Calderbrook Housing Group / BG-Demo – Discovery
Callcompleted
Calderbrook Housing Group · 24 Jun 2024 12:00
Helen Marsden, Head of Business Intelligence, is chasing a repairs figure that differs across three systems. She wants a decision by 16 Aug 2024 and a demo on Calderbrook's own data. Tom quoted £56k for Growth as a total deal value.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Helen Marsden, Head of Business Intelligence, is chasing a repairs figure that differs across three systems. She wants a decision by 16 Aug 2024 and a demo on Calderbrook's own data. Tom quoted £56k for Growth as a total deal value.
What happened: Tom Ashdown ran a discovery call with Helen Marsden. She is chasing a repairs figure that differs between the housing management system, the contractor job system and the complaints log.
Customer view: Her two analysts spend most of a week each month reconciling, and the result is out of date by the end. She will not put a number to the board without seeing the source records behind it.
Commercial: Tom quoted £56k for the Growth tier as the total deal value, implementation included and not a yearly subscription figure. Helen is not the budget holder, and her finance director will ask about one-off against recurring cost and the price after the first year.
Watch: The decision window ends 16 Aug 2024. The director of strategy, finance director, head of customer services and IT all need to be involved early.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Repairs data reconciliation
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 Ashdown to send the note on the extract needed from IT and demo dates.
- Tom Ashdown to put the one-off against subscription split and the renewal price in the proposal.
- Helen Marsden to check demo dates with colleagues and copy in IT.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Helen is not the budget holder, and the finance director will test one-off against recurring cost and the price after the first year.
- The decision window of 16 Aug 2024 is short and needs IT, finance and customer services involved early.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A Growth tier deal starting with repairs and arrears, with tenant calls and complaints to follow.
- A demo on Calderbrook's own data showing the source records behind every figure.
Transcript
Tom AshdownHello, Helen, can you hear me all right? I've got a little bit of an echo on my side.
Helen MarsdenYes, I can hear you. Let me just move my headset. Is that better?- Tom AshdownMuch better, thanks. Right, good afternoon. How's your week been? Anything exciting up in Leeds, or is it all board papers?
- Helen MarsdenIt is mostly board papers, I'm afraid. Which is rather why I wanted this call. I'll be honest with you, Tom, I'm chasing a discrepancy at the moment. The repairs figure in the operational report and the repairs figure in the board pack do not reconcile, and the board will ask.
- Tom AshdownRight. Okay. That's a good place to start, actually, because it's exactly what I hear a lot from people in your seat. Can you tell me a bit more about it? How far apart are they?
- Helen MarsdenNot enormously far apart, but far enough. The housing management system says one thing for completed repairs in the month. The contractor's job system says another. And then the complaints log has its own idea of what counts as a repair that went wrong. Three sources, three answers. In the repairs section of the board pack I have to present one.
- Tom AshdownAnd who does the reconciling at the moment? Is that you, or your team?
- Helen MarsdenMy team. Two analysts, mostly, and then me at the end checking it. It takes the best part of a week each month, and by the time we've finished some of it is already out of date. That's the part that frustrates me. We spend the week making it right and then it's wrong again.
- Tom AshdownYeah. Mm. No drama, that's very common. Before I get into what we do, can I ask you to walk me through the main systems? Just so I've got the picture. What are the things you'd want joined up?
- Helen MarsdenRight. So the housing management system is the core, tenancies, rent accounts, arrears. Then repairs: the contractor's job system, plus we log repairs calls through the contact centre. The contact centre calls are recorded. Then complaints, which sit in the helpdesk. And finance is a separate accounting system again, though I'd only want that for the rent and arrears side.
- Tom AshdownOkay, so tenant calls, repairs, complaints, arrears. That's roughly the shape. And you said recorded calls. Does anyone listen to those, or do they just sit there?
- Helen MarsdenThey mostly sit there, to be honest. Quality teams sample a few. Nobody can search across them. If I want to know how many tenants called about damp in a given month and then went on to complain, I can't. Not without somebody spending days on it.
- Tom AshdownRight, and that's the kind of question the brain is built for. Let me explain it simply, and stop me if I ramble, because I do. So we put one layer over all of those systems, and it runs inside your own Snowflake account, so the data doesn't leave your estate. Then people ask it questions in plain English and it gives you an answer and tells you where it came from.
- Helen MarsdenCan you show me the source? That's my first question. If it tells me a number I need to see where the number came from, down to the record, or I can't put it in front of the board.
- Tom AshdownYes. Every answer points back to the source records it used. I'll show you that properly in a demo on your own data, rather than me waving my hands about it now. But that's the principle. It's not a black box.
- Helen MarsdenGood. Because I've seen tools that give you a very confident chart and no way to check it. I won't put my team's name to that.
- Tom AshdownFair enough. And I wouldn't want you to. Can I ask, who else is involved in this? You're clearly the one driving it, but who else would be in the room when somebody decides?
- Helen MarsdenWell, I report to the director of strategy, and the finance director would want to see the cost. Our head of customer services would be a big user, I think, for the complaints side. And IT will have views about anything touching Snowflake, though we do have a good relationship there. I wouldn't go over anyone's head, so I'd want them all in properly, not surprised.
- Tom AshdownThat's sensible. I'd much rather everyone's in early than someone's cross at the end. Have you got a sense of timing? Is there a board meeting this is working towards?
- Helen MarsdenThe next full board pack is the one I'd like to be clean. We don't need the whole thing live by then, but I want to be able to show a reconciled repairs and arrears section, and to say how we got there. I'd like a decision made on whether to proceed by 16 Aug 2024, if that's workable on your side.
- Tom AshdownThat's what I've got pencilled in as well, 16 Aug 2024 for a decision. So we're on the same page. We'd need to be quick about the next steps, but it's doable.
- Helen MarsdenGood. Now, may I ask about cost? I'm not the budget holder, but the finance director will ask me the first time I mention it and I'd rather have an idea.
- Tom AshdownCourse you can. I'll be careful here, because I don't like quoting from memory and getting it wrong. What I've got in front of me on the deal is fifty-six thousand pounds, £56,000, for the Growth tier. That's the total for the deal, with the implementation included, not a yearly subscription figure. I'll confirm the exact split in writing before anyone relies on it.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. So that includes the work to connect everything up, and not only the licence.
- Tom AshdownYes, that's right. The one-off implementation is in there, and the subscription is in there. I'll set it out line by line in the proposal so that your finance director can see which is which.
- Helen MarsdenThat would help. He is quite particular about one-off against recurring. And he will ask what happens to the price after the first year.
- Tom AshdownWhich is a good question, and I'll make sure that's written down too, so nobody's surprised at renewal. Leave that with me.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. Now, one more thing on my list. How long before we'd see anything? I don't want to promise the board something and then find the connectors take months.
- Tom AshdownGrowth implementation is a matter of weeks rather than months, and the first connectors tend to land early, so you'd see real data quite quickly. I'd rather not put a number on the call without checking the plan with our team. I'll put a proper timeline in the proposal, and we can agree which sources come first. Probably the housing management system and repairs.
- Helen MarsdenArrears and repairs, yes. Those are the two sections of the board pack that keep me awake. Complaints can follow.
- Tom AshdownRight, so let me say back what I've got. You want a single reconciled view of repairs and arrears first, with the source visible for every figure. Calls and complaints come after. You've got a decision window that ends 16 Aug 2024. And you'd like IT, finance and customer services involved early. Have I missed anything?
- Helen MarsdenNo, that's it. Except that I'd like to see the demo on our own data, not a sample. If it's a sample then I can't tell whether it reconciles.
- Tom AshdownAbsolutely, that's how we do it. We'd need a small extract from IT to get that going, and I'll send you a short note on what we'd ask for. Then let's get something in the diary for the demo. Does the week after next suit?
- Helen MarsdenIt should do. Send me some dates and I'll check them with the others. I'll copy in IT so they know it's coming.
- Tom AshdownBrilliant. I'll send the note and the dates today. And thanks, Helen, this has been really useful. I know it's not easy carving out an hour.
- Helen MarsdenNot at all. It's been useful for me too. I'll wait for your email. Goodbye, Tom.
- Tom AshdownCheers, Helen. Speak soon.
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