Brackwell Freight Ltd / BG-Demo – Discovery
Callcompleted
Brackwell Freight Ltd · 21 Sep 2023 16:30
Liam Doherty wants one view across CRM, helpdesk, calls and email to spot retail contracts at risk. Starter was discussed at twenty-five and a half thousand pounds including implementation, with signing hoped for 17 Nov 2023.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Liam Doherty wants one view across CRM, helpdesk, calls and email to spot retail contracts at risk. Starter was discussed at twenty-five and a half thousand pounds including implementation, with signing hoped for 17 Nov 2023.
What happened: Tom Ashdown ran a discovery call with Liam Doherty, Head of Revenue Operations, on 21 Sep 2023. Liam described customer signals scattered across four places and a retail contract lost at renewal last year.
Customer view: Liam wants a Monday list of accounts with more exception tickets than usual, and the depot managers using it. He warned that earlier reporting tools were abandoned because nobody trusted the numbers.
Commercial: Tom gave twenty-five and a half thousand pounds as the Starter deal total, implementation included, not a yearly price. Liam wants four connectors now and maybe a finance system later, which meets the hard four-connector limit on Starter.
Watch: Snowflake is unconfirmed and IT has not been involved. Leadership signs, and Liam needs a one-pager he can forward.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Discovery, at-risk contract visibility
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Tom sends the recap, a one-pager, the sample-data note and something for IT.
- Liam checks with IT about Snowflake and confirms an early morning slot next month.
- Run the demo on Brackwell data with depot account managers, aiming to sign by 17 Nov 2023.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Snowflake is not confirmed and IT has not yet been involved.
- Earlier reporting tools were abandoned because nobody trusted the numbers, so the demo must match depot reality.
- Liam wants a finance system later, which exceeds the four-connector limit on Starter.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A finance connector later could prompt a connector add-on or a move up a tier.
- Depot managers and the operations analyst could widen use beyond the first team.
Transcript
Tom AshdownHello Liam, can you hear me alright? I think I'm a bit echoey.
Liam DohertyYeah, loud and clear. Afternoon, Tom. Sorry, I'm just walking in from the yard, give me a minute to find a room with a door.- Tom AshdownNo drama, take your time. How's your week been? Anything exciting, or is it the usual Thursday firefighting?
- Liam DohertyHa, the usual. We had a retailer's pallets sitting at one depot when the paperwork said another, so I've spent half the day in spreadsheets. Which is sort of why I'm here, to be honest.
- Tom AshdownRight, well that's a good place to start then. Let me say what I'd like out of the half hour and you tell me if it's wrong. I want to understand how you work today, where it hurts, and whether we're even the right fit for you. No slides, I promise.
- Liam DohertyLove that. Go on.
- Tom AshdownSo, tell me about Brackwell. I know a bit from the website, road freight and contract warehousing, but I'd rather hear it from you.
- Liam DohertyOkay. So we run road freight and contract warehousing for retailers, mostly. Head office is in Manchester, and we've got Trafford Park plus five other depots. The customers are the sort that ring you at seven in the morning if a trailer's late. And I look after revenue operations, so basically I'm the person who's meant to know what's going on with every account.
- Tom AshdownAnd is that possible? Knowing what's going on with every account?
- Liam DohertyNot really, no. That's the problem. One view, that's the point, and we haven't got one.
- Tom AshdownGo on, what's it look like at the minute?
- Liam DohertySo the account data's in our CRM. The delivery exceptions, so late, damaged, short-shipped, those come in as tickets in the helpdesk. The depot managers ring customers and nobody records that, or they email and it sits in their inbox. And then we've got calls with the retailers that go in the call recorder, which, to be fair, hardly anybody listens back to. So if I want to know whether a customer is unhappy, I'm in four places and I'm still guessing.
- Tom AshdownMm. And when you say unhappy, what do you actually need to catch? Like, what's the thing that's cost you?
- Liam DohertyContracts walking. We had a retail contract go at renewal last year and when I looked back, all the signs were there. Exception tickets going up at one depot, a couple of grumpy calls, the account manager had stopped being invited to their reviews. Nobody put it together. I only found out when procurement rang to say they were going out to tender.
- Tom AshdownThat's painful.
- Liam DohertyYeah. I'd rather see it coming. That's the whole thing, seeing an at-risk contract before the customer calls us.
- Tom AshdownRight. So who does that job today? Is it you, or is it the depot account managers?
- Liam DohertyBit of both, which means neither. The depot account managers know their customers inside out, but they're on the phone all day and they live in whatever screen's open. I do the numbers, monthly, and it's a lot of copying and pasting. Honestly, can we get the depots on it, that would change things more than anything I build.
- Tom AshdownAnd would they use it, do you think? Be honest.
- Liam DohertySome would. A couple of the lads at Warrington would live in it if it was quick. If it's slow or it's another login they don't need, they'll go back to ringing each other.
- Tom AshdownFair. Quick matters. So what we do, just so you've got it in your head, is put a layer over those systems, the CRM, the helpdesk, the call recorder, email, and you ask it questions in plain English. And it runs inside your own Snowflake account, so the data doesn't go off somewhere. Is Snowflake something you've got?
- Liam DohertyAh, I think so. There's something our IT team set up for finance reporting, but a colleague in IT would need to confirm. Is that a problem if not?
- Tom AshdownNo drama, it's just a conversation we'd have. Leave that with me, I'll get you something simple to take to IT. Our technical lead would want a word with them anyway at some point.
- Liam DohertyGood. They'll want to see how it's secured, they always do.
- Tom AshdownThey will, and they should. What else do you reckon they'd ask?
- Liam DohertyWhere the data sits, who can see it, whether it's going off to some server abroad. The standard stuff. And whether it's going to break what we've got.
- Tom AshdownIt doesn't touch what you've got, it reads from it. If a connector breaks, that's a connector problem, your CRM carries on. Look, I'm not the technical one, so I won't wing the detail, but I'll get the right person on a call.
- Liam DohertyGood, I'd rather that than a made-up answer.
- Tom AshdownNever. Okay, so say IT's happy. What would a good outcome look like for you in, say, six months?
- Liam DohertyEasy. Monday morning, I ask it which retail accounts have had more exception tickets than usual and where the last call was a bad one. And I get a list. Not a spreadsheet I've built, a list. And the depot managers can open an account and see the lot, tickets, calls, emails, without asking me.
- Tom AshdownThat's very doable. And does anyone else need to see it? Finance, say, or is it ops and the depots?
- Liam DohertyOps and the depots. Finance maybe later. I don't want to boil the ocean.
- Tom AshdownSensible. Start with one team, get it humming, and then see who comes knocking. That's how the good ones go.
- Liam DohertyRight. So what does it cost, roughly? I'm not asking for a quote, I just need to know if I'm in the right ballpark before I take this upstairs.
- Tom AshdownCourse. I never quote from memory, so I'll confirm it in writing, but what I've got on the sheet for what we've talked about is twenty-five and a half thousand pounds. To be clear, that's the deal total, so it includes the one-off implementation, it's not a yearly price. I'll get it itemised properly for you.
- Liam DohertyOkay. Right, that's not far off what I'd guessed. Is that the Starter one?
- Tom AshdownIt is. Starter's for one team, and you get the pages, the chat and the search. There are limits on users and connectors though, so before you fall in love with it I want to make sure your handful of users and the number of systems fit. How many systems would you want in, d'you think?
- Liam DohertyThose four to start. CRM, helpdesk, call recorder, email. Maybe the finance system later.
- Tom AshdownFour's the limit on Starter, so we'd want to be careful what 'later' means. Not a blocker, there's a bigger tier or an add-on, but better to know now than in a year.
- Liam DohertyFair. Good to know.
- Liam DohertyWhat about freshness? Because if it's last week's tickets it's no use to me.
- Tom AshdownIt refreshes overnight, and it's meant to be done by 07:00 UK time on business days. So Monday's list is current first thing. Again, I'll get you the exact wording rather than waffle.
- Liam DohertySeven's fine. The depots are up from six, but the real questions come later in the morning.
- Tom AshdownRight. So what I'd suggest next is a demo on your own data rather than ours, so you see your own accounts and tickets and calls instead of made-up ones. I'd bring our technical lead, and I'd like a couple of the depot account managers there, and whoever would look after it day to day.
- Liam DohertyYeah, bring them. Warrington especially. And our operations analyst, she'd be the one who'd actually run it. Does she need to know the technical side?
- Tom AshdownA bit, not loads. We'd show her what an admin does, so she's not left holding it on her own.
- Liam DohertyShe'd like that. She's a bit careful, she doesn't like pressing things she's not sure about.
- Tom AshdownThen she'll be fine, we'll go slow. When's good? Early next month?
- Liam DohertyEarly next month works. Mornings are better, afternoons the depots are mad.
- Tom AshdownMornings it is. Let's get something in the diary this week. And I'll send a note on what we'd need from you, which is a small sample, nothing sensitive, just enough to make it look like Brackwell.
- Liam DohertyCan you tell me exactly what the sample has to be? I don't want to hand over something I shouldn't.
- Tom AshdownI'll write it down so there's no doubt, and you tell me if anything feels off. Leave that with me.
- Liam DohertyBrilliant. And on timing, where are you pencilling a decision?
- Tom AshdownI've got Friday 17 November 2023 down as when we'd hope to have it signed, but that's a guess, so you tell me.
- Liam DohertyThat's about right. I'd want it through before peak season starts, because after that I'll have no headspace for anything.
- Tom AshdownPeak, of course. Retail, it'd be the same for anyone. And who signs it off your side?
- Liam DohertyOur leadership. I'll need a one-pager I can forward without having to translate it. Can you do that?
- Tom AshdownWill do. Short and plain, what it is, what it costs, what you get. I'll send it with the recap tomorrow.
- Liam DohertyPerfect. Oh, one more thing. Support. If a connector stops pulling in tickets, who do I ring?
- Tom AshdownYou raise it with us and there's a response time that goes with the tier. I'll put it in the note rather than guess it now. It's the sort of thing I get wrong from memory.
- Liam DohertyNo, that's fine. I just don't want a ticket sitting there. I chase everything, so I'll be on at you.
- Tom AshdownGood, please do. Is there anything I haven't asked that I should have?
- Liam DohertyHmm. I think the thing I'd say is, we've tried reporting tools before and they got abandoned in a month because nobody trusted the numbers. So if the demo shows numbers that don't match what the depots know, they'll write it off.
- Tom AshdownThat's really useful. So the demo's got to match their reality. I'll make sure we ask the Warrington lads to sanity-check the accounts on the day.
- Liam DohertyYeah. If Warrington say it's right, the others will follow.
- Tom AshdownRight, then that's the plan. Let me read it back. I send you the recap and a one-pager tomorrow, plus what we need for the sample and something for IT. You check with IT about Snowflake and confirm mornings early next month. Then we do the demo on your data with a couple of depot account managers and your analyst, and aim to have it signed by Friday 17 November 2023.
- Liam DohertyThat's it. I'll have a word with IT tomorrow and come back to you on the Snowflake question.
- Tom AshdownCheers, Liam. Thanks for being straight with me, it's much easier when people say what's actually hurting.
- Liam DohertyNo bother. It's good to talk to someone who isn't reading off a script. Cheers, Tom.
- Tom AshdownSpeak soon. Cheers, Liam.
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