Lornefield Pensions Administration / BB-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Lornefield Pensions Administration · 2025-01-22 15:45
Douglas Baird said the group must be satisfied on value before renewing. Daily usage has fallen by about a third to eight or so of forty licensed users. No commitment was given; a decision is planned before the end of February.
What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Douglas Baird said the group must be satisfied on value before renewing. Daily usage has fallen by about a third to eight or so of forty licensed users. No commitment was given; a decision is planned before the end of February.
What happened: Douglas set out that the contract runs to 2 Apr 2025 with renewal on 3 Apr 2025. Daniel confirmed daily users down by about a third, to eight or so of forty licensed.
Customer view: Some relationship managers have gone back to spreadsheets. Douglas sees no fault in the product: people found it useful at first and it became one more place to look.
Commercial: Morag Lindsay confirmed the renewal is £44k a year on Growth and the last invoice is paid. She wants the term dates written on the order form and invoice.
Watch: Silence on tickets was read as people having stopped trying. Douglas will not commit on the group's behalf and will speak to scheme teams and the Head of Data.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Renewal value and usage decline
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Daniel Okafor to send the usage breakdown by team by the end of the following week.
- Daniel Okafor to send Morag Lindsay renewal paperwork with the term period shown.
- Douglas Baird to speak to scheme teams and the Head of Data, and a renewal decision meeting to be held before the end of February.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Daily usage has fallen by about a third, so the renewal of the Growth subscription at £44,000 is not assured.
- Douglas Baird gave no commitment and says the group must be satisfied on value first.
- Absence of tickets may reflect people giving up rather than satisfaction.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- A usage breakdown by team may show the drop is concentrated in a couple of teams that can be re-engaged.
- Finance finds the brain quick for fee invoices against a scheme, a use that could be built on.
Transcript
Daniel Okafor NoneHello, can everyone hear me alright? Thank you all for making time this afternoon. Let me just check who's joined. Douglas, Morag, and Nell is here with me.
Douglas Baird NoneGood afternoon, Daniel. Yes, we can hear you perfectly well. Morag and I are both on. Thank you for setting this up, and thank you, Nell, for joining as well.
Nell Ashcombe NonePleasure. Douglas, before we start, what do you need to leave with today? I'd rather aim at that than run through slides.- Douglas Baird NoneThat's a fair question, and I appreciate it. In fairness, what I'd like is a clear picture of where we are ahead of the renewal. The contract runs to 2 Apr 2025, and the renewal date is 3 Apr 2025, so we're a little over two months out. The group's position is that we should be satisfied on value before we commit again, and I'd rather we looked at that together than have it sit unspoken.
- Nell Ashcombe NoneGood. Then let's say what happened and how we know. Daniel, what does the usage show?
- Daniel Okafor NoneThanks, Nell. So I'll be straightforward, Douglas, because I'd want the same from you. Over the last quarter the number of people using the brain on a typical day has come down by about a third. We have forty licensed users, and on an average day it's now eight or so who are actually in there. Just to close the loop on something I said last time, I did expect it to be a bit higher by now.
- Douglas Baird NoneYes. That matches what I hear in the building, I'm afraid. Some of the relationship managers have gone back to their own spreadsheets, particularly in the run up to year end.
- Nell Ashcombe NoneRight. Is that a habit thing, or is it that the brain isn't giving them what they need?
- Douglas Baird NoneI couldn't say with certainty. I'd welcome a conversation with the team before I give you a view I can't stand behind.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat seems sensible. Can I add one thing? We've had no tickets from you in the last month at all. Normally I'd take that as a good sign, but alongside the usage I'd read it more carefully. It may just mean people have stopped trying.
- Nell Ashcombe NoneThat one's on us as much as on you. If a design partner goes quiet, we should have been asking why sooner.
- Douglas Baird NoneThat's generous of you, Nell. I wouldn't put it quite that way, but I take the spirit of it.
Morag Lindsay NoneCan I come in with a practical point? For our records, I need to be clear what we're being asked to renew. Is the renewal as it stands the same fee we've been paying, which is forty-four thousand pounds?- Daniel Okafor NoneYes, Morag. As it stands the renewal is £44,000 a year, the same Growth subscription as now, and the order form we hold says the same. Nothing has been changed on that.
- Morag Lindsay NoneThank you. And can you confirm the period it would cover, so that when the paperwork arrives it's on the face of the document? I'll want the dates on the invoice, the start and the end.
- Daniel Okafor NoneOf course. The new term would start on 3 Apr 2025, straight after the current one ends on 2 Apr 2025. I'll make sure the order form and the invoice both carry the period written out. I'll come back to you on that by the end of next week.
- Morag Lindsay NoneGood. And just so it's noted, the last invoice has been paid, so there's nothing outstanding from our side.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's right, nothing overdue on our books either. Thank you, that's helpful to have said out loud.
- Douglas Baird NoneNow, I should be careful. I can't promise anything on the group's behalf today. What I can do is speak to the scheme teams and to our Head of Data, and find out honestly whether the brain is helping them with trustee calls and member queries, which was the reason we bought it.
- Nell Ashcombe NoneThat's all we'd ask. What would the brain say, Daniel? If we asked it who stopped using it and what they used to ask, would we learn something?
- Daniel Okafor NoneI think we would. I can pull together which teams have dropped off, what the questions looked like before they did, and where the busiest people still are. Mm, that might show it's concentrated in a couple of teams rather than everywhere, which would change the conversation a lot.
- Douglas Baird NoneThat would be very welcome. If it's a couple of teams, then I can take that to them directly. If it's across the board, then we've a different discussion, and I'd rather know.
- Nell Ashcombe NoneAgreed. Douglas, one more thing from me. Is there anything about the product itself that you'd say is getting in the way? Not the habit, the thing.
- Douglas Baird NoneNothing I'd call a fault. I think people found it very useful at first and then it became one more place to look. Perhaps that's a question for the relationship managers rather than for me.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's fair, and a lot of design partners go through exactly that stage. How is the team finding it, day to day? That's the thing I'd like us to be able to answer by the next call.
- Morag Lindsay NoneFrom finance, I'd say we use it when we need to find a fee invoice against a scheme, and it's quick. But there are only a couple of us.
- Nell Ashcombe NoneThat's useful, thank you, Morag. So the shape of it is: it works, but it isn't part of the Monday routine for most of the floor. Is that right?
- Douglas Baird NoneI think that's a fair summary, yes.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThen let me suggest where we land. I'll send the usage breakdown by team by the end of next week. Douglas, you speak to your people and your Head of Data. Morag, I'll get you the renewal paperwork with the period shown. And we meet again before the end of February to decide the renewal properly, with the facts in front of us.
- Douglas Baird NoneThat suits me very well. I'd welcome that, and it gives me time to do it properly rather than hurry.
- Morag Lindsay NoneFine by me. I'll wait for the document, and I'll not raise anything with the payment run until I have it.
- Nell Ashcombe NoneGood. Thank you both. We'll put our effort into making this one count.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThank you everyone for your time. Speak soon.
- Douglas Baird NoneThank you, Daniel, Nell. Good afternoon to you.
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