What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Marcus Bell's 10 Aug 2026 check-in with Shona Baird: usage down a touch, provisioning still distrusts the brain, support and invoicing clean. Renewal on 28 Aug 2026 flagged as coming; the money sits with Robert.
What happened: Marcus walked Shona through usage, support and the renewal. Active users were a little over thirty a day against 150 licensed users, down a touch on the previous quarter.
Customer view: Shona put the dip down to summer leave. She said the service desk would be lost without the brain, but a few provisioning staff still trust their own spreadsheet.
Commercial: The contract runs to 27 Aug 2026 with renewal on 28 Aug 2026. Shona does not handle the money, so Robert and Tom Ashdown are the commercial route.
Watch: Shona's praise is real, but the decision sits with Robert. Low use among provisioning and account managers is the thing he could question.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Marcus to send the team split, the support ticket status and a few lines for Robert by end of the week.
- Marcus to send September dates for a half-hour working session with provisioning and account managers.
- Shona to send the name of the new service desk starter so a login can be set up.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Provisioning staff still prefer their own spreadsheet to the brain, which limits the value Robert can see.
- Active users are down on the previous quarter, going into a renewal the finance side owns.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- A short session with provisioning and account managers on their own customers could widen use.
- A written note on how the teams use the brain gives Robert something to read alongside the order form.
Transcript
- Shona Baird NoneMorning, Marcus. Can you hear me all right?
- Marcus Bell NoneMorning Shona, yes, loud and clear. And there's your video. Good.
- Shona Baird NoneSorry, I'm a minute behind. I've had a fault since first thing that's eating my head. One customer, one circuit, and nobody had an owner on it until I made one.
- Marcus Bell NoneAh, that's never fun. Is it moving?
- Shona Baird NoneIt is now. Who's got the fault, that's the whole thing, and now somebody has. Right. What are we covering?
- Marcus Bell NoneSo I'll share my screen in a second. I want to keep us to the half hour. Three things: how the team's using the brain, anything open with support, and then the renewal, because it's coming up later this month.
- Shona Baird NoneFine by me. Go on.
- Marcus Bell NoneOkay, can you see that? It's the usage page for Kenmure. I've pulled the numbers for the last month. Active users are averaging a little over thirty a day. That's down a touch on the previous quarter, so not a big move.
- Shona Baird NoneDown a touch. Is that bad?
- Marcus Bell NoneI don't think so. You've got 150 licensed users, so there's plenty of room either way. I wouldn't read too much into one quarter, and it's August.
- Shona Baird NoneAye, half of Scotland's on a beach. I've had account managers away for a fortnight at a time. Let's not make this complicated, that'll be most of it.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat was my guess too. I just wanted you to hear it from me rather than spot it yourself later.
- Shona Baird NoneFair. What's the actual picture, then? Who's in there?
- Marcus Bell NoneMostly the service desk and the account managers. Provisioning are in there but less often. If you want, I can split it by team and send it over. Happy to jump on a call with the provisioning folk as well if that's useful.
- Shona Baird NoneDo the split. Provisioning are the ones I'd like using it more. They still ring round when a customer asks where their install is.
- Marcus Bell NoneRight, that's a good one. When someone rings round, they could just ask the brain for that customer's circuits and open faults in one go.
- Shona Baird NoneThat's what I sold it as. Sort of. I'll be honest, a few of them still don't trust it over their own spreadsheet.
- Marcus Bell NoneMm. That's common. Trust comes when they see it match what they already know a couple of times.
- Shona Baird NoneSo what would you do? Practically.
- Marcus Bell NoneA short session, maybe half an hour, with provisioning and a couple of the account managers. Their own customers, their own questions, nothing scripted. I can run it.
- Shona Baird NoneAye, go on. Put it in for September. I'd rather not do it while half of them are off.
- Marcus Bell NoneSeptember it is. I'll send some dates when I follow up. Now, support. There's been one ticket in the last month, and it wasn't high priority. Does that match what you've seen?
- Shona Baird NoneAye, I'd have heard if it was anything. Is it closed?
- Marcus Bell NoneI'll check and confirm in the email rather than guess. I haven't seen anything stuck, and nothing's been escalated to me.
- Shona Baird NoneGood. Nobody's complaining, which is as much as I ask.
- Marcus Bell NoneAnd on the invoicing side there's nothing overdue, so that's clean too.
- Shona Baird NoneThat'll be Robert's doing. He doesn't pay what he can't match.
- Marcus Bell NoneHa, yes, I've noticed. Which brings me to the renewal. The contract runs to 27 Aug 2026 and the renewal date is 28 Aug 2026, so it's a couple of weeks away.
- Shona Baird NoneRight. And that's with Robert.
- Marcus Bell NoneCommercial side is Tom Ashdown's and Robert's, yes. For Robert's file, the current figure is £104,500 a year. Tom will be sending the renewal paperwork, I just want you to know it's on its way so it's not a surprise.
- Shona Baird NoneI don't go near the money, that's Robert's. But I'll tell him it's coming. And I'll tell him the service desk would be lost without it, because they would.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's really useful to hear. If you're happy, I can put a couple of lines together on how the teams use it, something Robert can look at next to the order form.
- Shona Baird NoneAye, do that. He likes things written down.
- Marcus Bell NoneNoted. Anything else you wanted to raise? Connectors, new data sources, anyone joining or leaving your side?
- Shona Baird NoneNo new sources. Nobody's leaving that I know of. I've a new starter in the service desk next month, so there'll be one more login to set up.
- Marcus Bell NoneEasy. Send me the name when you have it and I'll make sure it's sorted, or Alan can do it on your side.
- Shona Baird NoneWill do. Right, that's me. I've got that circuit to get back to.
- Marcus Bell NoneNo problem. So I'll send the team split, the support ticket status, and a few lines for Robert, plus dates in September for the session. Shall I say by end of the week?
- Shona Baird NoneThat's grand. Cheers, Marcus.
- Marcus Bell NoneThanks, Shona. Good luck with the fault. Speak soon.