Ashwell Mercer Interiors / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Ashwell Mercer Interiors · 14 Aug 2025 16:00
Marcus Bell told Craig Ashwell about five of forty Growth users were active. Craig will not sign the renewal, due 23 Aug 2025, without his finance lead, and has no hard value case yet.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Marcus Bell told Craig Ashwell about five of forty Growth users were active. Craig will not sign the renewal, due 23 Aug 2025, without his finance lead, and has no hard value case yet.
What happened: Marcus reported about five active users out of forty on Growth, slightly down on the quarter before. Craig said he is the main user and that the project managers and credit control mostly stay in spreadsheets.
Customer view: Craig still believes in one shared view of each client. He admits that if he stops pushing, usage stops.
Commercial: The term runs to 22 Aug 2025 and the renewal date on record is 23 Aug 2025. Craig will not sign before sitting down with his finance lead, and he has only soft value so far.
Watch: Marcus promised the user list by name, a 30-minute session with project managers and credit control, a note on the high priority ticket and a one-page value summary. The evidence does not show whether these were delivered.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Low usage before renewal
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Marcus Bell to send the user list by name and book 30 minutes with the project managers and credit controller.
- Marcus Bell to give Craig a one-page value summary before 23 Aug 2025.
- Priya to send the renewal paperwork to Craig, copying his finance lead.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Only about five of forty licensed Growth users are active and the number is drifting down.
- Craig carries adoption almost alone, so usage depends on him.
- The finance lead has not yet seen a hard answer on what the money buys.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The dashboards builder, part of Growth, could show every unsigned variation by job.
- Project managers and credit control are headroom within the forty seats already paid for.
Transcript
Marcus BellAfternoon, Craig. Can you hear me all right?
Craig AshwellAfternoon, Marcus. Yeah, loud and clear. Bear with me, I'm walking back into the office and the lift's playing up again.- Marcus BellNo rush at all. I'll get my screen shared while you get settled.
- Craig AshwellRight. Sat down, door shut. Sorry about that.
- Marcus BellYou're fine. How's the week been? It's been all over the place up here, bright one minute and hammering down the next.
- Craig AshwellSame down here. Half my site managers have been soaked through and the other half have been moaning about the heat. Typical August. And half the office is on holiday, so it's like a ghost town.
- Marcus BellYeah, I know it's a quiet fortnight for a lot of people, so I'll keep this tight. Is half an hour still all right for you?
- Craig AshwellHalf an hour's fine. I've got a site call after, but that's not for a while.
- Marcus BellGreat. So I want to cover three things. I've pulled the numbers on how the team's using the brain, then a quick look at the tickets from the last month, and then the renewal, because it's coming up fast. Anything you want to add before I start?
- Craig AshwellYeah, one thing. There's a job that's keeping me awake at the moment. Big office fit-out. The client keeps asking for changes on the floor and the variations aren't getting written down fast enough. Where's the variation? That's what I keep asking. We do the work, and then six weeks later we're arguing about who asked for what.
- Marcus BellRight. And that's the sort of thing you were hoping the brain would help with when you came on board.
- Craig AshwellExactly that. What has the client signed? That's the only question. And I want to ask it without ringing three people. Project team has the site instructions, commercial has the valuation, credit control has the invoice, and nobody's looking at the same thing.
- Marcus BellYeah. That's the point of having projects, variations, calls and invoices in one place. Can I ask, are your project managers asking it that way, or is it mostly you?
- Craig AshwellMostly me. Which is probably a problem. Go on, you've got something to show me.
- Marcus BellI have. So, I've pulled the numbers. You've got forty licensed users on Growth. Over the last thirty days, the average number of people actually active has been about five. Five or so.
- Craig AshwellFive. Out of forty.
- Marcus BellYeah. And that's a touch down on the quarter before. Not a big drop, but it's moving the wrong way. I wouldn't read too much into August, with the holidays, but I'd rather say it to you straight than have you find it in a report.
- Craig AshwellNo, fair. I'd rather hear it. Honestly I'm not surprised. Who's dropped off?
- Marcus BellI can't tell you by name from this view. I'd need to go into the user list and I haven't done that yet. Let me have a quick look, give me a second.
- Marcus BellMm, sorry, it's being slow. I'll do it properly after this call and send it over, so you can see who's logging in and who hasn't touched it.
- Craig AshwellPlease. Because I know it's me, and it's probably one of the commercial managers, and a couple of the project managers when they're stuck. The credit control lot are still living in their spreadsheets. I keep telling them.
- Marcus BellMm. That's a shame, because they're the ones who'd get the most out of seeing the client's whole picture before they pick up the phone to chase.
- Craig AshwellRight. Let's get paid for what we've built. If credit control can see the signed variation next to the invoice, they stop chasing the wrong thing.
- Marcus BellThat's it. And look, the other way to see it is there's a lot of headroom. You're paying for forty seats and using a handful, so you don't need to buy anything extra to get more people on it. It's about getting them on.
- Craig AshwellFine. What would you suggest? I don't have time to run training myself, you know that.
- Marcus BellI wouldn't expect you to. Happy to jump on a call with the project managers and the credit control team. Shall we book 30 minutes? Short, on your own data, a real client, so it's not a demo with made-up projects.
- Craig AshwellThirty minutes I can sell to them. An hour and they'll all find a site visit. Can you do the week after next? Everyone's back by then.
- Marcus BellYeah, I'll look at the diary this afternoon and send a couple of slots. Who should I put on it? You, the project managers, whoever leads credit control?
- Craig AshwellMe, the project managers on the two biggest jobs, and our credit controller. Not the whole lot. Keep it small.
- Marcus BellPerfect. And while we're on it, the dashboards builder is part of Growth, so if you want a view that shows every live variation that's not yet signed, that's what it's for. We could set one up in that session so they see it working.
- Craig AshwellNow you're talking. A list, every job, every variation, what's signed and what isn't. Red where it's not. If I'd had that last year I'd have saved myself a few headaches.
- Marcus BellI can't promise it'll be one click, it depends what's been recorded where. But it's a sensible thing to try, and we'll find out in the session what the gaps are.
- Craig AshwellGaps I can live with. Not knowing is worse.
- Marcus BellAgreed. Okay, tickets, quickly. In the last month you've had two come through. One of them was marked high priority. I've got them in front of me, and both have been picked up by our support team. Did you hear anything about either of them on your side?
- Craig AshwellI saw something go through, I think. It wasn't me raising it, it'll have been one of the commercial team. Nobody's come and moaned at me, so I'm assuming no news is good news.
- Marcus BellThat's usually the right read. Two in a month isn't a number that worries me. If something starts to nag, tell me before it turns into a ticket and I'll make sure it gets looked at.
- Craig AshwellWill do. Did the high priority one affect the answers, though? Because if the brain's giving us stale stuff, people stop trusting it. They go straight back to the spreadsheet.
- Marcus BellI'm not going to guess, Craig. Let me read that ticket properly. Hang on.
- Marcus BellRight, I've got the thread open but I'd rather read it end to end than skim it on a call and get it wrong. I'll write up what happened and send it to you, so you've got it in writing. What I can tell you is the nightly refresh is meant to be done by seven in the morning on business days, and that's what you're on.
- Craig AshwellOkay. That's what I need. Seven o'clock, so the commercial team have fresh numbers when they sit down on a Monday.
- Marcus BellRight. So that's tickets. Renewal then. I'll be careful here, because the commercial side is Priya's, but I want you to have the dates from me.
- Craig AshwellGo on.
- Marcus BellYour current term runs to Friday 22 Aug 2025, and the renewal date on our records is 23 Aug 2025. So it's about a week and a bit away.
- Craig AshwellThat's close. I thought we had longer.
- Marcus BellYou'll have had the notice from us already, I believe, but I know these things disappear into inboxes. I'll ask Priya to send it again so it's at the top. From what I can see, the order form and the invoices agree: £39,600 a year, Growth, forty users.
- Craig AshwellAnd that's what we've been paying. No surprises there.
- Marcus BellNo. Everything's paid up, nothing overdue on the accounts side. So from that point of view it's a clean renewal.
- Craig AshwellGood. Will the price change?
- Marcus BellThat's one for Priya, honestly. I don't want to give you a half answer on price and have you plan around it. She'll put the renewal paperwork in front of you with the terms on it, and I'll ask her to get it to you in the next few days.
- Craig AshwellFine. Here's my position. I'm not signing anything until I've sat down with our finance lead. I don't talk cash without her in the room. So send it to me and copy her, or I'll forward it myself.
- Marcus BellUnderstood. I'll tell Priya to include her. Do you want her on the invite for the thirty-minute session as well, or is that just the project side?
- Craig AshwellJust the project side. Finance don't need the training, they need the numbers.
- Marcus BellMakes sense. Can I ask you something, because she's going to ask you it. When she says what are we getting for that money, what do you tell her?
- Craig AshwellHonestly? I'd say the answer isn't in the numbers yet. It's in the jobs where we caught something early, before it cost us. Which is a bit soft. She'll want it harder than that.
- Marcus BellThat's fair, and it's useful to know. I'd like to help you turn it into something she can look at. Not a pitch. Just: here's what's been asked, here's who's asking, here's what it turned up. Questions asked is the best measure we've got of whether it's earning its place.
- Craig AshwellDo that. Keep it short. One page.
- Marcus BellOne page. I'll aim to have it with you before 23 Aug 2025, so you've got it ahead of the renewal conversation.
- Craig AshwellGood. And be straight in it. If it shows five people using it, put five. I'd rather she saw the honest picture and then saw it get better.
- Marcus BellYeah, I'll put it as it is. And if the session with the project managers lands, there's a better number to show next quarter.
- Craig AshwellThat's the plan. Look, can I be blunt for a second?
- Marcus BellPlease.
- Craig AshwellI brought this in because I wanted every team seeing the client the same way. I still believe in that. The trouble is it only works if people use it, and I'm the one who's been banging the drum. If I stop, it stops. I don't want that to be the story.
- Marcus BellThat's honest, thanks. And it's a common pattern, the person who brought it in carries it. Getting a couple of project managers asking their own questions is the fix. It takes the weight off you.
- Craig AshwellRight. So maybe in the session they each ask it about their own job. Not mine, theirs.
- Marcus BellI like that. Their own job, their own client. I'll build it around that. What has the client signed, on a job they actually care about.
- Craig AshwellYou've been listening to me too long.
- Marcus BellHa. It's a good question, to be fair.
- Craig AshwellWhile I think of it, the credit controller is quite new to the team, so she'll need the basics. Don't assume she's seen anything.
- Marcus BellNo problem. I'll start from the beginning, so nobody feels lost. Should I send her something before the session, a short how-to, or would you rather she came to it cold?
- Craig AshwellSend her something short. Not a manual. She'll read a page, she won't read ten.
- Marcus BellA page. Everyone's getting a page. Got it.
- Craig AshwellIs there anything on your side I should know about? Anything coming that changes how we use it?
- Marcus BellNothing that I'd flag for you today. If that changes before the renewal I'll tell you, and Priya will cover anything on the commercial side. Nothing in the numbers is setting off any alarms for me, it's a quiet account, just a lightly used one.
- Craig AshwellLightly used. Yeah. Fair. Don't let me off the hook on it.
- Marcus BellI won't. That's why I'm putting the list by name in front of you. Then you can see exactly who we're talking about.
- Craig AshwellGood. Right. I think I've got what I need. Can you run through what's coming from you, so I've got it straight?
- Marcus BellCourse. From me: the user list by name, later today or tomorrow morning. A couple of slots for the thirty minutes with the project managers and credit control, week after next. A written note on the high priority ticket. And the one-page summary for your finance lead before 23 Aug 2025.
- Craig AshwellAnd from Priya, the renewal paperwork, copied to our finance lead.
- Marcus BellYes. I'll chase her today so it's with you in the next few days. And from you, the project managers saying yes to the session, and a word with your finance lead so she's expecting it.
- Craig AshwellI'll do both this week. I'll catch the project managers on site, they never read email.
- Marcus BellHa, right. Well, if they don't answer, I'll nudge them with the invite and you can say it's from you.
- Craig AshwellSay it's from me. That works. They're more scared of me than of you.
- Marcus BellI'll take that as the plan, then. Is there anything else you wanted to raise while we're here?
- Craig AshwellNo, that's it. Actually, one more. That fit-out I mentioned. If I ask the brain this afternoon what the client's signed, what will it tell me? Is it any use right now?
- Marcus BellIt'll tell you what's in the records it can see, so the emails, the calls, the CRM and the invoices. If the variation's only been agreed on the shop floor and nobody wrote it down, it can't find what isn't there. But it'll show you where the paper trail stops, and that's often the useful bit.
- Craig AshwellWhere the paper trail stops. Right. That's actually the answer I want. Then I know who to ring.
- Marcus BellExactly. Try it after this call and tell me what comes back. If it's rubbish, I'd rather know before the session.
- Craig AshwellI'll try it. I'll message you.
- Marcus BellPerfect. Well, thanks for your time, Craig. I know it's a busy fortnight.
- Craig AshwellNo, good call. Straight, which I like. Send me that list.
- Marcus BellWill do. Speak soon.
- Craig AshwellCheers, Marcus. Speak soon.
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