Ardenmore Pension Administration / BG-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Ardenmore Pension Administration · 22 Jul 2024 11:30
On the 22 Jul 2024 renewal call, Elaine Turvey questioned six active users against 25 Starter seats and declined to decide. She wants a board-ready usage case; a decision date of 12 Aug 2024 was proposed.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026On the 22 Jul 2024 renewal call, Elaine Turvey questioned six active users against 25 Starter seats and declined to decide. She wants a board-ready usage case; a decision date of 12 Aug 2024 was proposed.
What happened: Tom Ashdown opened the renewal conversation for a contract running to 29 Aug 2024. Marcus Bell reported about six active users on an average day against 25 Starter seats.
Customer view: Elaine Turvey asked whether that can be justified to the board and called the other nineteen seats paid for and not used. Harjit Bains said the client relationships team would miss it and admitted it was never rolled out beyond her team.
Commercial: The order form is at £23k a year and is being invoiced, with nothing overdue. Elaine also wants to know whether 25 seats is the right number.
Watch: She will not decide on the day. The 12 Aug 2024 decision date was proposed, and the evidence from this call does not show it was agreed beyond her saying she can work to it.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Seat count and value case
Importance
renewal
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- Marcus Bell to send Elaine Turvey a one-page usage summary this week, copying Paula Mortimer.
- Harjit Bains to send Marcus Bell examples of how the team uses it before trustee meetings.
- Tom Ashdown to send the renewal order form with figures checked to Elaine Turvey and Paula Mortimer.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Elaine Turvey sees most of the 25 licensed seats as unused and may seek a lower seat count at renewal.
- The value case so far is a conversation, not a document the board can read.
- The proposed 12 Aug 2024 decision date is tight and she needs the summary well before it.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Harjit Bains says her team would be back to preparing by hand without it.
- A wider rollout beyond the client relationships team could justify the existing seats.
Transcript
Tom AshdownHello, hello. Can you hear me alright? I've got a bit of a hum on my side.
Elaine TurveyYes, I can hear you, Tom. Good morning.- Tom AshdownMorning, Elaine. How's your week started? Anything exciting, or is it all month-end?
- Elaine TurveyMonth-end is looming, as ever. Quiet otherwise. Thank you for making the time.
Marcus BellMorning, both. Marcus here. Can you see my screen coming up in a minute? I'll just get it shared.
Harjit BainsMorning, everyone. Sorry, I'm a minute early and I've only just found a quiet room. Is Paula on yet?
Paula MortimerI'm here, I'm here. Morning. I'll mostly listen, I'm only on for the invoicing side.- Tom AshdownBrilliant, that's everyone. So, this is the renewal conversation, nothing scary. Your contract runs to 29 Aug 2024, and I'd like to get something in the diary so we're not scrabbling at the end.
- Elaine TurveyBefore we go anywhere, can I ask about adoption? Who is actually using it?
- Tom AshdownFair question, and that's exactly why Marcus is here. Marcus, over to you.
- Marcus BellThanks, Tom. So, happy to jump straight in. I've pulled the numbers for the last month, and I want to cover who's using it, what they're asking, and the support side. Can everyone see the usage page?
- Harjit BainsYes, I can see it.
- Elaine TurveyYes. Thank you.
- Marcus BellRight. You're licensed for 25 users on Starter. Over the last month, on an average day, it's about six people who are active. That's up a little on the quarter before, not a big move, but it's heading the right way rather than the wrong way.
- Elaine TurveySix out of twenty-five.
- Marcus BellYeah. I won't dress that up. It's a fraction of the seats.
- Elaine TurveyThen I have to ask, can we justify that to the board? We're a fee-income business. Every overhead gets looked at against the schemes we administer.
- Harjit BainsCan I come in on that, Elaine? Because I think the number is a bit misleading, and I say that as the person who bought it.
- Elaine TurveyGo on.
- Harjit BainsThe people using it day to day are the client relationships team, and they're the ones who sit in front of trustees. We look after about fifty schemes. Before any trustee meeting, the first thing we do is check the scheme record and ask the brain what's changed, what's open, what queries came in from members. It's lumpy, it goes up before meetings and it's quieter after, but those six are using it properly.
- Elaine TurveyI understand that. But the other nineteen seats are paid for and not used.
- Harjit BainsSome of that is my doing, honestly. We never rolled it out beyond my team. Some people were told about it, I think, and then it got busy.
- Marcus BellIf I can add, that's quite common. A team adopts it, it works, and the wider rollout doesn't happen because nobody's got the time. It doesn't mean the team using it isn't getting value, which is the bit I'd look at.
- Elaine TurveyThen show me the value. What are they asking it?
- Marcus BellOkay, so, let me scroll. The questions asked, and I'll keep names out of it, are mostly about scheme records and member queries. Things like what's outstanding with a client, what was said at the last meeting, which queries are overdue. It's the sort of thing that used to mean opening three systems.
- Harjit BainsWhich is exactly what the trustees ask me. What will the trustees ask? And then I've got the answer before they've asked it.
- Elaine TurveyMm. That's useful to hear. But it's not on the page in front of me, is it? It's a conversation.
- Marcus BellNo, that's fair. The page shows activity, it doesn't show what the answer was worth. I can put something together that does a better job of that.
- Tom AshdownAnd that's the bit I'd say, Elaine. Don't judge it on the seat count alone. Judge it on whether the team that does use it would miss it.
- Harjit BainsWe'd miss it. I'll be plain about that. I'd be doing the prep by hand again.
- Elaine TurveyNoted. Paula, anything from your side on the account?
- Paula MortimerNot really. Nothing overdue, everything's been paid on schedule, and the invoices have matched what we expected. I just need to know in good time what the next one looks like so I can raise the purchase order.
- Tom AshdownGood, thanks Paula. On that, the order form has you at £23,000 a year, and that's what's being invoiced. Now, I don't want to quote from memory on the renewal paperwork, so I'll confirm that against the document and send it over rather than just saying it on a call.
- Elaine TurveyYes, please. I'd want it in writing.
- Marcus BellOn support, quickly, so you've got the whole picture. Three tickets in the last month, none of them high priority, nothing hanging open that I'm worried about. No service issues I'd flag.
- Elaine TurveyThree. Is that a lot, for a team of six?
- Marcus BellIt's about what you'd expect. People are asking how-to sort of things and getting answers. I'd be more concerned if there were none and nobody was logging in.
- Elaine TurveyFair enough. Let me be clear about where I am, so nobody's expecting more. I'm not going to decide today. Let's not rush this.
- Tom AshdownNo drama, that's completely fine. Can I at least ask what would help you decide?
- Elaine TurveyA usage case I can take to the board. Who uses it, what for, and what it would cost us in time if we didn't have it. And then whether twenty-five seats is the right number for us.
- Marcus BellI can do that. A one-page summary of the usage, the kind of questions, and the support picture. And Harjit, could you help me with a couple of examples from the team? Just in general terms, no member data.
- Harjit BainsOf course. No surprises for the client, and nothing that names a member. I'll write down a few of the ways we've used it before trustee meetings and send them to you.
- Tom AshdownLovely. And my bit is the renewal order form, with the figures checked, over to Elaine and Paula. Then let's get a decision date in the diary. Is Monday 12 Aug 2024 workable, or too tight?
- Elaine TurveyIt's tight but I can work to it. I'll need the summary well before then, though.
- Marcus BellYou'll have it this week, Elaine. I'll send it to you and copy Paula.
- Elaine TurveyThank you. That's all I need from today.
- Tom AshdownRight, leave that with me and Marcus. Thanks all, appreciate the straight talking. Speak soon.
- Harjit BainsThank you, everyone. Speak soon.
- Paula MortimerBye all.
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