Marchbank Couriers / BB-Demo – Negotiation
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Marchbank Couriers: documents · 2023-10-10 15:15
On 10 Oct 2023 Owen Tallis agreed quarterly billing in arrears and a one-off discount on implementation, for the first term only. Derek Imrie confirmed renewal is at list. A revised order form was to follow.
What was said
What this says
Current to 11 Oct 26On 10 Oct 2023 Owen Tallis agreed quarterly billing in arrears and a one-off discount on implementation, for the first term only. Derek Imrie confirmed renewal is at list. A revised order form was to follow.
What happened: Pamela Lyall asked for quarterly billing because of cash flow. Owen offered quarterly in arrears and, on Derek's price push, took a thousand off the six thousand implementation.
Customer view: Derek checked that year one carries the discount and year two renews at standard list. The customer is price and cash flow sensitive, not questioning the product.
Commercial: The term is one year, auto-renewing unless either side gives 90 days' notice. Starter terms were confirmed as 15 users, 4 connectors, 99.5% availability with a 5% credit, and four business hours first response.
Watch: The discount ends at renewal, so the first renewal is a price step for a cost-conscious buyer. The evidence does not show the order form being signed.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Tom Ashdown to send the revised order form with the discount and quarterly billing that evening.
- Derek Imrie and Pamela Lyall to review and sign the order form.
- Tom to kick off implementation once signed, probably early November.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The first-term discount ends at renewal, so the customer faces a list-price step at the first renewal.
- Quarterly in arrears is a non-standard billing term that must be reflected correctly in the order form.
- Customer is cash flow sensitive, so invoice timing errors would land badly.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Lorna asked about more users or connectors, so a Starter upgrade or add-on is a possible later conversation.
- Quarterly billing removed the main cash flow objection and unblocked signature.
Transcript
Tom Ashdown NoneRight, everyone here? I've got Owen with me, he's our VP Sales, because you've had a few questions on the commercial side.
Derek Imrie NoneYeah, Pamela sent some queries. Pamela's here as well to help me think through the contract.
Owen Tallis NoneGood, good. Where's the friction?
Pamela Lyall NoneThe annual renewal, can we do quarterly billing instead?- Owen Tallis NoneWe can, but that usually comes with a 5% uplift. What's driving that?
- Pamela Lyall NoneCash flow, mainly. Annual feels like a big lump sum at once.
- Owen Tallis NoneFair. What if we do quarterly in arrears? You'd pay at the end of each quarter. That spreads the cash flow without the admin overhead.
- Pamela Lyall NoneThat works better for us.
- Owen Tallis NoneGood. What else?
- Derek Imrie NonePrice. Tom quoted twenty-five and a half, but I'd like to understand if that's flexible.
- Owen Tallis NoneWhere are you thinking?
- Derek Imrie NoneWell, I've done a bit of homework. Your implementation is six thousand but our work on the back end, getting systems ready, data clean, that's probably a thousand's worth on our side. Would you come down a bit on that?
- Owen Tallis NoneI appreciate that. The honest answer is the six is where we need to be. But here's what I'll offer: if you commit to the first year now, I can discount the implementation by a thousand. So you'd pay five thousand instead of six, subscription's nineteen thousand five hundred, total first year is twenty-four thousand five hundred.
- Derek Imrie NoneThat's helpful. And that's it for discounts on the first year?
- Owen Tallis NoneThat's it. After year one, pricing renews at the list rate, no discount on renewals. But for the first term, that's what we can do.
- Derek Imrie NoneOkay, so year one is twenty-four thousand five hundred, and then we renew at the standard list on year two?
- Owen Tallis NoneThat's right. And just to be clear, that discount is good for the first term only.
Lorna Wishart NoneWhat happens if we want more users or more connectors down the line?- Tom Ashdown NoneYou'd talk to me. Starter comes with 15 users and 4 connectors. If you need more, we can add them. Upgrades are usually pro-rated.
- Derek Imrie NoneAnd the contract, what's the term?
- Owen Tallis NoneOne year, auto-renews unless either of us give 90 days' notice.
- Pamela Lyall NoneWhat about service levels? Uptime, response times?
- Tom Ashdown NoneWith Starter, 99.5% availability. If we drop below that, you get 5% of a month's fee as a credit.
- Pamela Lyall NoneAnd if a ticket comes in, how fast?
- Owen Tallis NoneFirst response is four business hours. That's the SLA for Starter.
- Derek Imrie NoneOkay. I think we're getting close. What's the next step?
- Owen Tallis NoneTom'll send you a revised order form reflecting the discount and quarterly billing. You review, sign, and we're away.
- Tom Ashdown NoneI'll get that over tonight. Once it's signed, we kick off, probably early November.
- Derek Imrie NoneGood. I think we're done here. Cheers, Tom, Owen.
- Owen Tallis NoneThanks, Derek. Speak soon.