Ashwell Mercer Interiors / BG-Demo – QBR
Callcompleted
Ashwell Mercer Interiors · 9 Jun 2026 13:30
On the 9 Jun 2026 QBR, Valerie Okon said the Growth renewal must wait until a July refinancing is done and then needs board approval. Usage is under four of forty users and an invoice is overdue. Craig Ashwell still wants it.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026On the 9 Jun 2026 QBR, Valerie Okon said the Growth renewal must wait until a July refinancing is done and then needs board approval. Usage is under four of forty users and an invoice is overdue. Craig Ashwell still wants it.
What happened: Amara Obi, new to the account, led the QBR with Priya Raman and the customer's Commercial Director and Finance Director. Usage, tickets, the overdue invoice and the renewal were covered.
Customer view: Valerie will not commit until the refinancing is done and the board has seen it. She could not say whether the question is renewing at all or changing shape.
Commercial: The term runs to 22 Aug 2026 with renewal on 23 Aug 2026, at £44k a year on Growth. Craig wants to keep it if it is used, and said more seats are not needed.
Watch: Adoption has fallen further, and no payment date was given for the overdue invoice. Disputes and cash pressure are the stated cause, not product dissatisfaction.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Renewal deferred, low usage
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Amara checks both tickets, closes out the high-priority one and resends the invoice detail.
- Amara drafts the one-page value summary within a couple of weeks and runs a session with a handful of project managers.
- Craig sends names and a short write-up, and Valerie tells Amara a payment date when she has one.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Valerie will not decide on renewal until after the July refinancing and then needs board approval, with the term ending 22 Aug 2026.
- Daily active users are under four of forty, down by more than a third on the previous quarter.
- One invoice is overdue with no payment date given, and one dispute is still in adjudication.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Craig wants to keep the brain and will supply an example of unrecorded variations caught for a one-page board value summary.
- Priya can bring renewal options for the board after the refinancing.
Transcript
Amara ObiHello, can you hear me alright? I can see Craig, I think Valerie's just joining.
Craig AshwellLoud and clear. Afternoon, Amara.
Valerie OkonAfternoon. Sorry, I was finishing something. Before we start, are there any invoices outstanding on our side that I should know about?- Amara ObiGood question, and I'll come to it properly, because Priya has the detail. Priya, are you there?
Priya RamanI'm here, sorry, camera's being slow. Hi both. Happy to make this easy, so I'll keep my bit short and let Amara drive.- Amara ObiLovely. So, for anyone who hasn't met me properly: I'm Amara, I'm the customer success manager looking after Ashwell Mercer, and I picked the account up fairly recently. I haven't been on every call you've had with BG-Demo, so shout if I get the history wrong.
- Craig AshwellFine by me. We've had a few different faces.
- Amara ObiYes, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. What I'd like from today is simple: what does good look like for you this quarter? Then I'll show you what the numbers say, and then we talk about August.
- Craig AshwellHonestly? Good looks like getting paid for what we've built. That's the whole quarter. We've got two disputes that have eaten the team's time, and I'd rather be talking about variations than lawyers.
- Valerie OkonCraig, perhaps I should say where those stand, since it affects everything else on the call.
- Craig AshwellGo on, please. You'll say it more carefully than me.
- Valerie OkonOf the two disputes, one has been settled. We accepted a discount to close it, which was a commercial decision and not one we enjoyed. The other has gone to adjudication and we are waiting on that. I can't say more about it than that.
- Amara ObiUnderstood. Thank you, Valerie. That's helpful context, and I won't ask you to go further on the adjudication.
- Priya RamanAgreed, and just so you know, we're not here to add pressure. It's a sensible moment to look at where the brain is helping and where it isn't.
- Craig AshwellRight. Go on then, Amara. Show me the damage.
- Amara ObiNot damage, just the trend. Let me share my screen. Can you see the usage page?
- Craig AshwellYes. Bit small. Mm, that's better.
- Amara ObiSo here's what the numbers say. You're licensed for forty users on Growth. Over the last month, the average number of people active on any given day is under four. That's down by more than a third compared with the previous quarter.
- Craig AshwellUnder four. Out of forty.
- Amara ObiYes. And I'd rather say that out loud than tiptoe round it. It's the thing I'd flag at any QBR.
- Craig AshwellNo, that's fair. It's not a surprise. Half my project managers have been in meetings about the disputes, or on site, or both. Nobody's been asking anything of the system.
- Amara ObiThat makes sense. When you say nobody, is it a few people doing most of the asking, or has it gone quiet across the board?
- Craig AshwellMostly me, to be straight. And the credit control lot, when they're chasing. The project teams drifted off. They went back to spreadsheets when it got busy.
- Valerie OkonWhich is the wrong way round, really. That's when we need the variations and the client invoices side by side.
- Craig AshwellIt is. Where's the variation, that's what I keep asking. If a client has signed a change, I want it sitting next to the valuation, not in someone's inbox.
- Amara ObiThat's exactly what you bought it for. So let me ask: who else should have access? Is there anyone on the project side who isn't in the forty yet but should be?
- Craig AshwellNot more people. The opposite. I need the ones we've got to actually use it. Forty is plenty.
- Priya RamanAnd I think that's worth saying, Craig. We're not trying to sell you seats. If anything it's a conversation about whether the setup fits how the teams work now.
- Craig AshwellFair enough.
- Amara ObiOkay, let me go on to tickets, because there's a small piece there. You've raised two in the last month. One of them was marked high priority.
- Craig AshwellThat'd be the one about the project data not showing up. I think. Valerie, did your team raise the other?
- Valerie OkonI believe so. It was something minor about a report. I'd have to check.
- Amara ObiI'll check both against our side this afternoon and make sure the high-priority one is properly closed out, not just quiet. I'd rather you hear from me than have to chase.
- Craig AshwellI'd appreciate that.
- Amara ObiRight. Now, Valerie, you asked about invoices at the start. Priya, do you want to take that?
- Priya RamanSure. So there's one invoice showing as overdue on our side. Nothing dramatic, and I'm not raising it to put anyone on the spot. I just think it's better for us to say it plainly than have it sit in two systems and nobody mention it.
- Valerie OkonI'm aware of it. We'll pay on the agreed terms. What I can't do today is give you a date, and I'd rather not offer one I can't keep.
- Priya RamanThat's absolutely fine. If you can let Amara know once you do have a date, that's all we need.
- Valerie OkonI will. I'll write to Amara directly.
- Craig AshwellCan I just say, on that, it's not a view on the product. It's cash timing. Everything is tied up in the same few weeks.
- Valerie OkonCraig, I'd rather we kept the detail of cash to the finance side, if you don't mind.
- Craig AshwellOf course. Sorry. Yes.
- Amara ObiNo problem at all. Okay, so that brings us to the part I think matters most, which is the renewal. Contract runs to 22 Aug 2026 and the renewal date is 23 Aug 2026. You're on Growth at £44k a year, and the invoices match the order form, so there's no mismatch to untangle there.
- Valerie OkonGood. That's useful to have confirmed.
- Priya RamanAnd just to keep momentum, we'd normally be starting that renewal conversation about now, so we're not scrambling in August.
- Valerie OkonI understand. Let me be clear about where we are, because I don't want to mislead you. The renewal will have to wait. We have a refinancing in July, and I can't take a decision on any commitments of this kind until that is done.
- Priya RamanRight. So July, and then you'd come back to us.
- Valerie OkonAfter July, yes. And even then I would need to take it to the board. I'm not going to sign anything new without them.
- Amara ObiThat's completely clear, thank you. Can I ask, so I plan properly: is the question whether you renew at all, or whether the shape of it changes?
- Valerie OkonI don't know yet. I'd be guessing, and I'd rather not.
- Craig AshwellFrom my side, for what it's worth, I want it. I just need it used. Right now it's not earning its keep and I know that.
- Amara ObiThank you, Craig. That's honest, and it's what I'd want to work on. If the board is going to ask what the brain is worth, you want a short, clear answer.
- Craig AshwellYes. What has it actually done for us. I can tell you one thing already: it showed us a client with unrecorded variations before we'd have noticed.
- Priya RamanThat's a real example, Craig. Can we get that written down? Even a few lines.
- Craig AshwellI can do that. I'll keep the client out of it.
- Amara ObiPerfect, that's exactly right. So here's what I'd propose. Between now and July we don't try to push a renewal. We use the time to get the active users back up and to put together a one-page value summary for the board.
- Valerie OkonA one-page summary would be welcome. Short, please.
- Amara ObiShort. I promise. I'll send you a draft in a couple of weeks and you can tell me what's missing.
- Craig AshwellAnd on the usage, what do you want from me?
- Amara ObiTwo things. Pick the project managers who matter most, a handful, not forty. And I'll run a short session with them on the variations view, so it's the first thing they open when a change comes in.
- Craig AshwellFine. I'll give you names this week.
- Priya RamanAnd I'll stay close on the commercial side. If it helps the board conversation to see options after the refinancing, I'm happy to put them together then. No pressure before.
- Valerie OkonThat's sensible. Thank you, Priya.
- Amara ObiRight. Anything else before we wrap? Anything I've missed?
- Craig AshwellNo. Just get the high-priority ticket sorted.
- Valerie OkonNothing from me. Please do send the invoice detail again, so I have it in front of me.
- Amara ObiWill do, today. So: I check the tickets and resend the invoice, Craig sends names and the short write-up, Valerie lets me know a payment date when she has one, and I get the one-pager to you in a couple of weeks. Let's get the next QBR in the diary once July is behind you.
- Valerie OkonAgreed.
- Craig AshwellCheers, all. Speak soon.
- Priya RamanThanks everyone. Best of luck with the next few weeks.
- Amara ObiThanks, bye.
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