbers fell.
  49. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I think that's the right instinct, actually. Can I suggest something? Before you sign, we do a usage review. Amara Obi, who's your customer success manager, sits down with Bernadette's team and goes through the dispute you mentioned, which accounts and which users have dropped away, and where the data didn't match the ledger.
  50. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Who's doing the checking? Because I don't want a dashboard telling me it's fine.
  51. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    The check is against your statement. Not a dashboard. You pick the account, you show the statement, and we show what the brain returned for the same account on the same day. If they don't agree, we find out why.
  52. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Hm. That I can work with.
  53. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    And the cost of that review is?
  54. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Nothing. It's part of the service you already pay for under the subscription. It sits with your customer success manager, it doesn't go on the amendment.
  55. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Put that in writing too.
  56. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Yes. Same email.
  57. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Can I ask what the expansion is meant to fix? Because I've read the quote and I'm not clear how it ties to the drop in use.
  58. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    That's a good question, and honestly, part of the reason we're having this conversation. When you asked for it, usage was at a different level and there was appetite across the branches. The picture has moved. If the review shows the issue is trust in the data and not capacity, then the expansion isn't what solves it, and I'd say so.
  59. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    So you'd tell us not to buy it?
  60. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I'd tell you to wait. I'd rather close it late than close it on a hopeful date.
  61. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    That's my line, so I'll back it. A close date that doesn't move when the facts move is just a guess. If we need to shift Monday 14 September 2026, we shift it, and we write down the new one.
  62. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Hm. Let me think about that for a moment.
  63. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    What does that do to debtor days? That's what I'm trying to put a figure against. When this works, what's the effect on my credit control people?
  64. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I won't give you a number for that from memory, and I don't want to invent one. What I can say is what the brain is meant to do for Bernadette's team: put a trade account's orders, disputes, calls and invoices in one place so they don't chase across systems. Whether that moves debtor days is something we'd measure with you, not promise.
  65. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    That's an honest answer. Not a useful one, but an honest one.
  66. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Fair. Which is why I'd like the review to produce something you can use. A before and after on a handful of accounts, in your terms.
  67. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    I'd want accounts on stop in it. If an account's on stop, I need to know it's on stop for the right reason, and I need the same answer from both places.
  68. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Noted. Accounts on stop go in the sample. I'll make sure Amara has that before she picks a date with you.
  69. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    And I'm not discussing individual credit positions on email. If there are specifics, it's on a call.
  70. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Understood. Calls only for anything about a particular account. I'll make that clear to Amara.
  71. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    From my side, what do you need from procurement and when? I'd rather not be the reason this slips.
  72. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Honestly, nothing until the review is done. If it goes ahead, you'd get the amendment for sign-off. It's short, it refers back to the existing order form. I can send you a draft early, so legal can read it while the review runs.
  73. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Yes, please. Send me the draft, and I'll get our people to read it. Better that than a rush at the end.
  74. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Is it a problem for you if the signature date moves past the fourteenth?
  75. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Not for me. It's a problem for the forecast, and that's my job to fix, not yours. What I do need is a new date, written down, and who signs. It's you, Malcolm?
  76. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    It's me. I signed the Enterprise contract and I'll sign this. I won't sign without reading the schedule, so don't send it in a hurry.
  77. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Understood. Then the dated step is the review. Lewis, can Amara do it this week?
  78. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    I'll ask her this morning. I'd like to have a date to you by the end of today, and the review itself by Friday if Bernadette's team can manage it.
  79. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Friday is tight. I've got month-end preparation starting. But I could give you a couple of hours with two of my team on Thursday afternoon.
  80. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Thursday afternoon works, I'll pass that straight to Amara. And I'll keep the sample small so it doesn't eat the afternoon.
  81. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Good. So we are not deciding anything today.
  82. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Correct. Today we agree the quote stands, the review happens first, and the signature date is reviewed afterwards. Not before.
  83. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Then I want one more thing. If the review shows the data was wrong, I want to know how it was wrong, how long it had been wrong, and what you're doing about it. In writing.
  84. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Yes. I'll make sure that's part of what Amara brings back. What happened, how long, and what's been done.
  85. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    And if it turns out it's simply people not using it?
  86. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Then we say that as well. And then it's about training and who owns it internally, not about buying more. I'd tell you that even if it cost us the expansion.
  87. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Most suppliers wouldn't.
  88. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    Most suppliers don't have to keep a customer for the renewal in February, either. We do. That's the sort of arithmetic I'd rather get right now.
  89. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Just so I've got it down properly. You'll send me the quote with the total, the VAT position, the co-term, and a statement it doesn't affect the renewal. And a draft amendment.
  90. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Correct. Quote and draft amendment to you and Malcolm today. Usage figures with the base to Malcolm, same email. And a date from Amara for the Thursday session.
  91. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    And me copied on whatever Bernadette is sent.
  92. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Of course. Though I'll keep individual account positions off the email, as Bernadette said.
  93. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Thank you. That's all I ask.
  94. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    One thing before we go. Malcolm, for the record, what would make you comfortable signing, whenever that is? So I know what I'm aiming at.
  95. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Two things. A reconciled sample, so Bernadette says the ledger and the brain agree. And a clear reason for the fall in use that I can say to my board without hedging. If I have those, I sign. If I don't, I don't.
  96. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    That's clear. I'll note it exactly like that.
  97. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    I'd add that I want to see it reconcile myself. Not be told.
  98. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Yes. You'll see both sides.
  99. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Right. Then I've nothing else. Is there anything on your side?
  100. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Only that I appreciate the plain speaking. It's more useful than a polite yes and a quiet fall in use.
  101. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Hm. I'd rather have the argument now.
  102. Owen Tallis
    Owen Tallis None
    So would we. Thanks, everyone. Lewis has the actions, and the next dated step is Thursday afternoon.
  103. Fiona Marsden
    Fiona Marsden None
    Thanks all. I'll look out for the email.
  104. Bernadette Lowry
    Bernadette Lowry None
    Thank you. Speak Thursday, then.
  105. Malcolm Ridgway
    Malcolm Ridgway None
    Good. Goodbye.
  106. Lewis Kerr
    Lewis Kerr None
    Kind regards, all. Speak soon.
Callsmade from

BB-Demo is a fictional company; every organisation and person here is invented. B-Brain is the tool. Built by site/build_site.py from the site tree, data as of Fri 9 Oct 2026. Help & Support

Help & Support

Open as a page

Help & Support

B-Brain is one place to read everything the company knows about its customers: the CRM, calls, emails, support tickets, product usage, invoices, documents, news and HR. Every page is built from those systems and the data is current to Fri 9 Oct 2026.

How to use the site

How to ask

Press Ask Brain in the header. Type a question, or pick one of the examples.

The site itself does not call an AI model; answers in Claude come from the same figures you see here.

What the data covers

DataRecords
Organisations150
People at customers573
BB-Demo staff48
Calls1,382
Email threads2,122
Support tickets789
Documents850
Deals217
Invoices187
Events49
News items84

Data as of Fri 9 Oct 2026. Text marked AI was written by the brain from the records listed in its made-from link; an AI output that cannot cite its evidence is refused and the previous text kept. Where two systems disagree (for example a contract and the CRM), the key facts show both values and mark the difference.

BB-Demo is a fictional company: every organisation, person and figure here is invented for this demonstration. B-Brain is the tool that reads its data.

Who to contact

Email support@b-brain.example or talk to your B-Brain account team. Tell us the page address and what looked wrong; a screenshot helps.
Help

Ask B

B-Brain · read-only