Hollins Tarrant / BG-Demo – Discovery
Callcompleted
Hollins Tarrant · 3 Oct 2023 15:30
Discovery call on 3 Oct 2023. Hollins Tarrant loses time because client history sits in the CRM, helpdesk and email. Rob Ellery is cost-sensitive and wants proof on their own data. Jenna Price is the sole systems owner and short of time.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Discovery call on 3 Oct 2023. Hollins Tarrant loses time because client history sits in the CRM, helpdesk and email. Rob Ellery is cost-sensitive and wants proof on their own data. Jenna Price is the sole systems owner and short of time.
What happened: Tom Ashdown ran discovery with Rob Ellery and Jenna Price. Jenna described client history split across the CRM, the helpdesk and email, with consultants keeping private spreadsheets as a fourth place.
Customer view: Rob said he joined because Jenna asked him to, and that the firm is watching every subscription as hiring has slowed. Jenna pushed back that this is lost time, not a nice to have.
Commercial: Tom pointed to the Starter tier and a deal total, set-up included, of around twenty-five and a half thousand, to be confirmed in writing. Rob wants a demo on their own data and a one-page document before he signs anything.
Watch: Jenna covers operations, systems and compliance alone and doubted she has time for another system. Read-only CRM access depends on checking permissions with their outside support company.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Discovery, fragmented client history
Importance
neutral
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- Tom Ashdown to send an access note and a one-page document covering what it does, what it costs and who looks after it.
- Jenna Price to check read-only CRM permissions with the outside support company and reply by email.
- Tom Ashdown to book the demo once permissions are confirmed.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Rob Ellery is cutting subscriptions and will not buy anything he sees as nice to have.
- Jenna Price is the only systems owner and doubts she has time to support another system.
- CRM access depends on a permissions check with an outside support company.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A Starter tier brain would replace the CRM, helpdesk and email stitching that is costing consultants time.
- A demo on Hollins Tarrant's own data answers Rob's stated condition for signing.
Transcript
Tom AshdownHello, hello. Afternoon, both. How's your week been so far?
Jenna PriceHi, Tom. Sorry, sorry, I'm late, I know. We had a candidate issue come in right at the end of lunch. I'm here now.
Rob ElleryIt's been a long week. The team's flat out. How long is this going to take, Tom?- Tom AshdownNo drama, Rob. We've booked the best part of three quarters of an hour, and I'll try to be shorter than that. Mostly I want to listen. I'd like to understand how you work and where it hurts, and then I'll tell you whether we can help. If we can't, I'll say.
- Rob ElleryFair enough. To be straight with you, I'm here because Jenna asked me to be.
- Jenna PriceHe's being modest. He came to me first, really. We keep losing time. Let me explain it properly.
- Tom AshdownGo on, please.
- Jenna PriceSo, we place engineering and professional staff. Everything we know about a client lives in about three places. The CRM has the client accounts and the placements pipeline. The helpdesk has the client-facing tickets. And then there's email, which is where the real history lives. When a consultant rings a client, they have to look in all of them, and they don't, so they ring blind.
- Tom AshdownRight. And what happens when they ring blind?
- Rob ElleryThey ask something the client has already answered. Or they chase a vacancy that's been filled. It looks sloppy. We're a small firm, we can't afford to look sloppy.
- Tom AshdownMm. How often does that actually happen, would you say? Roughly. I'm not after a number.
- Jenna PriceOften enough that the consultants have started keeping their own notes. Spreadsheets. Which makes it worse, because then there's a fourth place.
- Tom AshdownYes. I hear that a lot. The fourth place is always the one that's out of date by Friday.
- Rob ElleryThat's about right.
- Tom AshdownSo who looks after the systems at the moment? Is there an IT person?
- Jenna PriceThat's me, mostly. Operations, systems, compliance. There's an outside support company for the laptops and that sort of thing, but the CRM and the helpdesk, that's me. And, honestly, I'm not sure I've the time to look after another thing.
- Tom AshdownThat's an important thing to say, Jenna, thank you. The way we work, the brain runs in a data platform account, we connect to the CRM and the helpdesk and the rest, and it keeps itself up to date overnight. Our team does the set-up. What it needs from you is somebody to say what's right and what's wrong in the first weeks. It shouldn't need babysitting.
- Jenna PriceRight. That's what I'd want to hear. Can we park the detail on that for now? I'd like to understand what it does first.
- Tom AshdownOf course. Simple version. Anyone at your firm can ask a question in plain words, such as what is the latest on this client, and the brain answers using what's in the CRM, the tickets, the emails and so on, and it shows where the answer came from.
- Rob ElleryWhat would we be paying for, then? In plain terms.
- Tom AshdownTwo things. A one-off fee for the set-up, which is fixed, and then an annual subscription. For a firm your size we'd be talking about our Starter tier, which is for one team. I'll not quote a price from memory in front of you, because I'll get it wrong. The total for the deal, set-up included, is going to be somewhere around twenty-five and a half thousand, and I'll confirm exactly in writing.
- Rob ElleryRight. That's not nothing.
- Tom AshdownNo, it's not. It's why I want to be sure it pays for itself. If it doesn't save your consultants time or help win fees, don't buy it.
- Rob ElleryGood. Because we're watching every subscription at the moment. Hiring's slowed. I'm not in the mood for anything that's nice to have.
- Jenna PriceRob, to be fair, this is not nice to have. It's the lost time.
- Rob ElleryThen show me it on our own data. That's what I'd want to see before I sign anything.
- Tom AshdownThat's exactly the next step. We do a demo on your own data, not a canned one. Jenna, I'd need you to help with access to the CRM, read-only, nothing that touches your live work. Could that be done in the next couple of weeks?
- Jenna PriceProbably. I'll need to check with our outside support company on the permissions. Sorry, I know that's vague. I'll find out and email you.
- Tom AshdownNo drama. Leave that with me to send you a short note of exactly what we need, so you're not guessing.
- Rob ElleryAnd I'll want a short document, Tom. Not a manual. One page. What it does, what it costs, who looks after it.
- Tom AshdownOne page. Understood. I'll send it with the access note. Let's get something in the diary for the demo once Jenna's had a chance to check the permissions.
- Jenna PriceThanks, Tom. Sorry again about being late.
- Tom AshdownNot at all. Thanks both. Best, Tom. Speak soon.
- Rob ElleryRight, cheers.
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