Ardenmore Pension Administration / BG-Demo – Negotiation
Callcompleted
Ardenmore Pension Administration · 31 Jul 2023 13:30
Negotiation call on the £26k Starter deal with Nell Ashcombe joining. Nothing agreed. Elaine Turvey wants usage measures, exit dates and separate invoice lines in a revised order form before 16 Aug 2023.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Negotiation call on the £26k Starter deal with Nell Ashcombe joining. Nothing agreed. Elaine Turvey wants usage measures, exit dates and separate invoice lines in a revised order form before 16 Aug 2023.
What happened: Tom recapped the £26k all-in Starter total. Paula Mortimer asked for implementation and first year as separate invoice lines, and Nell offered quarterly invoicing on request.
Customer view: Elaine called Nell's candour about poor usage "more candid than I'm used to from a supplier". She asked about price flexibility, exit and implementation overruns.
Commercial: Nell said any price movement applies to the first term only and will be shown in a revised order form. The implementation is a fixed fee, and Elaine would sign.
Watch: Elaine's board meets before the decision date, and Paula's staff hours figure is an estimate. Usage measures will be written into the order form schedule or onboarding plan.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Starter price and terms
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
positive
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 revised order form by Friday with separate invoice lines, usage measures, notice dates and first-term movement.
- Elaine Turvey and Paula Mortimer take the order form and the staff hours estimate to the board.
- Both sides speak again before 16 Aug 2023.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Board approval is still needed and the board meets before the decision date.
- The cost-saving case rests on an estimate of staff hours that Paula does not want quoted as exact.
- Price movement is requested, which may reduce the first-term value.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Written usage measures and early notice dates build trust and set up a clean first renewal.
- Quarterly invoicing on request may suit the customer's budgeting and help close.
Transcript
Tom AshdownAfternoon, Elaine. Afternoon, Paula. Nell's just joining, she's finishing something off, so bear with us a minute.
Elaine TurveyGood afternoon, Tom. No hurry.
Paula MortimerAfternoon. I'm Paula, I look after the accounts side here. Elaine asked me to sit in.- Tom AshdownLovely to meet you, Paula. How's your Monday going? Anything exciting, or just the usual month end creeping up?
- Paula MortimerThe usual, yes. Month end is tomorrow, so I'm slightly distracted. I'll try not to look at the other screen.
Nell AshcombeHello, sorry, I'm here. Nell Ashcombe, I'm one of the founders at BG-Demo. Thanks for having me. Elaine, before we start, what do you need to leave with today?- Elaine TurveyThank you, Nell. Honestly, clarity. I need to know exactly what we'd be signing and what it would cost, in terms I can put in front of the board. And I'd like to be sure the usage case stands up. I don't expect to decide on the call.
- Nell AshcombeThat's fair, and it's the right order to do things in. Tom, do you want to recap where we've got to?
- Tom AshdownYes. So since we last spoke, Elaine, you've had the written proposal. It's the Starter tier for Harjit's client-relationship team. The deal total is £25,500, and that's the all-in figure, implementation included, not the yearly price. Paula, I know that's a distinction that matters to you.
- Paula MortimerIt does, thank you. I had a question on that, actually. In the proposal the first year and the one-off implementation are shown separately. I'd want them as separate lines on the invoice. We account for them differently.
- Tom AshdownYes, they'd be separate lines. Leave that with me, I'll make sure the order form shows it that way so there's no guessing.
- Nell AshcombeAnd on timing, the subscription is invoiced annually in advance as standard, on thirty-day terms. If quarterly suits you better, we can do that on request. Paula, would that help your cash planning?
- Paula MortimerIt might. I'd have to check with Elaine. Quarterly would sit more easily with how we budget, but I don't want to complicate it for you either.
- Elaine TurveyLet's not rush that. I'd prefer to understand the whole before we pick a payment pattern. Nell, can I come back to the thing I asked on the previous call? Who is actually using it, once it's in?
- Nell AshcombeYes, and I'd rather answer that properly than wave at it. Our view is: say what happened, say how you know. So what we'd propose is to put a small set of measures into the order form schedule itself, or into the onboarding plan if you prefer. Questions asked, how many people in the team are using it week to week, and which sources are loading. Marcus, your CSM, would review those with Harjit and you after the first few months.
- Elaine TurveyAnd if the numbers are poor?
- Nell AshcombeThen we'd say so, early, and work out why. Usually it's a source that isn't loading, or the team isn't in the habit yet. We'd rather you knew in the first months than at renewal.
- Elaine TurveyHm. That's more candid than I'm used to from a supplier.
- Nell AshcombeIt's less hassle for everyone.
- Tom AshdownAnd that's all in the same agreement, so you've got it in writing. The order form sits under our standard master agreement. Elaine, I think you've had that to read already.
- Elaine TurveyI have. I've read it, and I've one or two points I'll raise in a moment. I wanted to talk about price first. Is there any flexibility on the total?
- Tom AshdownI'll be straight with you. There's a bit of room on a first term, within limits, but I don't want to throw a number out from memory and get it wrong. Nell, do you want to say where we are?
- Nell AshcombeSure. Any movement on price would apply to the first term only, and it's modest. I'll not name a figure on the call, because I'd like it to be in a revised order form where you can see exactly what it does to the total and to the yearly number going forward. What I'd ask in return is a decision by the middle of next month. Wednesday 16 August 2023 is what we've pencilled.
- Elaine TurveyThat seems workable. I'll need to take it to the board, and they meet before then. Paula, can you pull together what we spend now on the manual side of this? Even a rough estimate in staff hours.
- Paula MortimerI can do that. I'll need Harjit to give me the hours, but I can put a cost on them. I'd call it an estimate, mind. I wouldn't want it quoted as exact.
- Nell AshcombeThat's exactly how it should be described. An estimate, with the basis stated.
- Elaine TurveyGood. Now, my other points. The first is exit. If after the first year we decide it isn't worth it, what do we need to do, and by when?
- Tom AshdownYou'd give notice ahead of the term ending. Your CSM would raise it with you around three months before, so it wouldn't catch you out, but the dates will be in the order form so you can diarise them. I'll make sure they're written plainly.
- Elaine TurveyThank you. And the second is the implementation. If it overruns, are we paying for that?
- Nell AshcombeNo. The implementation is a fixed fee. If it overruns because of something on our side, that one's on us. If it's waiting on access to one of your systems, then the timeline moves, but the fee doesn't.
- Elaine TurveyFixed. Right. That's reassuring, I'll admit.
- Paula MortimerSorry, one practical thing. Whose name goes on the order form as the signatory? And who do we send purchase order details to?
- Tom AshdownElaine signs, you said earlier. And if you send the purchase order details to me, I'll pass them straight through to our finance team so the invoice matches first time.
- Paula MortimerLovely, I'll do that. It saves me chasing.
- Elaine TurveyAlright. So where does that leave us? I want to be sure I'm not agreeing to anything.
- Nell AshcombeYou're not. Nothing is agreed today. What happens next is this. Tom sends a revised order form this week with the invoice lines separate, the usage measures written in, the notice dates, and the first-term movement shown. You and Paula take that, plus Paula's estimate on staff hours, to the board. Then we speak again before 16 Aug 2023.
- Elaine TurveyThat's clear. Thank you, Nell. That was a more useful conversation than I expected.
- Tom AshdownI'll get the order form to you by Friday, Elaine. If anything looks off, ring me and we'll sort it, no drama.
- Paula MortimerThanks everyone. Back to month end for me.
- Nell AshcombeGood luck with it. Thanks both. Speak soon.
- Elaine TurveyGoodbye.
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