Ashwell Mercer Interiors / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Ashwell Mercer Interiors · 12 Mar 2026 15:00
Check-in on 12 Mar 2026: Craig Ashwell says the brain answered a variation question in a minute and is worth having. Daily users are about six of forty, which Marcus Bell frames as headroom. Renewal is 23 Aug 2026.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Check-in on 12 Mar 2026: Craig Ashwell says the brain answered a variation question in a minute and is worth having. Daily users are about six of forty, which Marcus Bell frames as headroom. Renewal is 23 Aug 2026.
What happened: Marcus Bell held a check-in with Craig Ashwell, Commercial Director, on 12 Mar 2026. A commercial team member had asked what the client agreed on lighting changes and got an email, a call note and the variation log in one answer.
Customer view: Craig says it has made the team ask the question before the work is done. He asked about forty licences against about six daily users; Marcus called it room.
Commercial: Marcus stated Growth, forty users, £44k a year per the order form and invoiced, paid on time. The term runs to 22 Aug 2026, renewal 23 Aug 2026, and Priya owns commercial terms.
Watch: Project managers are still not in and Craig is the biggest single asker, though not most of it. Craig asked that his line stay internal; the call does not show the renewal outcome.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Value proven, wider use
Importance
praise
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Craig sends Marcus the names for the first project manager group by the end of the week.
- Marcus sends the usage summary and example phrasings, and checks with the IT lead whether a progress dashboard is possible.
- Marcus briefs Priya that Craig is happy and wants to talk about wider use, in good time before August.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- About six daily users against forty licensed could still be questioned when the 23 Aug 2026 renewal is discussed.
- Project managers work on site and are not yet users, so the variation use case still leans on Craig and the commercial team.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A half-hour early-morning session for project managers could bring in the people who ask variation questions.
- A progress dashboard showing work done against work agreed would use the Growth dashboards builder, if the progress data is connected.
- Priya can open a wider-use conversation ahead of renewal, with Craig's praise behind it.
Transcript
Marcus BellHello, Craig. Can you hear me alright?
Craig AshwellLoud and clear. Afternoon, Marcus.- Marcus BellAfternoon. Sorry, I'm just getting my screen up. It always picks the wrong window first time.
- Craig AshwellNo rush. I've got a site team ringing me at half past, so we've got a bit of time but not loads.
- Marcus BellThat's fine, I'll keep it tight. Right, you should see the usage page now. Can you see it?
- Craig AshwellI can. Lots of green. Good. Before you go through it, can I raise one thing? The project that's worrying me most this week.
- Marcus BellOf course, go ahead. That's what the call's for.
- Craig AshwellIt's one of the big office floors. The client's changed their mind on the partitions and the lighting layout. Twice. Site have done half of it already. And I can't see anything signed. Where's the variation?
- Marcus BellRight. Okay. Have you tried asking the brain? Because that's exactly the sort of thing it should be able to pull together for you.
- Craig AshwellThat's what I wanted to say, actually. One of the commercial team did that this morning. Asked it what the client had agreed on the lighting changes. It found an email from the client's project manager, a call note, and the variation log. All in one answer.
- Marcus BellThat's brilliant to hear. So it joined the email and the call, rather than someone going through the mailbox by hand.
- Craig AshwellYeah. Used to take half a day, chasing it round. Now it's a minute. What has the client signed? That's all I want to know, and it told us.
- Marcus BellAnd did it turn out they'd signed?
- Craig AshwellPartly. The lighting yes, the partitions no. So now we know which one to go and chase. Which is the point. Let's get paid for what we've built, not what we think we've built.
- Marcus BellHa, fair enough. Right, that's a nice lead in, because it's pretty much what the numbers are showing as well. Shall I walk you through them?
- Craig AshwellGo on.
- Marcus BellSo I've pulled the numbers for the last quarter. The headline is that active users are up quite a bit on the quarter before. Not a spike, it's a steady climb, week after week.
- Craig AshwellRight. How many are we talking? Because I know it's not everyone.
- Marcus BellOn an average day it's about six people. So up by a good chunk, but I'll be straight with you, that's six against forty licensed users.
- Craig AshwellSix. Yeah. That sounds about right, honestly. It's me, the commercial lot, a couple in credit control, one or two of the project managers.
- Marcus BellMm. And that's roughly what I see. The credit control people in particular are asking a lot of questions. They're the ones who've really taken to it.
- Craig AshwellThey would. They've got the invoices, the valuations, the calls with the client's finance people, all in front of them now. Used to be three systems and a spreadsheet.
- Marcus BellYeah. And the questions asked count is the one I look at most. It's up month on month, and it's up on the same time last year too, which is nice to see after a full year and a half with you.
- Craig AshwellIs it all me, though? Because I do ask a lot.
- Marcus BellNo, that's the good news. You're the biggest single asker, but it's not most of it. It's spread across the commercial and credit control people. If it was just you I'd want to talk about that, because it's a bit fragile if one person carries it.
- Craig AshwellFair. I'll try to ask fewer questions then.
- Marcus BellPlease don't. Ha. Keep going exactly as you are.
- Craig AshwellWhat about the other bits? Tickets, all that. Anything I should know about?
- Marcus BellNothing. No tickets raised in the last month, none at all. And nothing's been flagged as urgent. Records are still coming in every night, so the data's fresh.
- Craig AshwellGood. I like quiet.
- Marcus BellQuiet's good, as long as it's quiet because it works and not because nobody's using it. And here it's the first one. Usage is climbing, so I'm not worried about the silence.
- Craig AshwellRight. So the thing I keep coming back to is that forty. We're paying for forty and using six. Is that a problem?
- Marcus BellI wouldn't call it a problem. I'd call it room. You've got plenty of headroom, and the question is who else should be in there.
- Craig AshwellThe project managers, obviously. Most of them. And the contracts managers.
- Marcus BellThat's what I was going to suggest. Because from what you've just told me, the variation question you had this morning is a project manager question. If they could ask it themselves, you wouldn't need to be the one chasing.
- Craig AshwellYeah. Yeah, that's true. Trouble is they're on site. They're not at a desk. They're in a cabin with a flask and a laptop that's seen better days.
- Marcus BellHa. Okay. So that's the thing to design around. Would it help if we did a short session aimed at them? Not a big training day. Half an hour, showing them three or four questions they'd actually ask. What's agreed on a variation, what's outstanding on a valuation, what the client said on the last call.
- Craig AshwellHalf an hour I could get. An hour they'd drift.
- Marcus BellHalf an hour it is. I'm happy to jump on a call with them, or I can do it with a few of them at once. Whichever's easier for you.
- Craig AshwellDo it with a few. And do it at the start of the day, before they go off to site. Early, early in the day.
- Marcus BellUnderstood. I'll put something in your diary options for you to pick from. Do you want to nominate who's in the first group?
- Craig AshwellI'll pick the ones who shout loudest about variations. They're the ones who'll use it.
- Marcus BellPerfect. Nothing like starting with people who already care.
- Craig AshwellExactly. Where's the variation, that's their whole life.
- Marcus BellOkay. Let me show you one other thing while I've got the screen up. The dashboards.
- Craig AshwellGo on. I haven't looked at those in a while.
- Marcus BellSo this is the dashboards builder. It comes with Growth. Somebody on your side has built a couple. This one's by project, showing the value of variations raised against variations agreed. And this one's the credit control view, by client.
- Craig AshwellThat's the one the credit team built. I've seen it. It's good. I didn't know it updated by itself.
- Marcus BellIt refreshes overnight, so it's ready by the time people are in. Nothing to do on your side.
- Craig AshwellRight. Could we have one that shows work done against work agreed? Site progress, against what the client's actually signed off?
- Marcus BellI think so, yes, as long as the progress figures are coming through from wherever they're kept. I'd want to check with whoever looks after that on your side what's connected. Can I come back to you on that rather than guess?
- Craig AshwellFine. Ask the lad in IT. He'll know what feeds what.
- Marcus BellWill do. I'll drop him a line and copy you in. Don't want to promise something before I've seen the source.
- Craig AshwellNo, quite right. Better to know.
- Marcus BellSo that's the usage side. The other thing I wanted to mention is the contract. You came on board on 23 Aug 2024, so you're in your second year now, and the term runs to 22 Aug 2026.
- Craig AshwellRight. August. Feels a way off but I know it won't be.
- Marcus BellIt sneaks up. The renewal date on our side is 23 Aug 2026. I'll be in touch properly well before that, I do the notice about ninety days ahead, and Priya will pick up the commercial side with you.
- Craig AshwellPriya's the one who sold it to us, yes?
- Marcus BellThat's right. She owns the commercial terms, so anything on price or what's in the order form comes through her, not me. I'll keep to the usage and the value.
- Craig AshwellAnd what's it looking like? Roughly. Without you committing to anything.
- Marcus BellHonestly, I'd rather not guess at it, because that's Priya's call and she'll want to talk it through properly. What I can say is where you are today. You're on Growth, forty users, the order form says £44,000 a year and that's what's been invoiced. Everything's paid on time, nothing outstanding.
- Craig AshwellRight. I'll leave cash to our finance lead anyway. I don't talk numbers on that without her in the room. But I'm happy to say it's been worth having.
- Marcus BellThat's useful to hear, thank you. Would you say that to Priya as well, when she gets in touch? The bit about the variations, particularly.
- Craig AshwellYeah. I'll tell anyone. Let me tell you what it's done. It's made us ask the question before the work's done instead of after. That's the whole game in fit-out.
- Marcus BellMm. That's a good line. Can I use that?
- Craig AshwellUse it. Just don't put my name on it in front of our clients. I never criticise a client in writing. Not even by accident.
- Marcus BellUnderstood, I'll keep it internal. Right. Is there anything else on your side, anything that's annoying you or that you'd like it to do and it doesn't?
- Craig AshwellNot really. One thing. Sometimes the answer gives me a lot and I just want the one line. Is there a way to make it shorter?
- Marcus BellThere is, yes. You can ask it to answer briefly, or ask for just the agreed amount and the date. I'll send you a couple of example phrasings. It's a habit thing more than a setting.
- Craig AshwellPerfect. Send me those.
- Marcus BellWill do. So let me play back what we've agreed. One, I send you a short usage summary after this call, with the numbers I just showed you.
- Craig AshwellYep.
- Marcus BellTwo, I'll set up a half hour early in the day for the project managers, and you tell me who's in the first group.
- Craig AshwellYep. I'll have names to you by the end of the week.
- Marcus BellThree, I'll check with your IT lead on whether that progress dashboard is possible, and copy you in. And four, a few example phrasings for shorter answers.
- Craig AshwellGood. And Priya for August, in good time.
- Marcus BellAnd Priya in good time, yes. I'll let her know you're happy and that you'd like to talk about wider use. Shall we book half an hour for the next check-in, nearer the summer?
- Craig AshwellYeah, do that. Put it in and I'll move things round if I have to.
- Marcus BellBrilliant. Thanks, Craig. Good to hear it's working for you. Go and sort your partitions.
- Craig AshwellHa. Going to. Cheers, Marcus. Speak soon.
- Marcus BellSpeak soon. Bye.
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