Hallam Ferrier / BB-Demo – Discovery
Callcompleted
Hallam Ferrier: documents · 2026-07-13 13:15
On 13 Jul 2026 Hallam Ferrier set out a need to see everything about a client in one place. Partners decide, a decision is pencilled for 13 November 2026, and Growth was discussed at £62,000 total.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26On 13 Jul 2026 Hallam Ferrier set out a need to see everything about a client in one place. Partners decide, a decision is pencilled for 13 November 2026, and Growth was discussed at £62,000 total.
What happened: Fiona Drummond described client data spread across four or five places. Richard Staniforth said he will not decide alone and that the decision runs through the partners' meeting.
Customer view: Client confidentiality is the main constraint, with audit files kept separate from advisory work for some clients. Richard is wary of buying something that three people love and the rest ignore.
Commercial: Matteo Ricci positioned Growth, with a working number of £62,000 in total including one-off implementation, not an annual price. Richard wants it broken down and compared with unbilled time and fee recovery.
Watch: Access by client must be designed and put in writing. The decision date of 13 November 2026 is a plan, not a commitment.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Firm-wide client view discovery
Importance
upsell
Sentiment
positive
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Matteo Ricci to send a written summary including how access is split by client.
- Fiona Drummond to check with the practice systems lead which clients and systems can be used for the demo.
- Matteo Ricci to confirm a demo date with the solutions engineer before the end of the month.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Client confidentiality and separation of audit files from advisory work could limit what the brain can touch.
- Richard Staniforth fears low adoption beyond a few enthusiasts, and the decision needs the partners' meeting.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- A Growth subscription for the partners and client managers, with a first group of a handful of partners.
- Fiona Drummond has seen the product work at a previous firm and is an internal advocate.
Transcript
Matteo Ricci NoneHello, Fiona, Richard. Can you both hear me all right?
Fiona Drummond NoneLoud and clear. Good afternoon, Matteo.
Richard Staniforth NoneGood afternoon. Yes, I can hear you. Apologies, I am just closing down something else on my side.- Matteo Ricci NoneNot at all, take your time. Thank you for making the time on a Monday. Let me restate the timeline so we are all working from the same page. Today is discovery: I would like to understand how the firm works and what you would want to see. Then we would do a demo on your own data, then a proposal, and the date we have pencilled for a decision is 13 November 2026.
- Richard Staniforth NoneWhich, as I understand it, would run through the partners' meeting. I should say now that I will not be deciding anything alone. Fiona, perhaps you could set the scene.
- Fiona Drummond NoneOf course. So, what the partners asked me this week, again, was simply: can I see everything about a client before I walk into the room? Not just the accounts work. The queries they have raised, who last spoke to them, whether we have billed them and whether they have paid. At the moment that is four or five places, and the client managers keep half of it in their heads.
- Matteo Ricci NoneMm. And when you say four or five places, what are they, roughly? I do not need product names, just the kinds of system.
- Fiona Drummond NoneThe practice management system for the work and the deadlines. The accounting system for billing. Email, obviously, which is where most of the real conversation lives. And then a shared drive for working papers. Shabana would know the exact list better than me.
- Matteo Ricci NoneThat is helpful, and that sounds like your practice systems lead. We would want her on a later call. Let me ask the question I always ask: what does your regulator need to see? Is there anything about client data that would limit what a tool like this can touch?
- Richard Staniforth NoneClient confidentiality is the main thing. Audit files in particular must stay separated from advisory work for some clients. So any view across the firm has to respect who is allowed to see which client. I would not want a partner browsing a file they have no business with.
- Matteo Ricci NoneUnderstood, and I would rather you heard it from me early: that is exactly the sort of thing we would put in writing, not describe loosely. The brain is built and run inside your own Snowflake account, so the data does not leave your environment. How access is split by client is a design question we would settle with your people before anything goes live. Let me confirm that in writing after this call.
- Fiona Drummond NoneThat was the thing I liked when I saw it work before. The data sat where the firm already controlled it. I've seen this work, Richard, and the partners at my previous firm stopped asking for the monthly spreadsheets.
- Richard Staniforth NoneSpreadsheets. Yes. Well, that alone would be a gain. But how will the partners use it day to day? I am wary of buying something that three people love and the rest ignore.
- Fiona Drummond NoneFair. My view is we start with the partners who will actually use it, not the whole group. Let's start with the partners who'll use it, plus the client managers who prepare their meetings. Who owns the client, that is the question it answers. Becca's team, for example, in audit, spend a lot of time pulling the same facts together before each review.
- Matteo Ricci NoneRight. So the first group would be a handful of partners and the client managers behind them. That fits the Growth tier, which is what we have been discussing, because it is built for several teams rather than one.
- Richard Staniforth NoneWhich brings me to cost. What is the cost per partner?
- Matteo Ricci NoneI would rather not put a per-partner figure on it yet, because it would be a guess, and I do not want to give you one I might have to walk back. What I can say is that the working number in our system for Growth is £62,000 in total, and that includes the one-off implementation, so it is not an annual price. We would set out the split properly in the proposal.
- Richard Staniforth NoneUnderstood. Sixty-two thousand all in, implementation included. I will need to see that broken down, and I will need to say how it compares with what we lose in unbilled time and fee recovery, frankly.
- Fiona Drummond NoneThat is actually part of the case. When a client query gets answered in an email and never reaches the billing side, that is time that does not get recovered. Nobody sees it until the year end.
- Matteo Ricci NoneThat is a good example to carry into the demo. If you can give us a small number of real clients, anonymised if you prefer, we could show the work, the queries and the billing side by side for each. Would that be possible?
- Fiona Drummond NoneI think so. I would need to check with Shabana what we can share and in what form. I do not want to skip the partners' sign-off on anything that touches client data.
- Richard Staniforth NoneQuite right. Please do check, Fiona, and let me know before anything is sent anywhere. I would also want the group to hear a short version of this before November, not at the last minute. Let's take it to the partners' meeting once we have seen it working.
- Matteo Ricci NoneThat makes sense. Then the next steps as I have them: I will send you both a short written summary of today, including the point about access by client. Fiona, you will check with your practice systems lead which clients and which systems can be used for the demo. And then we find a date for that session, with our solutions engineer, before the end of the month if your diaries allow. I will not promise a date until I have confirmed it with our side.
- Fiona Drummond NonePerfect. I will come back to you this week on the client list.
- Richard Staniforth NoneThank you, Matteo. That was a useful conversation. Fiona, thank you for the introduction.
- Matteo Ricci NoneThank you both. Speak soon. Best regards, Matteo.
- Fiona Drummond NoneThanks, Matteo. Bye for now.
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