What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26On the 3 Nov 2025 renewal call, Tom Ashdown proposed renewing Growth flat at £44k with forty seats. Liam Doherty expected a rise and welcomed the flat price. His worry is proving value, with fewer than ten people active.
What happened: Marcus Bell reviewed usage, then Tom proposed carrying on with the same tier, seats and price from 1 Dec 2025. Liam had braced for an increase and was relieved.
Customer view: Liam wants the depots on the brain but must convince internal sceptics who ask why they need another tool. He asked for real examples from depot managers' own accounts, not a demo.
Commercial: Tom explained the renewal falls before the new list applies to existing customers, so the price stays. The renewal order form was still to be sent, so it is an open item. Liam's finance director will want the cover note.
Watch: Fewer than ten of forty seats are active, which makes the value case the real risk. Liam floated another source later but did not want it to hold up the renewal.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Who was there
BB-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Tom Ashdown to send the renewal order form with a cover note confirming the price, well before 30 Nov 2025.
- Marcus Bell to send usage by person and slots for an account review with depot examples.
- Liam Doherty to alert his finance director that the paperwork is coming.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Fewer than ten of forty licensed seats are active, so the value case rests on wider depot adoption.
- Liam must convince internal sceptics and his finance director, who will want the price confirmed in writing.
- The renewal order form had not yet been sent or signed, so the renewal is still open.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Rolling the brain out to the other depots would use the seats already paid for.
- Liam may want another data source later, which the connector add-on could cover.
Transcript
- Tom Ashdown NoneHello, hello. Can you hear us alright, Liam?
- Liam Doherty NoneLoud and clear. Hi Tom, hi Marcus.
- Marcus Bell NoneHi Liam. Bear with me a second, I'm just getting my screen to share.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo rush. How's your week been, Liam? Survived Monday?
- Liam Doherty NoneJust about. Mondays in freight, you know how it is. Everyone's got an exception and nobody's had a coffee yet. It's nearly lunchtime and I've only just sat down.
- Tom Ashdown NoneHa, that's the job. Right, we'll keep this tidy then. Marcus, do you want to kick us off?
- Marcus Bell NoneYeah, thanks Tom. So I want to cover three things today. First, how the brain's been used over the last quarter, so you've got the picture before we talk contract. Second, the renewal itself, which Tom will take. And third, anything you want to change or add for the next year. Happy to jump on a longer call afterwards if we need it. Does that work?
- Liam Doherty NoneWorks for me. Mostly I just want to know there's no surprises on the paperwork.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo drama on that front, I promise. We'll get there.
- Marcus Bell NoneRight, you should see the usage page now. Can you see that?
- Liam Doherty NoneYep, got it. Bit small, but yep.
- Marcus Bell NoneI'll zoom in. So I've pulled the numbers for the quarter. Headline is that active users are up on the quarter before, which is good to see. You've got forty licensed seats on Growth, and on an average day we're seeing fewer than ten people actually active in the brain. So the people who use it, use it properly, but there's a fair bit of headroom.
- Liam Doherty NoneYeah, that's about what I'd have guessed, honestly. It's me, the revenue ops team, and a handful of the depot account managers who've taken to it. The rest of the depots, I keep saying, can we get the depots on it? One view, that's the point.
- Tom Ashdown NoneAnd is that a training thing, do you think, or is it more that they've got their own habits?
- Liam Doherty NoneBit of both. Habits mostly. They've got their spreadsheets, they've got the delivery-exception tickets in one place and the customer calls somewhere else, and they've just always stitched it together themselves. Once they see an at-risk retail contract flagged before the customer rings, they get it. But I've got to show them, it won't happen on its own.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's useful. Can I ask, which depots are the most keen at the moment? Because if we pick one or two to push, it's usually easier than trying to do all six at once.
- Liam Doherty NoneTrafford Park, obviously, because that's the biggest and it's on my doorstep. Then I'd say a couple of the others have got account managers who are quite sharp. I'd have to check who's asking what before I say names.
- Marcus Bell NoneNo problem. I can send you a list of who's asked questions and how often, then you can see who's already keen. I've pulled the numbers, I'll just tidy them up so they make sense.
- Liam Doherty NoneLove that. That'd help, yeah.
- Marcus Bell NoneWhile I'm here, the other thing on the page is support. There's been one ticket in the last month, and it was marked high priority. That was dealt with inside the response time for Growth, so nothing sitting open there.
- Liam Doherty NoneYeah, I remember that one. I chased it, obviously. It got sorted. I don't like tickets just sitting, so I was on it.
- Tom Ashdown NoneYou did, I think we all noticed. Which is no bad thing.
- Liam Doherty NoneWell, somebody's got to.
- Marcus Bell NoneSo on usage, that's the picture. Nothing alarming, a steady climb, and a lot of room to bring more people in. Any questions on that before I hand over to Tom?
- Liam Doherty NoneOne. Are the connectors all still healthy? I know we had a bit of a wobble earlier in the year with one of them.
- Marcus Bell NoneLet me have a look. Yeah, they're all loading, nothing flat on records indexed. The nightly refresh is finishing in good time as well. If anything changed on your side, a system migration or a new login, just give us a shout so we can keep an eye on it.
- Liam Doherty NoneNothing planned that I know of. I'll tell you if that changes.
- Marcus Bell NoneGreat. Tom, over to you.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, Marcus. Right, Liam, the renewal. So you came on with us on 1 Dec 2023, and the current term ends on 30 Nov 2025. The renewal would start on 1 Dec 2025. You're on Growth, and you're at forty-four thousand a year, £44,000. What I'm proposing is that we just carry on, same tier, same forty seats, same price. I'll confirm the exact paperwork when I send it over, because I don't want to quote you anything from memory that's slightly off.
- Liam Doherty NoneSame price. Right. I'd braced myself for an increase, to be honest. I'd heard there'd been a new price list.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThere has, yeah, for new customers. But you signed on the earlier list, and this renewal is the first one for you, and it's coming up before the date the new list kicks in for existing customers. So for this one it stays as it is. I'll put that in the cover note so it's in writing and you've got it to show your finance people.
- Liam Doherty NoneThat's helpful. My finance director will want to see it. She's quite thorough.
- Tom Ashdown NoneGood, so am I, in theory. Paperwork's the bit I rarely keep tidy, so you can tell her I've had a word with myself.
- Liam Doherty NoneHa. I'll tell her.
- Marcus Bell NoneCan I add something, Tom? Liam, from my side it's worth saying, you're paying for forty seats and using a fraction. So rather than think about the renewal as a cost, it might be worth thinking about what the depot managers could do with it. That's the value case, really.
- Liam Doherty NoneNo, I agree. That's what I want to do. The trouble is I've got to prove it to a few people internally. They'll say, why do I need another tool? And I'll say, it's not another tool, it's the same data in one place.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's your line right there. You should put that on a slide.
- Liam Doherty NoneIt's already on a slide. Twice.
- Tom Ashdown NoneHa, fair enough.
- Marcus Bell NoneSo what would help you make that case? If I could give you something for the depot managers, what would you want it to show?
- Liam Doherty NoneHonestly, examples. Real ones from their own accounts. Not a demo with made-up data, a retail contract of theirs where the tickets and the calls together said something was going wrong before anyone picked up the phone. If I can show them that on their own customer, they'll listen.
- Marcus Bell NoneOkay, I like that. We can do that. I can go through the accounts with you and find two or three where the picture was visible early. Shall we book half an hour for that, once the renewal's out of the way?
- Liam Doherty NoneYeah, let's. After the renewal, so it's not mixed in.
- Tom Ashdown NoneSensible. Liam, anything you want to change in the contract itself? More seats, fewer, more connectors, anything like that? I'm not pushing, just checking now so I don't have to redo it.
- Liam Doherty NoneNot seats. We've got plenty. If anything, I'd rather fill the ones we've got. Connectors, I think we're fine. I might want another source at some point but I'd have to ask the team, and I don't want to hold up the renewal for it.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNot at all. If it comes up, we can look at it separately, there's an add-on for that. No drama, we do the renewal flat and have a chat later.
- Liam Doherty NonePerfect. Then I think we're done on that. What do you need from me?
- Tom Ashdown NoneSo I'll send the renewal order form this week or early next, with that cover note. You read it, pass it to whoever signs on your side, and we aim to have it back well before 30 Nov 2025 so there's no gap. Sound okay?
- Liam Doherty NoneSounds fine. I'll flag it to our finance director so she's expecting it.
- Marcus Bell NoneAnd from me, the usage numbers by person, and then we find a time for the account review with the depot examples. I'll send some slots across.
- Liam Doherty NoneBrilliant. Thanks both. That was easier than I thought it'd be.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, Liam. Enjoy the rest of your Monday, and get that coffee.
- Liam Doherty NoneWill do. Cheers, Liam. Sorry, cheers, both.