Ashwell Mercer Interiors / BG-Demo – QBR
Callcompleted
Ashwell Mercer Interiors · 2 Jan 2026 12:30
On the 2 Jan 2026 QBR, about four of forty Growth users were active, down by roughly a third. The Finance Director said a higher price would be hard to put to the board. An overdue invoice and a ledger mismatch were also raised.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026On the 2 Jan 2026 QBR, about four of forty Growth users were active, down by roughly a third. The Finance Director said a higher price would be hard to put to the board. An overdue invoice and a ledger mismatch were also raised.
What happened: Marcus Bell led the QBR on 2 Jan 2026 with Craig Ashwell, Valerie Okon and Sunil Kapoor, joined by Priya Raman. Active use was about four against forty licensed users, and project teams were hardly present.
Customer view: Craig said he cannot take a foundation to the board. Valerie said she would find a higher number hard to put in front of the board.
Commercial: Priya confirmed Growth at £44k, matching Valerie's records, and said a new price list exists without giving figures. Valerie will wait for the renewal proposal in writing.
Watch: One invoice shows overdue and the evidence does not show which. Sunil also found one outstanding total that does not tie to the ledger, still unreconciled.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Low usage ahead of renewal
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
negative
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Marcus Bell to send Valerie Okon a statement for the overdue invoice the following week and check it reached the right person.
- Marcus Bell to set up the thirty-minute project manager session on the two projects Craig Ashwell names.
- Priya Raman to send Valerie Okon the renewal proposal in writing ahead of the board, with the price list change explained.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- About four active users against forty licensed, down by roughly a third, leaves the Growth value case thin for the board.
- A new price list was mentioned to a Finance Director who says a higher number would be hard to justify.
- An unidentified overdue invoice and a figure that does not tie to the ledger could erode trust.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A session with project managers on live projects with unsigned variations could lift active use.
- Variations caught before work is done is the value measure Valerie said she would recognise.
Transcript
Marcus BellHello, can you hear me all right? I've just joined, so shout if the sound is off.
Craig AshwellLoud and clear. Happy new year, Marcus.- Marcus BellAnd to you, Craig. Bit of a strange one today, I'd imagine. Is anyone actually in the office?
- Craig AshwellHalf of it's still off. I'm in because the sites don't care what the calendar says. Lunch is a sandwich at my desk.
Valerie OkonGood afternoon. Sorry, I'm here. Are the invoices on the agenda today?- Marcus BellThey are, Valerie, I've put them near the top. Let's give Sunil and Priya a minute.
Sunil KapoorI'm here. I've got the usage export open already, I hope that's useful.
Priya RamanHi all, sorry, sorry, back to back this morning. Happy new year. Marcus, shall we crack on, to keep momentum?- Marcus BellYes, let's. I'll share my screen, bear with me. Right, can you see the usage page?
- Craig AshwellYes. Bit small, but yes.
- Marcus BellI'll make it bigger. So what I want to cover is three things. First, how the brain's being used. Second, the tickets. Third, where we are ahead of the renewal in the summer. Then anything you want to raise. Happy to run over if we need to, I've left the afternoon clear.
- Valerie OkonBefore usage. One invoice. Our system says one is showing overdue with you. When will that be paid, and is it ours to pay?
- Marcus BellFair question, and I'd rather be straight with you. I can see one invoice flagged as overdue on our side. I haven't got the detail in front of me, so I don't want to guess which one it is.
- Valerie OkonThen I need the reference and the date it was issued. What's outstanding by client is the only way I can look at it.
- Marcus BellUnderstood. I'll ask our finance team for a statement and send it to you next week. And I'd like them to check it reached the right person on your side, in case it's gone to an inbox nobody reads.
- Valerie OkonWe'll pay on the agreed terms. If it's right, it's paid. Send me the statement.
- Priya RamanHappy to make this easy, Valerie. Marcus and I will make sure you get one clean statement, nothing else attached, so it's a two minute job for your team.
- Valerie OkonThank you.
- Marcus BellOkay. Usage. I've pulled the numbers, and I'll say it plainly because I think you'd want that. You've got forty licensed users on Growth. Over the last thirty days, the average number of people active has been about four.
- Craig AshwellFour.
- Marcus BellAbout four, yes. And that's down by roughly a third compared with the previous quarter. So it wasn't a big crowd to begin with, and it's got smaller.
- Craig AshwellRight. Well. That's not what I want to hear, and I'm not going to pretend it is.
- Sunil KapoorIt matches what I see in the export. I can tell you who the four are, if that helps. It's me, Craig, and two people from the credit side.
- Craig AshwellSo project teams aren't in there at all.
- Sunil KapoorHardly. A couple of logins before Christmas. Not regular.
- Marcus BellThat fits what I'm seeing. Craig, can I ask, what's your read on why? I don't want to put words in your mouth.
- Craig AshwellHonestly? The project managers are on site, they're busy, and if it's not in front of them in the first five minutes they go back to what they know. Spreadsheets. Phone calls. Whoever's got the folder.
- Craig AshwellAnd that's on me as much as anyone. I sold it internally as the place where project, commercial and credit see a client together. If the project side isn't there, it's only two thirds of the picture.
- Priya RamanThat's a really helpful way to put it, Craig. And the good news is the other two thirds are working. Credit and commercial are using it, so the foundation's there.
- Craig AshwellThe foundation's there, but I can't go to the board next month and say we've got a foundation.
- Valerie OkonNo. We can't.
- Marcus BellNo, that's fair. So let me show you what the four are actually asking, because it's not nothing. Give me a moment to scroll.
- Marcus BellRight. So the credit control people are asking about outstanding balances by client, and what's been said on calls with a client before they chase. That's the use case you bought it for.
- Valerie OkonIs it reliable? When they ask what's outstanding by client, does it agree with the ledger?
- Sunil KapoorMostly. And that's something I wanted to raise, actually. I found one view where the outstanding total for a client doesn't tie to the ledger.
- Valerie OkonWhich client?
- Sunil KapoorI'd rather not say until I've reconciled it. It could be timing on the nightly refresh, it could be how the project code maps across. I don't want to overstate it. I'll reconcile it and tell you.
- Valerie OkonPlease do. Don't tell me until you're sure.
- Marcus BellAnd Sunil, if it turns out to be on our side, send me the project code and I'll get it in front of our engineers. I won't promise you a fix date, because I can't, but I'll make sure it's looked at properly.
- Sunil KapoorUnderstood. I'll send it over.
- Craig AshwellCan I go back to the project teams? Because that's the bit that's bothering me. Where's the variation? That's the question I want a project manager to be able to ask the thing, on site, and get an answer.
- Marcus BellRight, and that's exactly what it's built for, so I think it's more about getting them in the habit than about missing features. What if I offered a short session for the project managers? Thirty minutes, on their own projects, not a generic demo.
- Craig AshwellOn their own projects. Yes. Not slides.
- Marcus BellNot slides. Sunil, could you help me pick two live projects, ones where there's a variation in play?
- Sunil KapoorI can. Which project code do you want to start from? I'd suggest the ones with the most changes this quarter, they'll be the ones people care about.
- Craig AshwellThere's two I'd pick without thinking. I'll send them to you today, Sunil. Both are ones where the client hasn't signed the variation yet and the work's gone ahead.
- Valerie OkonWhich is the one thing that keeps me awake. Work done, nothing signed, nothing paid.
- Craig AshwellWhich is why I want it in front of them. Right, that's the session. Who comes?
- Marcus BellWhoever you pick. I'd suggest the project managers who'd benefit most, not everyone. Four or five people who'll actually use it is better than a room of twenty who half listen.
- Craig AshwellAgreed. I'll nominate them. And I'll tell them it's not optional.
- Priya RamanBrilliant. That's the sort of thing that moves the number quickly, Craig. We'd love to see the active count go the right way before the spring, and then you've got a story for the board.
- Craig AshwellLet's see it first, Priya. I'll believe it when I see it.
- Priya RamanFair enough, fair enough.
- Marcus BellOkay. Tickets, quickly. You've had two in the last thirty days. Neither was high priority, and nothing from you that I'd call a fault. Sunil, does that match your memory?
- Sunil KapoorIt does. Both were small, how do I do this rather than it's broken. I've not had any connectors misbehave.
- Marcus BellGood. I'd say that's a quiet account on the support side, which is nice, but with the usage it also tells me people may be getting stuck quietly rather than raising it. That's another reason for the session.
- Craig AshwellOr they've just stopped trying.
- Marcus BellThat's possible too. Yes.
- Valerie OkonMay I ask about the renewal. Not the price. I understand that's not for Marcus.
- Marcus BellNo, that's Priya's side, you're right. But go on, ask, and I'll say what I can.
- Valerie OkonWhat are the dates, and when would I need to decide? I won't sign anything new without the board, and the board meets on its own schedule.
- Priya RamanSure. So the current term ends on 22 Aug 2026, and the renewal date is 23 Aug 2026. You're on Growth at forty-four thousand a year at the moment, and that's what's been invoiced as well, so everything lines up there.
- Valerie OkonYes. It's £44,000 in our records too.
- Priya RamanGreat. I'll come back to you with the renewal proposal well ahead of that, and I'll flag the timing to you so you can get it in front of the board without a scramble. Happy to make it easy.
- Valerie OkonWill the price be the same?
- Priya RamanLet me pull that together properly rather than answer off the cuff. There are some changes in the price list that I'll walk you through in writing, so you've got it in front of you. I'd rather you see it once, correctly.
- Valerie OkonSo there's a change.
- Priya RamanThere's a new price list, and I'll set out exactly what it means for you. I don't want to give you half an answer on a call.
- Valerie OkonThen I'll wait for the writing. But I'll say now, Priya, with four people using it, I'd find it hard to put a higher number in front of the board.
- Craig AshwellWhich is the point, isn't it. The usage has to move first.
- Marcus BellI think that's right, and I'd say that's a fair thing to hold us to. I'll do the notice about ninety days ahead of the renewal, as normal, but between now and then my job is to get you to a place where you can say what the brain is worth to you, with numbers.
- Craig AshwellWhat numbers?
- Marcus BellWhatever you'd recognise. Variations caught before the work is done. Time your credit team saves chasing. Which clients have been flagged. We've got the data, so it's a case of picking the two or three that you'd actually stand behind.
- Valerie OkonVariations caught. That's the one I'd value. If it's real.
- Craig AshwellIt's real. I just need people to use it.
- Sunil KapoorOne practical thing. Some of the licences sit with people who've moved to other projects, and a few are people who've never logged in. If we're talking about forty seats and four users, I could clean that list up, so the number we're looking at is honest.
- Marcus BellThat would help a lot, Sunil. It's better to see the real picture. Could you send me the list of people who've never logged in? I'll then suggest who to bring into the session and who might not need a seat.
- Sunil KapoorI'll send it next week with the project codes.
- Craig AshwellHang on. Does cutting seats help us or hurt us at renewal?
- Priya RamanLet's not get ahead of ourselves, Craig. The first job is the right people in the room. Seats and scope are a conversation for the renewal, and I'll take that with Valerie in good time.
- Craig AshwellFine. But I don't want to be surprised.
- Priya RamanYou won't be.
- Marcus BellBefore we wrap up, anything else on your minds? Connectors, new teams, anything you want the brain to see that it can't see at the moment?
- Sunil KapoorNot at the moment. I'd like what's there to tie to the ledger first. Then we can talk about more.
- Craig AshwellSame. Fix the basics, get the project people in, then ask me again.
- Valerie OkonNothing from me. The statement, please.
- Marcus BellRight. Let me read back what I've got, and tell me if I've missed something. I'll send Valerie a statement for the overdue invoice next week, and check it went to the right person. Sunil reconciles the figure that doesn't tie to the ledger and sends me the project code if it's on our side. Sunil also sends the list of people who've never logged in.
- Marcus BellCraig sends Sunil the two projects with unsigned variations and nominates the project managers. I'll set up the thirty minute session on those projects. And Priya sends Valerie the renewal proposal in writing ahead of the board, with the price list change explained.
- Priya RamanThat's it. And I'll keep you posted on timing, Valerie.
- Valerie OkonThank you. That's everything for me.
- Craig AshwellLet's get it moving. Thanks, Marcus. Thanks, all.
- Marcus BellThanks, everyone. I'll send a short note with the numbers and the actions this afternoon. Speak soon, and happy new year again.
- Sunil KapoorThanks. Bye.
- Marcus BellSorry, still here. Recording's still on. Right, bye.
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