Hartside Student Living / BG-Demo – Negotiation
Callcompleted
Hartside Student Living · 26 Feb 2026 09:00
Lewis Kerr walked Hartside through the Growth proposal at fifty-seven thousand pounds plus VAT, whole deal value. James Whitworth signs but agrees nothing until he has seen the order form. Quarterly payment and legal review are the open points.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Lewis Kerr walked Hartside through the Growth proposal at fifty-seven thousand pounds plus VAT, whole deal value. James Whitworth signs but agrees nothing until he has seen the order form. Quarterly payment and legal review are the open points.
What happened: Lewis Kerr and Owen Tallis negotiated the Growth proposal with Bethany Cole, James Whitworth and Russell Bland on 26 Feb 2026. No order form existed yet, so the call agreed its shape.
Customer view: James holds the signature and will confirm by email only after Russell has been through the order form. Bethany wants the numbers from the brain for a partner review a few weeks after the end of March.
Commercial: The quoted figure is the whole deal value, implementation included, not the annual price. Owen held the headline and offered payment timing as the flex, and Russell and James both prefer quarterly.
Watch: This is a draft position, not executed paper. The target is signature by Friday 27 March 2026, and Russell's legal team must read the wording first.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Growth order form negotiation
Importance
upsell
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- Lewis Kerr sends the Growth order form on 26 Feb 2026, with implementation and subscription as separate lines and annual and quarterly options side by side.
- Russell Bland returns legal comments by the following Thursday, as long as legal are not buried.
- Owen Tallis and Lewis Kerr aim for signature by Friday 27 March 2026.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- No order form exists yet and James Whitworth will agree nothing until he has seen it.
- Legal review of the contract wording could push signature past the Friday 27 March 2026 target.
- Bethany Cole needs a start before a partner review a few weeks after the end of March.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Quarterly payment is the flex that Russell Bland and James Whitworth both want, so it can close the price discussion.
- Bethany Cole wants the brain to replace four spreadsheets for her partner review, which gives a clear value case for Growth.
Transcript
Lewis KerrMorning, everyone. Can you hear me all right? I've got Bethany and James, and Russell I think is just joining.
Bethany ColeMorning Lewis. Yes, loud and clear from here.
Russell BlandMorning. Sorry, bit of a lag on my side, I'm in the office and there's building work going on upstairs. Can you hear me?- Lewis KerrPerfectly. Right, thanks for making the time. Owen has joined from our side as well, since he'll want to sign off any commercial point we land on today.
Owen TallisMorning all. Good to meet you properly. Lewis tells me we're close, so I'd like to hear where the deal stands against the date, which I have as Friday 27 March 2026.
James WhitworthMorning. Before we get into it, can I confirm what paperwork we're all looking at? Which version is the one on the table?- Lewis KerrGood question, James. It's the proposal for Growth that I sent after the last conversation. There is no order form yet, that's what I want to agree the shape of today, and then I'll send it over.
- James WhitworthFine. Then nothing is agreed until I've seen the order form. I'll say that now so nobody is surprised.
- Owen TallisUnderstood, and that's how we'd want it. Lewis, walk them through the number.
- Lewis KerrYes. To put a number on it, the Growth deal comes to fifty-seven thousand pounds all-in, implementation included, and that's plus VAT. So that figure is the whole deal value, not the annual price.
- Russell BlandSorry, can I check that? When you say all-in, does that include the first year's subscription as well as the set-up?
- Lewis KerrIt's the total for the deal, implementation included. On the order form I'll show it split into the one-off implementation fee and the annual subscription as separate lines, so you can see exactly what recurs and what doesn't. I don't want to quote the split from memory on a call.
- Russell BlandThat's helpful, thank you. We'll want it that way for the budget. The one-off sits differently from the recurring.
- James WhitworthMm. And that's what I'd expect to see on the invoice too. Lines that match the order form.
- Lewis KerrExactly. Invoices follow the order form, line for line.
- Bethany ColeCan I come in on the practical side? For us, the point of this is that my team can see each university's nomination agreement, the tickets and the invoices in one place. We've got a partner review coming up and I'd really like to be bringing the numbers from the brain rather than from four spreadsheets.
- Owen TallisWhich review is that? What's the date?
- Bethany ColeThe next one is a few weeks after the end of March. So the sooner we're started, the better. Partners first, you know. I don't want a university hearing something second-hand because we couldn't find it quickly.
- Owen TallisRight. Then what matters is signature, then kickoff. Lewis, how long from signature to the team starting?
- Lewis KerrOnce it's signed I'll hand over to Hollie, who'd be your customer success manager, and to an implementation consultant. Growth is an eight week implementation in the standard plan. The first connectors come live well before the end of that, and I'd rather not promise a precise day until we've agreed the list with your team.
- Bethany ColeThat's fair. As long as it's before the review season properly kicks in.
- James WhitworthCan we talk about payment? How would it be invoiced?
- Lewis KerrAnnual in advance is our standard, on thirty-day terms. Quarterly is available if you'd prefer it, I just need to put that on the order form so it's written down.
- Russell BlandQuarterly would suit us better, honestly. Our cash comes in around the academic year and the big receipts from the universities are bunched.
- James WhitworthI'd go along with that, but I don't want to settle it on a call. Put both options in writing and we'll choose. We pay on the terms we signed, and I want those terms to be the ones we meant.
- Lewis KerrOf course. I'll show the annual option and the quarterly option side by side, with the VAT position stated on each.
- Owen TallisCan I ask directly? Is there anything on price you need us to move on, or is it terms and timing?
- James WhitworthI'll be honest, I'd always ask whether there's room on the number. It's my job to ask.
- Owen TallisFair, and I'd rather you asked. The figure Lewis has quoted is where we can be. Any discount only ever applies to the first term, and let's not discount twice. If there's something to flex I'd sooner talk about payment timing than the headline.
- James WhitworthUnderstood. Then the quarterly schedule is really the thing I'm after. Russell, would that cover what you need?
- Russell BlandIt would. And the other thing from my side is the contract wording. I'd like our legal team to read it before anyone signs, so I'd rather have it early than on the day.
- Owen TallisThen let's put dates on it. What's the next dated step? Lewis sends the order form today. Russell, can you get comments back by next Thursday?
- Russell BlandYes, I think so. If it arrives today then next Thursday is realistic, as long as legal aren't buried.
- Owen TallisGood. And who signs on your side?
- James WhitworthI do. Bethany supports the decision, and she's not buying without me, but the signature is mine.
- Bethany ColeWhich is right. And I'm very happy with that. I just want to be able to tell my team a start date.
- Lewis KerrSo to confirm what I'm sending: the Growth order form, the one-off implementation and the annual subscription as separate lines, the total deal value of fifty-seven thousand pounds plus VAT, and both payment options. I'll send that over today.
- James WhitworthThank you. Once it's here and Russell has been through it, I'll confirm by email. Not before.
- Owen TallisThat works for us. Target is signature by Friday 27 March 2026, and Lewis will chase if the dates slip. Thanks, everyone.
- Bethany ColeThanks all. Speak soon.
- Russell BlandCheers. Bye.
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