What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26In the 22 Sep 2025 check-in Saskia Mendes accepted usage is down and asked for a one-click saved view per director. She said she would not renew something unused. Finance is happy and nothing is outstanding.
What happened: Daniel Okafor put active users at about ten a day against forty licensed on Growth, lower than the previous quarter. Saskia confirmed the numbers and said she is the interface for a middle group who ask her team to pull pages.
Customer view: A client-account director caught a queried contractor invoice before a review using the client page. Saskia wants disputes caught earlier than the client raises them as the test of value.
Commercial: Daniel restated Growth at £44k a year and no decision needed now. Saskia said she would not want to renew if it is not being used, and agreed to hold the seat count until the views are tried.
Watch: Few people ask most of the questions. There were no support tickets and the connectors are feeding normally.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Daniel Okafor to send a note with the saved view idea, the pinned link and session slots, and to confirm what the view can look like by the end of the week.
- Saskia Mendes to gather three or four of the middle group for a short session.
- Daniel to check what can be shown on invoice queries from invoices and tickets for the one-page summary.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Daily active users have fallen to about ten of forty seats, and Saskia said she would not renew an unused product.
- Questions come from a few people, a key-person risk if they are away.
- Some directors tried it, got answers that were too broad and went back to asking their team.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Saved per-director client views with a pinnable link could move the middle group to using it directly.
- A short session with three or four directors on their own clients could build adoption before the term ends.
Transcript
- Daniel Okafor NoneAfternoon, Saskia. Can you hear me alright? Thank you for making the time, I know Mondays are heavy for you.
- Saskia Mendes NoneLoud and clear. Hi Daniel. Sorry, one second, I've got a new headset and it keeps picking up the whole office. There. Better?
- Daniel Okafor NoneMuch better. Just the two of us today, I think, so nobody else to wait for.
- Saskia Mendes NoneJust us. Can I tell you something quick before we start? It made my week, and it's sort of relevant.
- Daniel Okafor NonePlease do, I'm all ears.
- Saskia Mendes NoneSo one of our client-account directors, last Thursday, is about to walk into a review with a technology client, one of our bigger ones. And she pulls up the client page, like she does now, and she sees there's a contractor invoice sitting on it that's been queried twice. Twice. And nobody had told her. If she'd gone in cold, the client would have raised it in the first five minutes and she'd have had nothing to say. Instead she called the contractor's team that morning and had it sorted before the meeting.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's exactly the sort of thing it was bought for. Did she say anything to you afterwards?
- Saskia Mendes NoneShe did. She said the directors need this. I say that all the time, so it's funny hearing it come back from her. Anyway, that's the good news, and I want to be honest with you that it's not the whole picture. Which I think is why you wanted this call, isn't it?
- Daniel Okafor NoneIt's a routine check-in, really, but I'd much rather have the whole picture, so go on. Just to close the loop on where we are, I've got the usage view open here. I'll say what I see and you tell me if it matches your experience. Is that alright?
- Saskia Mendes NoneGo for it.
- Daniel Okafor NoneSo you've forty licensed users on Growth, and over the last month there have been about ten people active on an average day. That's a bit lower than the previous quarter. Not dramatically, but it has moved the wrong way, and I'd rather say that out loud than leave it on a slide.
- Saskia Mendes NoneYeah. That matches. I'd love to tell you it's all summer holidays, and some of it is. August is always thin and a couple of the directors were away for weeks. But I'm not going to pretend that's all of it.
- Daniel Okafor NoneMm. What's your read on the rest?
- Saskia Mendes NoneHonestly? There's a core of directors who use it every week. They ask it things before every review and they're great. Then there's a middle group who like it when I show them but don't open it themselves. They ask my team to pull the page and send it over. Which works, but it makes me the interface, and that was never the idea. So the numbers are fair. I'd rather you see them than have me wave them away.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's a really common shape, and it helps that you can see it so clearly. How is the team finding it, the ones who do open it? Is it the client pages, the chat, the search?
- Saskia Mendes NoneMostly the client page, and asking it things in plain English. Which clients have open complaints and a placement ending this quarter, that sort of thing. They don't touch the dashboards builder much. I think it looks like work to them.
- Daniel Okafor NoneRight, and that's fair. Growth includes the builder, but nobody has to use it for the brain to earn its keep. Can I ask something that might be awkward? Who asks most of the questions? Is it spread across the directors, or is it a few people?
- Saskia Mendes NoneA few people. Me, my deputy, and two or three directors. If the three of us went on leave together, the numbers would fall off a cliff. I know that's not great.
- Daniel Okafor NoneIt's not a criticism at all, it's just useful to know. And when the middle group don't open it, is it that they don't think of it, or that they've tried and it didn't give them what they wanted?
- Saskia Mendes NoneMostly they don't think of it. A couple tried and got an answer that was too broad, and then went back to asking their own team. My question is always, what did the client actually say? And the brain gives them the records, but not always the story in one place, so it feels like extra effort.
- Daniel Okafor NoneOkay, that's helpful. Can I check one thing on the data side? Your sources are feeding as normal, the nightly refresh has been landing, and nothing has come through to support from you in the last month. I read that as quiet, but I'd rather hear it from you than assume.
- Saskia Mendes NoneNothing raised, no. Nothing's broken that I know of. It's more that people have to think to use it.
- Daniel Okafor NoneWhich is the nicer problem to have, if I'm honest, because it's one we can do something about together.
- Saskia Mendes NoneCan we make it simpler? That's my actual ask. If a director could open one view, just for their own clients, and see the vacancies, placements, invoices and complaints without typing anything, I think the middle group would simply use it. They'd have it open next to their calendar.
- Daniel Okafor NoneI like that. A saved view for each director, starting from their own client list. I can't promise you the shape of it today, because I'd want to sit down with a colleague on the solutions side first, but I don't think it's a big ask. I'll come back to you by the end of the week with what's possible.
- Saskia Mendes NoneGreat. And I'll be straight with you, I'd rather have that than another training session where everyone nods and then forgets.
- Daniel Okafor NoneUnderstood. So what about a short one, then, with just the middle group, using their own clients rather than a general walkthrough? Thirty minutes, their data, and one real review they've got coming up. They'd leave with their own view already built.
- Saskia Mendes NoneThat I can do. I could probably get three or four of them in a room. Can you do it in the next couple of weeks?
- Daniel Okafor NoneI'll offer you a few slots in the note I send. I don't want to commit to a day before I've checked with the team, but I'll make it easy for you to pick one.
- Saskia Mendes NoneFine. And before you ask, our finance people are happy. Nothing outstanding on your side, I checked this morning.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThank you, yes, that matches what I can see. Everything's paid and nothing's open. And while we're on the contract, just so it's never a surprise later, you're on Growth at £44k a year, forty seats, and the term runs through to next summer. There's no decision needed now. I'd just rather we have usage pointing the right way well before then.
- Saskia Mendes NoneUnderstood. Honestly, that's the right order. If it's not being used, I wouldn't want to renew it either, and I'll say that to you straight.
- Daniel Okafor NoneI'd say the same in your seat. And on the forty seats, I wouldn't change anything yet. If it turns out ten or so is where you settle, that's a conversation we have properly, not one I want to rush. Is that okay?
- Saskia Mendes NoneOkay. That's fair. Let's see what the directors do with the views first.
- Daniel Okafor NoneExactly. Growth also includes a quarterly review with us, so I'd suggest we use the next one to look at how the middle group are getting on, rather than a general round of numbers. You'd see who's opening it and who isn't, and you can tell me whether it matches what you see on the floor.
- Saskia Mendes NoneYes, please. Though can you keep it to what I can take to the directors? A page, not a pack. They won't read a pack.
- Daniel Okafor NoneA page. Noted. Anything you'd want on it in particular?
- Saskia Mendes NoneQuestions asked, who's asking them, and whether the contractor invoice queries are being caught earlier. That last one is the one I care about most, honestly. If we're catching disputes before the client does, that's the whole case for the thing.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's a good test. I can't promise I'll be able to show the disputes as a neat count straight away, but I'll look at what we can pull from your invoices and tickets and tell you what's realistic. Just to be careful about not over-promising.
- Saskia Mendes NoneMm. Fine. Tell me what you can and can't show, I can work with that. It's the surprises I don't like.
- Daniel Okafor NoneSame here. Is there anything else on your mind? New people joining, anyone leaving, any change in how the directors work with their clients?
- Saskia Mendes NoneNot that I know of. If someone new joins I'll tell you so they get set up properly from the start, rather than finding it by accident like some of the others did.
- Daniel Okafor NonePlease do. That's a very good habit. And on your side, is there anything about the connectors, the systems feeding it, that's about to change? A new system, a migration, anything like that? It's easier for us if we hear before it happens.
- Saskia Mendes NoneNothing planned that I've been told about. I'll shout if that changes. I can't promise IT will tell me first, mind you.
- Daniel Okafor NoneHa, no, I know how that goes. If you hear anything, even second-hand, just drop me a line and we'll check the connectors before it bites.
- Saskia Mendes NoneWill do. Oh, one more thing, while I remember. Can the people in the middle group get a link straight to their view? Not a login page and then a search. A link they can pin.
- Daniel Okafor NoneGood point, and I'll put that in with the saved view question so it doesn't get lost. A link they can pin and open in one click. I'll add it to my note.
- Saskia Mendes NoneBrilliant. That's the sort of thing that makes the difference with them, honestly.
- Daniel Okafor NoneRight, let me recap so I close the loop. I'll send you a note with the saved view idea, the pinned link and a few slots for the short session. I'll also send a one-page guide for the directors on asking about a client. You'll pull together three or four of the middle group. And I'll come back to you by the end of the week on what the view can look like. How does that sound?
- Saskia Mendes NoneSounds right. And I'll tell the directors it's coming so it doesn't land cold. Maybe I'll use the contractor invoice story, if she doesn't mind.
- Daniel Okafor NoneI think that's the best thing you could use. People remember a near miss far more than a feature.
- Saskia Mendes NoneTrue. Right, I've got a meeting about to start downstairs, I'd better run. Thanks, Daniel. Honestly, this was more useful than a slide deck.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThank you for being so straight with me, Saskia, it makes this much easier. And do say well done to your director from us. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
- Saskia Mendes NoneI will. You too. Speak soon, bye.
- Daniel Okafor NoneBye now.