Following up on our discovery conversation

Dear Fiona, dear Richard, Thank you for your time today. I would rather confirm in writing what I heard, so that we are all working from the same picture. Hallam Ferrier would like the partners and client managers to see each client's work, queries and billing in one place, rather than asking three different people before a client meeting. You are looking at the Growth tier, and the first step would be to see this on your own data before anyone is asked to commit. For planning only, the deal value we have pencilled in is £62,000 in total, which includes the one-off implementation. Nothing is fixed until we have been through a demo and a proposal together. Richard, you asked how the partners would actually use it day to day. I would suggest we answer that with a short demo built around two or three of your real client situations. Fiona, could you tell me which partners would be the right people to see it? Best regards, Matteo

Matteo, Thank you, that is a fair summary of where we are. I will be candid: I am not yet persuaded that the partners will use it, and I would not want to put it in front of them as a technology project. What I need to be able to say is what it costs per partner and what it saves them in time or in fee recovery. Fiona knows the detail better than I do, so please work with her on the demo. I would not expect a decision before the partners' meeting in any case. Richard Staniforth

Dear Richard, dear Fiona, Thank you, Richard. That is helpful, and it is the right question to ask early. Let me be clear about what I can and cannot say at this stage. I can show you how the work, queries and billing for one client appear together, and I can set out the Growth tier and what is included. What I cannot do yet is tell you what it saves your partners; that is something we should test together on your own data, and I would rather say so than give you a number I cannot defend. Fiona, shall I send you a short note of the questions the partners are likely to ask, so that the demo answers them directly? Best regards, Matteo

Matteo, That approach suits me. Please do send the note to Fiona and let her decide which partners should be in the room for the demo. I would only ask that the partners' time is kept to a minimum. If the demo is worthwhile we can take it to the partners' meeting afterwards. Richard Staniforth