What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Hands-on onboarding on 6 May 2025 with Josh Pearce alone. CRM is loaded and the helpdesk still indexing, so the first returns count is low. Only Josh has logged in, and invites wait for the data.
What happened: Josh confirmed both service accounts were created. The CRM connector is indexing and the helpdesk was still loading history, so the first test query on returns tickets came back lower than he expected.
Customer view: Josh accepted that the number is unfinished and will tell Kelly not to trust it yet. He described the dashboard idea as a big win for Kelly, who builds her pack by hand every month.
Commercial: Josh's finance team asked whether the invoice matches the order form, which has forty-four thousand on it. Laura said Growth is forty-four thousand a year and pointed him to Sophie Ling for any mismatch.
Watch: Only one person has logged in and three invites are held back. A quiet connector failure is possible if IT changes the helpdesk account.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Josh emails the full list of warehouse status values and their meanings that afternoon.
- Laura drafts the one-page guide and watches the helpdesk load.
- Josh sends invites to the three named client managers once the returns number looks right.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- A half-loaded returns number could be used in front of a brand and damage trust in the answers.
- No client manager has been invited yet, so adoption has not started.
- A change to the helpdesk account by IT could cause a quiet connector failure.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Kelly's monthly review pack is a natural first dashboard on Growth.
- A one-page guide for the first client managers could drive early adoption.
Transcript
- Laura Penhaligon NoneAfternoon Josh. Can you hear me okay?
- Josh Pearce NoneAfternoon. Yes, fine. Sorry, I'm eating a sandwich at my desk, I'll mute when I'm not talking.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneNo apology needed, I've got a cold tea going. Is Kelly joining, or is it just us?
- Josh Pearce NoneJust us. She's in a client review at the moment, she said to carry on and she'd catch up with the notes. She did say to tell you, returns first, then orders. She says that a lot.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneShe does, and she's right. Fine, it suits me well because today is mostly hands-on. Where have you got to since we last spoke?
- Josh Pearce NoneSo the CRM account is created and I've sent you the details. The helpdesk one took longer than I thought, my colleague in IT had to check what read-only actually covered. It came through yesterday.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneGood, I saw both arrive. The CRM connector's loaded and it's indexing. The helpdesk one I started this morning and it's still working through the history, which is why it looks a bit slow.
- Josh Pearce NoneHow long is it likely to take? Because we've got quite a lot of old tickets.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneIt'll do the recent ones first, so you'll see useful answers well before it's finished. I'll keep an eye and tell you if it stalls. If the numbers stop moving for a day, that's when I'd worry.
- Josh Pearce NoneOkay. And the warehouse tables, did the list I sent make sense?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneMostly. Let me share my screen. Right, see here, the main site calls it dispatch date and the second site calls it despatch date, spelled differently, and there's a status column that has different values on each.
- Josh Pearce NoneYes, that's the thing I was moaning about. The second site was set up by a different team years ago.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneIt's okay, I've mapped them so they read as one. What I need from you is the meaning of the status values. So on the second site, what does the one called held actually mean?
- Josh Pearce NoneHeld is awaiting a decision, usually from the brand. Stock that's arrived but they haven't said what to do with it. It's not exactly the same as returned.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneRight, that matters, because if I count held as a return the number gets inflated. So I'll keep it separate. Is there another status like it on the main site?
- Josh Pearce NoneQuarantine. Similar idea, but it's mostly for damaged goods.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneOkay, I'll keep that separate too and label it clearly. Can you write the full list of status values and what they mean in a short email? Doesn't need to be pretty.
- Josh Pearce NoneYes. I'll do it this afternoon, I've got most of it in my head already.
- Laura Penhaligon NonePerfect. Now, let me run the first test query, the simple one. Returns tickets over the last month. Give me a second.
- Josh Pearce NoneGo on then.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneRight. It's come back with a number. I'm going to read it out. Does this sound about right to you for the last month?
- Josh Pearce NoneHmm. That's lower than I'd expect. I'd have said a fair bit higher. But then the helpdesk is still loading, isn't it?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneExactly, and that's why I wanted you to see it now. It's counting only what's arrived. So it's not wrong, it's not finished. I'd ask the same thing tomorrow and compare.
- Josh Pearce NoneSensible. I'll tell Kelly not to trust it yet.
- Laura Penhaligon NonePlease do. I'd rather she waits and trusts it than uses a half-loaded number in front of a brand.
- Josh Pearce NoneCan I ask about users? I looked at the admin page and it says only one person has logged in recently, and that's me. Is that a problem?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneNot at this stage, it's what I'd expect. Nobody's been invited yet, so you and me poking around is all there is. But it's the thing to change next. You have forty seats and Kelly's going to name her first few client managers.
- Josh Pearce NoneShe's given me three names. I haven't sent invites because I wasn't sure if I should wait for the data.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneI'd send them once the helpdesk has caught up, otherwise their first experience is a returns number that looks too low. Probably early next week. Meanwhile we can prepare a short guide for them.
- Josh Pearce NoneA guide? Like a document?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneOne page. Here's what it's connected to, here are three questions to try, here's who to ask when it says something odd. I'll draft it and you and Kelly can make it sound like Thackwray.
- Josh Pearce NoneThat would help. People here don't read long things.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneHa, nobody does. One page it is. Now, while we've got the screen up, let me show you how to check a connector's health yourself, since you're the admin. If it ever looks stuck, this is where you'd look.
- Josh Pearce NoneOkay, I'm watching.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneSo this page lists each source, when it last refreshed, and how many records it holds. What you want to see is the record count going up when there's new activity. If it sits flat for a week while people are clearly creating tickets, something's broken, usually because a system changed upstream.
- Josh Pearce NoneLike if IT changes the helpdesk permissions.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneExactly like that. So it'd be worth telling your colleague in IT that if she changes that account, she should tell you first. Otherwise you'll get a quiet failure.
- Josh Pearce NoneI'll mention it. She won't mind.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneAnd if you spot anything, raise a ticket with us, tell us which source and when it last looked right. You've got three tickets open at the moment, haven't you? Those were setup questions.
- Josh Pearce NoneYes, they were all just me asking how things work. Nothing urgent.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneGood. That's what I'd hope for in the first weeks. Right, next. The dashboards. On Growth you can build your own. Not today, but I'd like you to know it exists, because Kelly's review pack is probably going to end up as one.
- Josh Pearce NoneThat would be a big win for her. She builds that pack by hand every month in a spreadsheet.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThen it's a natural first dashboard. Returns by brand, the trend, and the ticket themes underneath. We'll do that once the data's settled, so say a couple of weeks.
- Josh Pearce NoneSounds good. Can I ask a commercial thing? Sorry if it's the wrong person.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneGo on, I'll tell you if it's for Sophie.
- Josh Pearce NoneMy finance people asked me whether the invoice we got matches what we signed. They've got forty-four thousand on the order form. I said I thought so but I'm not the one who signed it.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneFrom what I can see on our side it's forty-four thousand a year for Growth, and the invoice should say the same. If your finance team see anything different, ask Sophie Ling, she owns the commercial side, and Amara Obi will be your contact once we're through onboarding.
- Josh Pearce NoneRight, I'll tell them to ask Sophie if there's a mismatch. Thanks.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneOkay. Recap. I'll keep an eye on the helpdesk load and tell you if it stalls. You send me the status values email this afternoon. I draft the one page guide. Invites go out once the returns number looks right. Anything I've missed?
- Josh Pearce NoneI don't think so. I'll tell Kelly the number's not final yet.
- Laura Penhaligon NonePerfect. Thanks Josh, enjoy the rest of your sandwich.
- Josh Pearce NoneHa, will do. Cheers Laura, speak soon.