Harrowden Foods / BG-Demo – Kickoff
Callcompleted
Harrowden Foods · 5 Jan 2026 09:15
First kickoff with Gemma Holt on Growth. She wants account managers and customer service on one picture. Price stays as ordered, any priced add-on must be in writing, and the order system connector is the main build risk.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026First kickoff with Gemma Holt on Growth. She wants account managers and customer service on one picture. Price stays as ordered, any priced add-on must be in writing, and the order system connector is the main build risk.
What happened: Amara Obi and Hamza Akhtar met Gemma Holt to plan the eight-week build. Gemma said an account manager pulled everything on one supermarket in about ten minutes instead of half a day.
Customer view: Gemma wants account managers using it for every retailer review without chasing, and customer service on the same picture. She is braced for cost and said anything with a price needs to be in writing for whoever signs things off.
Commercial: Amara said about five people are active against forty users and adding customer service does not change the price. Connector add-ons only arise past the plan, which keeps an add-on conversation open later.
Watch: The order system is a big risk, and Snowflake access depends on a colleague in IT. Gemma is the only admin so far, and Amara pressed for a second.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Kickoff and build plan
Importance
praise
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Gemma Holt to name the IT contact and the order system expert.
- Hamza Akhtar to send the Snowflake access checklist after the call.
- Amara Obi to send the summary and a diary invite for the first review.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The order system connector may take longest and nobody on the customer side knows how it exports.
- Snowflake access depends on a named person in IT who was not yet identified.
- Gemma is the only admin until a second person is named.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Customer service could join account managers, using the remaining headroom in the forty users on Growth.
- Finance data for margin by retailer was parked for the first review and could become a later addition.
Transcript
Amara ObiHello, Gemma, can you hear me okay?
Gemma HoltHi Amara, yes, loud and clear. Sorry, my camera's being slow. There we go.- Amara ObiLovely, I can see you. Good morning. Hamza's finishing something on another call so he'll join in a few minutes. How was your break?
- Gemma HoltGood, thanks, quiet. First day back and the inbox is a swamp, but that's January for you. Can I tell you something before we start, actually? It's a nice one.
- Amara ObiPlease, go on.
- Gemma HoltSo a few of us have had a first look at the brain already, and one of the account managers was prepping for a retailer review. She asked it for everything on that supermarket in one go. Orders, the complaints, the service-level stuff, all together. Normally that's half a day of her pulling spreadsheets side by side. She had it in about ten minutes. She came over to my desk practically waving her laptop.
- Amara ObiThat's exactly the thing we're here for. And was she happy with what came back, or did she have to check it all line by line?
- Gemma HoltShe checked a couple of numbers against the order system and they matched, so yes, happy. The account managers love it, honestly. They just want more of it.
Hamza AkhtarSorry, sorry, I'm here. Morning both. Previous call overran.- Amara ObiPerfect timing. Gemma, this is Hamza Akhtar, our implementation consultant, he'll be running the build with you. Hamza, Gemma's been driving this at Harrowden from the start.
- Gemma HoltHi Hamza. Nice to put a face to the name, I've seen it on a lot of emails.
- Hamza AkhtarLikewise. I've read the notes from the sales process so I've got a feel for it, but I'd much rather hear it from you.
- Amara ObiSo let me do this properly, because we've only really swapped emails so far. I'm Amara, I'm your customer success manager. Once the build is done, I'm the person who looks after how you're getting on: adoption, the reviews, and the renewal conversation a good way down the line. Lewis Kerr is still your contact for anything commercial. And I'll ask the question I always ask at the start: what does good look like for you this quarter?
- Gemma HoltGood looks like the account managers using it for every retailer review without me nagging them. And customer service on it. At the moment customer service live in the helpdesk and the order system and they never see what the account managers see. So a retailer rings up about a late drop, and the account manager hears about it after the fact. Or not at all. I want both teams looking at the same picture.
- Amara ObiRight. So commercial insights, the account managers, and customer service, in the same place. Who else should have access, beyond those?
- Gemma HoltSales planners, maybe, later. Let's get customer service on first. Can we get customer service on? Soon, I mean. Is that a thing, or is that a different conversation?
- Amara ObiHere's what the numbers say. You're on Growth, which is forty users, and about five people have been active in the last month. So there's a lot of room. Adding customer service doesn't change your price. You're on £50k a year under the order form and that already covers the forty.
- Gemma HoltOh, good. I was braced for a number.
- Amara ObiOnly if you go past forty users, or past the connectors in the plan. Then we'd talk about add-ons, and I'd tell you before you hit the ceiling, not after.
- Gemma HoltWhat would it cost to add a few more connectors, just so I know? Not to buy. Just so I know the shape of it.
- Hamza AkhtarLet's see what you actually need first. You might not need any. Can I walk through the plan and then we'll know?
- Gemma HoltGo on. And just so you know, anything with a price on it I'd have to take to whoever signs things off here, so if it comes to it I'll need it in writing.
- Amara ObiCompletely fair. I'd rather it was in writing anyway.
- Hamza AkhtarSo the build runs for about eight weeks. Roughly four stages. The first week or so is access, and that's the Snowflake side. The brain runs inside your own Snowflake account, so someone on your side needs to be able to create a database and a role for us to work in. Then connectors, one at a time, starting with whatever gives you the most value fastest. Then we tune the brain on your data, so it knows your retailers and your products. And then training for the people who'll use it.
- Gemma HoltOkay. Snowflake is a colleague in IT. I don't touch that. I wouldn't know where to start.
- Hamza AkhtarThat's normal, don't worry. I'll need a name though. Someone who can say yes to us creating things in the account, and who can hand over the login details.
- Gemma HoltI'll find out who. It'll be one of two people in IT, I think. Can I come back to you today?
- Hamza AkhtarToday or tomorrow is fine.
- Amara ObiI'll put that down as an action against you, Gemma, so Hamza can chase if it goes quiet.
- Gemma HoltPlease do. It's how things get done here.
- Hamza AkhtarRight, connectors. From what I read, you want retailer accounts, complaints and orders together. So I'd guess the CRM for the retailer accounts and contacts, the helpdesk for customer service tickets, and then orders. Where do the orders live?
- Gemma HoltOkay. So orders are in our order system, and it's a bit of a monster, to be honest. Both sites feed it. I don't know how well it plays with other things. I know the people who use it, I don't know what it can do.
- Hamza AkhtarMm. That one I'd flag as the risk, then. It's usually where a connector takes longest. Could you get me someone who knows how it exports? Even a flat file every night is workable to begin with, and we can do something smarter later.
- Gemma HoltThere's a chap in the planning team who lives in it. I'll ask him. He'll know.
- Hamza AkhtarBrilliant. And then there's the accounting system. Do you want finance in the brain at the start?
- Gemma HoltNot at the start. Maybe later, for margin by retailer. That's a nice-to-have, I'd say. Let's get the customer picture right first.
- Amara ObiLet's park it, there's room in the plan for it. I'll note it down for the first review so it doesn't get lost.
- Gemma HoltCan I ask something else? Who ends up looking after it on our side, day to day? Because I'm going to be that person, and I'd rather not be that person alone.
- Amara ObiThat's a really good question, and it's the one that decides whether a brain stays useful. You'll want at least one other admin so it isn't just you. If you go on leave, or move on to something else, it shouldn't stall. Is there someone in customer service who's the natural person?
- Gemma HoltThe customer service lead, yes. She's sharp and she'll want to see her own team's tickets anyway. I'll ask her to join the next one.
- Hamza AkhtarThat would be great. We've got a technical session pencilled in for Wednesday. If she and the IT person can both be on it, we can cover access and the helpdesk in one go.
- Gemma HoltWednesday, at twelve? I think that's what the invite says.
- Hamza AkhtarTwelve, yes.
- Gemma HoltI'll try. I can't promise IT. They're slammed in January.
- Amara ObiThat's fine. Even half of it is useful. Hamza will send a short note before so everyone knows what they're there for.
- Hamza AkhtarGive me a minute, I'm going to share my screen and show you the stages so you can see what I mean. Bear with me. Right, can you see that?
- Gemma HoltYes, I can see it. That's clearer than the proposal. So this week is access, and then the CRM is first.
- Hamza AkhtarThat's the idea. The CRM is usually the quickest, and it means you've got retailer accounts in the brain within the first couple of weeks. The helpdesk follows. Orders last, because that's the one with the question mark.
- Gemma HoltFine by me. One worry, though. Our data is messy. Retailer names are written four or five different ways depending on who typed it. If it can't tell they're the same supermarket, that's a problem.
- Hamza AkhtarThat's the most common thing we see, honestly, and it's what the tuning stage is for. I'll ask you for the list of retailers as they appear in the CRM and the order system, and we map them to one name each. It's tedious but it's a day, not a month.
- Gemma HoltI can do that. I'm the one who knows which is which anyway.
- Amara ObiCan I add one thing before we run out of time? I'd like us to agree a couple of things we'll look at in the first review. For me, the best single measure is questions asked, because it tells you whether people are actually using it. Then how many users are active, and whether customer service is on. Does that feel right?
- Gemma HoltYes. And I'd add one: did the account managers use it for the retailer review without anyone chasing. That's the one I really care about.
- Amara ObiThen that's the list. Let's get the first review in the diary now, rather than later. It'll be a few weeks after the build starts, enough to see the first numbers but not so late that we're guessing.
- Gemma HoltYes please. If it's not in the diary it doesn't happen.
- Hamza AkhtarOkay, so from me: I'll send the access checklist for Snowflake after this call, today, with exactly what IT need to create. And a short note for Wednesday.
- Gemma HoltAnd from me: the name in IT, the person who knows the order system, and I'll ask the customer service lead about Wednesday.
- Amara ObiAnd I'll send a summary of today with the actions, and a diary invite for the first review. Anything else before we stop?
- Gemma HoltNo, I don't think so. Thanks, both. This was more useful than I expected, I thought it would be a lot of sitting through slides.
- Hamza AkhtarNo slides, good. Speak on Wednesday.
- Amara ObiThanks, Gemma. Speak soon.
- Gemma HoltCheers, bye.
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