Hollins Tarrant / BG-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Hollins Tarrant · 14 Oct 2025 10:15
Rob Ellery, Managing Director, questioned whether a Starter brain used by a few people is worth paying for. He asked for a one-page summary, will consult Jenna Price, and wants the cost kept sensible.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Rob Ellery, Managing Director, questioned whether a Starter brain used by a few people is worth paying for. He asked for a one-page summary, will consult Jenna Price, and wants the cost kept sensible.
What happened: Tom Ashdown proposed renewing on the same Starter tier with the same fifteen users, at the figure he gave as nineteen and a half thousand a year. Rob was short on time and Claire Haddon joined only for the invoice item.
Customer view: Rob asked whether the spend is worth it if only three people use it. He said he does not decide alone and will talk to Jenna.
Commercial: Claire asked that the renewal invoice carry the purchase order number and the right entity name. Tom said he would confirm the terms in writing, so the price is not yet on paper.
Watch: Usage is a small group, and Rob's closing line was about cost. The evidence from this call does not show the renewal outcome.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Marcus Bell sends Rob Ellery a one-page summary of what the team asks the brain.
- Claire Haddon sends Tom Ashdown the entity name and purchase order for the renewal invoice.
- Tom Ashdown confirms the renewal terms in writing and books a follow-up.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Rob doubts the value of the Starter subscription because only a few people use it.
- Rob wants the cost kept sensible, so any price rise on the same tier may meet resistance.
- Rob defers to Jenna Price, who was not on this call, so the decision is not yet his alone.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A short usage summary showing what the team asks the brain can make the value case to Rob and Jenna.
Transcript
Tom AshdownMorning, all. Marcus, Rob, Claire, can everyone hear me? Good. How's your week been so far, Rob?
Rob ElleryBusy. To be straight with you, they're all busy. How long's this going to take? I've got a client at eleven.- Tom AshdownNo drama, we'll be well inside the hour, I promise. Claire, you've joined as well, lovely.
Claire HaddonSorry, I'm in the middle of something, I'll just keep this open on the side. I'm only here for the invoice bit really.- Tom AshdownThat's fine, we'll do that near the start so you can get back to it. Marcus, do you want to kick us off?
Marcus BellThanks, Tom. I'll share my screen quickly. I just want to cover where you are on usage and then hand over to Tom for the contract. You're on Starter, fifteen licensed users, and the brain's been steady all year. One ticket recently, which was a how-to question and it was sorted quickly.- Rob ElleryRight. And who's actually using it?
- Marcus BellA small group, mostly Jenna and a few of the senior consultants. It's a few people a day rather than the whole firm.
- Rob ElleryMm. That's what I thought. Go on, Tom.
- Tom AshdownOkay, so the headline. Your contract runs out at the start of January, the fourth, so four Jan 2026. We'd like to renew you on the same Starter tier, same fifteen users, same set-up. I'm looking at it as the nineteen and a half thousand a year you pay now, but let me confirm that in writing rather than quote it off the top of my head.
- Rob EllerySo it's the same money?
- Tom AshdownThat's the plan, yes. I'll put it on paper and you'll see it.
- Rob ElleryWhat would we be paying for, though? Be honest. If it's three people poking at it, is that worth it?
- Marcus BellThat's fair. What I'd say is the people using it are the ones who deal with client accounts, and it saves them hopping between the CRM and the helpdesk. It's not a huge user count, but it's the right people. And I can put together a one-page summary for you showing what they ask it.
- Rob EllerySend me that. Short, please. I don't read long things.
- Marcus BellOne page. Understood.
- Tom AshdownAnd Rob, if the summary doesn't convince you, tell me. I'd rather have that conversation now than at Christmas.
- Rob ElleryI'll talk to Jenna. I don't decide these on my own, she knows what the team actually does with it.
- Tom AshdownSensible. Right, Claire, shall we do your bit? Invoices.
- Claire HaddonYes, thanks. Quick one. Could you just make sure the renewal invoice has our purchase order number on it, and it's addressed to the right entity? Last time I had to pop it in the pile and chase.
- Tom AshdownAbsolutely. Could you send me the entity name and the purchase order after the call? I'll pass it to our finance team so it's right first time.
- Claire HaddonWill do. No rush, but before the end of the year would be good. Ta.
- Marcus BellAnything else on usage or the platform before we finish? Rob, anything you'd want to see more of?
- Rob ElleryNo. Just keep the cost sensible. That's all I've got.
- Tom AshdownBrilliant. So Marcus sends the one-pager, Claire sends the entity and purchase order, I confirm the renewal terms in writing. Let's get a follow-up in the diary for November.
- Rob ElleryFine. Thanks, all.
- Claire HaddonThanks, bye.