What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Adoption is ahead of plan, with extra service desk users added by the admin. Two urgent tickets about missing billing records came from an export permission on the customer's side, now fixed and to be rechecked after the nightly refresh.
What happened: Alan Rennie reported more users than expected, including a couple from the service desk who asked for access. His director has agreed the rollout order: account management, then service desk, then provisioning.
Customer view: The two urgent tickets were about billing data not bringing in the latest records. A colleague in IT fixed an export table permission, and Alan said the support team were quick enough.
Commercial: Account managers ask vague questions and get vague answers. A walkthrough using their own customers' data is planned for the week after next, which protects the value case.
Watch: Alan told the account managers it was sorted, so a repeat failure would cost credibility. The provisioning manager is described as cautious.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Laura Penhaligon to check the billing refresh the next morning after the nightly run.
- Laura Penhaligon to send Alan a three-line ticket cheat sheet and a single sign-on note for IT.
- Laura Penhaligon to set a longer Monday slot with the provisioning coordinator.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The billing connector could stop loading again, and Alan has told the account managers it is sorted.
- Vague questions from account managers could weaken their view of the brain's value.
- The provisioning manager is cautious and the helpdesk may change next year.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Pull from the service desk shows demand beyond the first team and supports wider rollout.
- A question-asking walkthrough with the customer's own data can deepen adoption.
Transcript
- Laura Penhaligon NoneHi Alan. Sorry, I'm a minute or two behind, the last call ran over. Can you hear me?
- Alan Rennie NoneI can, yeah. No worries, I was just finishing an email. Is it just us again?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneJust us today. Good afternoon, nearly evening. How was your week? Did you survive the billing run?
- Alan Rennie NoneJust about. It's quieter this week. Less shouting. How about you, are you off to anything for the bonfire thing this weekend, or is that just us up here?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneHa, we have fireworks in London too, mostly my neighbours being optimistic about the weather. Right, shall we get into it? I want to go through where we are, because a fair bit has happened since last Monday.
- Alan Rennie NoneYeah, I'd say so. More people have been using it than I expected. I thought it'd be me and one other person and that's it.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat's good to hear. I could see the activity going up. Who's been logging in? Is that the account managers like we guessed?
- Alan Rennie NoneMostly, and a couple from the service desk who heard about it and just asked me for access. I didn't plan that. I let them in, I hope that's okay, because I'm the admin.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat's absolutely okay, that's what the admin role is for, and you've got plenty of room under your licence. I'd rather people pull it in than get pushed. Just keep a note of who you've added so we can line it up with the rollout order your director agreed.
- Alan Rennie NoneShe did agree, by the way. She said account management first, then the service desk, then provisioning. So I'm only slightly ahead of the plan.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneSlightly ahead is the best kind of behind. Okay, now the less cheerful bit. I can see you've raised a handful of tickets this past week, and two of them were marked urgent. I wanted to make sure you're not sitting on something annoying.
- Alan Rennie NoneRight, yeah. That was me. Both about the same thing, really. The billing data wasn't bringing in the latest records. I could see invoices from last week but nothing from this week, and I panicked a bit, because the account managers had started asking questions of it.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneUnderstandable. From what I saw, and do stop me if I've got it wrong, it came down to a permission on the export tables on your side. Our connection could read the old tables but the new ones the export created weren't included in what we were allowed to see.
- Alan Rennie NoneThat's what I was told, and then a colleague in IT fixed it. It's working now, I think. I asked it a question this morning and the figure matched what I had in my own report.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneGood, that's what I wanted to hear. To be safe, I'd like to look at it again tomorrow morning after the nightly refresh and confirm the new records came in on their own. If the permission was set properly it should just keep working, but I'd rather check than assume.
- Alan Rennie NoneYeah, please do. Because if it stops again I'll look daft. I told the account managers it was sorted.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneYou won't look daft. And if it goes wrong it'll be because of something we should have caught, and I'd prefer you tell me early. Do you want me to ask Marcus to have a word with the support team about how quickly those urgent ones got picked up? I don't want you feeling you were waiting around.
- Alan Rennie NoneNo, they were quick enough. It was more that I didn't know what I was looking at. The ticket form asks for things I couldn't answer, like which source. I had to guess.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat's useful feedback and I'll pass it on. I'll also write you a very short cheat sheet. Which source, what you saw, when it last worked. Three lines. Would that help?
- Alan Rennie NoneThat would help a lot, yeah. Put it in a way that I can forward to the others. I'll end up being the person people come to.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneYou're already that person, I'm afraid. Okay, moving on. Last week we said the CRM would go first, then billing. Where have we got to on the helpdesk? Did you find out if it's changing?
- Alan Rennie NoneI asked. The answer is, they don't know. Somebody mentioned a review next year but there's nothing decided. I'd say go ahead, and if it changes, we deal with it then.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat's a reasonable call. We'll connect it and I'll make a note against the plan that it may move. And provisioning, did you get hold of the lead?
- Alan Rennie NoneSort of. I spoke to the coordinator, she's keen, she's very keen actually, because she spends half her day chasing people for the same information. She can join the next call. Her manager's a bit more cautious, so I'm going to let her do the talking.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneQuite a good approach, honestly. Enthusiasts do the persuading better than we do. When you say next call, do you mean next Monday again?
- Alan Rennie NoneI'd say so. And can we make that one longer? I think she'll have lots to ask.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneYes, I'll set aside more time. One more thing for today, single sign-on. Did you get a chance to speak to IT about that?
- Alan Rennie NoneI did, briefly, and that's the same colleague who fixed the permission. He wants to see what you need from him before he agrees a date. So if you send over a note, he'll look at it.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneI'll write something short for him, no jargon he doesn't need. Roughly what we'll ask for and what it does and doesn't touch. I'd send it through you, so you're in the loop, and then you can introduce us.
- Alan Rennie NonePerfect. That way he knows I'm not going around him.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneExactly. So, from today. I'll check the billing refresh tomorrow, send you the three-line cheat sheet, send IT the sign-on note via you, and set up a longer slot for Monday with the provisioning coordinator. You'll keep a list of who you've added. Anything I've missed?
- Alan Rennie NoneNo, I think that's it. Oh, actually, one thing. Is there any chance of a quick walkthrough for the account managers on how to ask it useful things? They're asking it very vague questions and getting vague answers.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneYes, definitely, that's very common and easy to fix. Let's put that in for the week after next, once provisioning is on. I'll bring some examples taken from your own customers' data, so it feels real.
- Alan Rennie NoneBrilliant. Right, I'd better go, I've got somebody waiting on a report.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneGo on, off you go. Thanks Alan. Speak Monday.
- Alan Rennie NoneCheers, Laura. Bye now.