What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26Onboarding call on 20 Apr 2026. Source order agreed: CRM, helpdesk, call recorder, then usage. Priscilla is the only user so far. Caitlin wants evidence for a board retention slide and a renewals dashboard.
What happened: Hamza and the customer agreed to connect the CRM, then the helpdesk, then the call recorder, then product usage. Priscilla still needs to ask IT for the Snowflake role and set up a CRM service user.
Customer view: Caitlin wants tickets, usage and renewal notes in one view because her team is jumping between three tools. She will not promise the board a retention number without evidence, and Hamza advised against a thin usage trend.
Commercial: Priscilla said the 40 Growth seats will not fill for a while, as she is the only person in the brain. A renewals dashboard with ticket activity is the first adoption milestone.
Watch: One user and one admin makes adoption fragile this early. Helpdesk categories have changed twice, so history may be untidy.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Hamza Akhtar to send the one-page Snowflake role and permissions checklist the same evening.
- Priscilla Bowen to ask IT for the Snowflake role and set up a read-only CRM service user.
- Caitlin Mercer to pick the five or six distributors for the test set before the next call on Monday.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Priscilla is the only user and admin so far, so adoption depends on one person.
- The Snowflake role has not yet been requested from IT, which could delay the first connector.
- Product usage, the signal Caitlin most wants, is last in the sequence and needs weeks of data before a trend is credible.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- A renewals-with-ticket-activity dashboard built in the dashboards builder would be a visible first win on Growth.
- Forty licensed users leave room to widen beyond Priscilla once the CRM and helpdesk are connected.
- Caitlin's test set of five or six distributors gives a concrete way to prove the brain tells the story correctly.
Transcript
- Hamza Akhtar NoneHi Caitlin, hi Priscilla. Can you hear me alright?
- Caitlin Mercer NoneLoud and clear! Hey Hamza. Priscilla's just sorting her headset.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneSorry, I'm here. Is that better? It had the wrong microphone selected.
- Hamza Akhtar NonePerfect, cheers. How's the week been so far?
- Caitlin Mercer NoneBusy. Monday is renewals day for us, so I've already been through the list for the week. A couple of distributors I'm watching closely, nothing on fire. And Boston has finally decided it's spring, so that's something.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneLovely. Ours is grey and drizzly, so I'm jealous. Right, shall we crack on? This is the onboarding call. The aim is to agree what we connect first, who owns what at your end, and what you'd like to see working by the time we speak next.
- Caitlin Mercer NoneLove it. So the big thing for me, what's the signal? When a distributor's tickets spike or their usage dips, I want that sitting next to the renewal call notes. One view. Right now my team is jumping between three tools.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneThat's exactly what the brain is for. You're on Growth, so you've got several teams, forty users and the dashboards builder. The order form runs from 1 Apr 2026 to 31 Mar 2027, fifty thousand a year.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneYeah, that matches what I have on my side. Forty seats. Honestly we won't fill them for a while, it's just me in there at the moment.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneThat's normal at this stage. Nothing to worry about. Let's talk sources. Which three systems would hurt most if they weren't in the brain on day one?
- Caitlin Mercer NoneCRM, helpdesk, call recorder. In that order. Renewal dates and account owners live in the CRM, the pain shows up in the helpdesk, and the real story is in the calls.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneI'd say the helpdesk is the messy one. We've changed our categories twice, so the history won't be tidy. I can walk you through how it's laid out.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneThat would really help. Messy is fine, we'd rather know up front. So the plan: CRM first, helpdesk second, call recorder third, and then we look at product usage once those are settled. Does that sit right?
- Caitlin Mercer NoneYes. Let's operationalise it. Product usage is the one I really want, because that's how I'd see a distributor going quiet before they tell us.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneUnderstood, and we'll get there. Priscilla, you're the admin, so a few things from you. Who in IT can create the role and warehouse for us inside your Snowflake account?
- Priscilla Bowen NoneThat'd be a colleague in IT. I haven't asked yet, I wanted to know exactly what to ask for first.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneSensible. I'll send a short checklist after this call, one page. It lists the role, the permissions and a note on why each is needed, so your colleague doesn't have to guess.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneGreat. And the CRM side, do I need an admin there as well, or is a read-only user enough?
- Hamza Akhtar NoneRead-only is enough for the brain. We never write back. A dedicated service user is cleaner than using your own login, though, otherwise it breaks when your password changes.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneRight, yes, that happened to us once with something else. Service user it is.
- Caitlin Mercer NoneWhile you two are in the weeds, can I ask about the board? I'm presenting retention next month and I'm not going to promise a number without evidence. What can the brain realistically show me by then?
- Hamza Akhtar NoneHonestly, I'd be careful there. If the CRM is connected and indexed by then you'll be able to ask questions across accounts and renewals. A trend line from usage needs a few weeks of data behind it. I'd rather you show what's real than a chart that's thin.
- Caitlin Mercer NoneGood, that's the answer I wanted. Evidence first. Okay, so, can we get that on a dashboard, even a simple one? Renewals in the next quarter with the latest ticket activity beside each.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneYes, that's a good first dashboard. Priscilla would build it in the dashboards builder once the CRM and helpdesk are in. I can sit with her for the first one.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneI'd like that. I've not used the builder before.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneLet me recap what we've said, because we've covered a lot. CRM, then helpdesk, then call recorder, then usage. Priscilla asks IT for the Snowflake role and gets a CRM service user. I send the checklist today. Caitlin, anything you'd like to own?
- Caitlin Mercer NoneI'll pick which five or six distributors we use as the test set, the ones where I know the story cold. Then we can check whether the brain tells it back the same way.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneBrilliant, that's a very good way to test it.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneOne last thing. If the CRM connector takes a while, who do I shout at?
- Hamza Akhtar NoneMe. Directly. Jordan is your account owner and Hollie is your CSM, but day to day on the build it's me, so just message me and I'll sort it.
- Caitlin Mercer NonePerfect. Let's reconvene next Monday and see where we are.
- Hamza Akhtar NoneNext Monday works. Checklist coming this evening. Thanks both, speak soon.
- Caitlin Mercer NoneThanks Hamza. Best, Caitlin.
- Priscilla Bowen NoneThanks all, bye.