Ardenmore Pension Administration / BG-Demo – Proposal
Callcompleted
Ardenmore Pension Administration · 11 Jul 2023 09:15
Proposal call for a Starter deal at £26k all-in. Finance Director Elaine Turvey wants measured usage evidence and a written proposal before any decision. Decision pencilled for 16 Aug 2023.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Proposal call for a Starter deal at £26k all-in. Finance Director Elaine Turvey wants measured usage evidence and a written proposal before any decision. Decision pencilled for 16 Aug 2023.
What happened: Tom walked Harjit Bains and Elaine Turvey through a Starter proposal for the client relationship team. He quoted £26k as the all-in figure with implementation included, not the yearly cost.
Customer view: Elaine asked who would actually use it and whether the board could justify it. Harjit's time-saving case is, in his own words, an estimate rather than a measured figure.
Commercial: Elaine said she would not decide on the call. A decision is pencilled for 16 Aug 2023, and she wants the usage measures, term and data handling in writing.
Watch: Member data staying in the customer's own Snowflake account is a condition Harjit and Elaine both pressed. Elaine also asked about exit if the team does not use it.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Starter proposal, adoption proof
Importance
neutral
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- Tom Ashdown sends a written proposal with total, split, term and a data page this week.
- Harjit Bains lists the day-to-day sources and sends them to Tom, copying Elaine.
- Tom books a walkthrough for the end of the month, ahead of the 16 Aug 2023 decision.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Finance Director doubts the board case and wants measured rather than estimated savings.
- Concern that the tool could go unused while the customer is tied to an annual term.
- Data residency and member data handling must be shown clearly in writing.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Starter fits the client relationship team, with scope to extend later if usage is shown.
- Agreeing usage measures up front can turn the sceptical Finance Director into a supporter.
Transcript
Tom AshdownHello, hello. Can you hear me alright?
Harjit BainsYes, I can hear you fine. Good morning, Tom.
Elaine TurveyMorning both. Sorry, I'm just getting the camera to behave. There. Can you see me?- Tom AshdownSeen and heard. No drama. How's your week been so far, Harjit? It's only Tuesday but it always feels longer than that.
- Harjit BainsBusy, honestly. We have a trustee meeting coming up at the end of the week for one of the larger schemes, so I've been pulling the client pack together. Which is partly why I'm keen on all this, to be fair. What will the trustees ask? I'd like to know the answer before I walk in, not after.
- Tom AshdownThat's exactly the sort of thing it's for. Right, Elaine, I know you've had a look at the demo notes Harjit forwarded. Is there anything you wanted to cover first before I go through the proposal?
- Elaine TurveyJust the one thing, really. Adoption. If we do this, who is actually going to be using it? I've seen a lot of tools bought here that sit there.
- Harjit BainsCan I take that one? It would be my team to begin with. The client relationship team, so the people who prepare for the trustee meetings and answer the scheme queries. They spend a good part of every week going between the CRM, the shared mailbox and the call notes, and it's all done by hand.
- Elaine TurveyMm. And that's the whole of it? Just that team?
- Harjit BainsFor now, yes. I'd rather get it working properly for one team than spread it thin. No surprises for the client, that's the principle.
- Tom AshdownAnd that fits the Starter tier really well, to be honest. It's built for one team. You get the pages, the chat and the search over your own data, and you connect the sources that matter most to that team. It runs inside your own Snowflake account, so the data doesn't go anywhere you haven't agreed.
- Elaine TurveyI'd want to be clear on that point. Member data stays where it is?
- Tom AshdownIt stays in your account, yes. We build and run the brain there. I'll put that in writing in the proposal so you've got it in black and white, and your people can check it against your own rules.
- Harjit BainsWhich is the thing I'd want sent over anyway. I never share member data outside the rules, so if there's any doubt I'd rather we looked at it together, let's check the scheme record side of it with whoever looks after our data.
- Tom AshdownSensible. Leave that with me, I'll make sure there's a plain page on it. Right, shall I take you through what we've put together?
- Elaine TurveyPlease.
- Tom AshdownSo the shape of it is this. There's a one-off implementation first. That's us getting your sources connected, checking the data is coming through properly, and training your team. For Starter that's about a month, give or take, depending how quickly we get access. Then there's the annual subscription on top, paid in advance.
- Elaine TurveyAnd the total? I'd like the number, please.
- Tom AshdownSo the all-in figure, implementation included, is twenty-five and a half thousand. That's £25,500 for the deal as a whole. Now, I don't want to quote you line by line from memory, so I'll confirm the split between the implementation and the first year in the written proposal. I'd rather you had it exactly right.
- Elaine TurveyThat's helpful. So that figure is not the yearly cost.
- Tom AshdownCorrect, it's the total for the first stretch, with the one-off piece in it. The yearly part would be lower than that, and I'll set it out clearly.
- Elaine TurveyGood. Can we justify that to the board? That's what I keep asking myself. Our fee income per scheme is not generous, and overheads are the first thing anyone looks at.
- Harjit BainsIf I may, Elaine, I think it's justified on time alone. We lose hours every week reconciling things before meetings. But I accept that's my estimate, not a measured figure.
- Elaine TurveyThat's rather my point. I'd want something measured. Not now, but at some stage.
- Tom AshdownFair, and that's reasonable. What we can do is agree up front what you'd want to see after the first few months. Questions asked, who's asking them, how many of your team are in there week to week. Then you're not relying on anyone's impression.
- Elaine TurveyThat would be better. Let's not rush it, though. I'm not going to decide anything today.
- Tom AshdownNo, understood, I wouldn't expect you to. We're pencilling the middle of August for a decision, Wednesday 16 August 2023, which gives you a good few weeks. If it needs longer we'll talk about it.
- Harjit BainsThat works for me. It gets us past the trustee cycle as well.
- Elaine TurveyCan I ask what happens if it doesn't take? Say the team doesn't use it. Are we tied in for a long time?
- Tom AshdownIt's an annual subscription, so there's a term, yes. But that's another reason I'd like us to agree those usage measures early, so that if it's not landing we both know quickly. And your CSM, Marcus, would be checking in with you regularly on exactly that. I wouldn't want you paying for something that isn't working.
- Elaine TurveyMm. Right. I'd like to see that in writing too.
- Tom AshdownOf course. So, summing up what I owe you. A written proposal with the total, the split, the term, and the data page. I'll get that to both of you this week. Is that alright?
- Harjit BainsYes. And from my side I'll write down the sources my team uses day to day, so we can see what would need connecting. I'll send that to you and copy Elaine.
- Elaine TurveyThank you. I'll read it all properly and come back with questions. I'll want a view from the team on usage before anything goes further.
- Tom AshdownBrilliant. Let's get something in the diary for the end of the month so we can go through it together. I'll send a few slots.
- Harjit BainsLovely. Thank you, Tom. Kind regards to you both.
- Elaine TurveyThank you. Goodbye.
- Tom AshdownCheers both, speak soon. Good luck with the trustees, Harjit.
Callsmade from