Harrowden Foods / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Harrowden Foods · 5 May 2026 15:15
Gemma Holt reported a retailer review win and nearly doubled active users. She wants customer service on the brain and asked about extra connectors, possibly production planning. Renewal on 5 Jan 2027 was raised early.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Gemma Holt reported a retailer review win and nearly doubled active users. She wants customer service on the brain and asked about extra connectors, possibly production planning. Renewal on 5 Jan 2027 was raised early.
What happened: Amara Obi ran a check-in on 5 May 2026. Gemma Holt said the brain showed orders and complaints side by side, so the team was not on the back foot with a supermarket.
Customer view: Gemma wants people asking the brain without coming to her. Customer service has no login and is working from screenshots.
Commercial: Seats are not an issue on Growth's 40 users. The connector limit is hard, so a production planning source would need the add-on; Amara is to send the number and price.
Watch: Gemma takes purchases to her boss, and some senior account managers distrust the system. The renewal falls on 5 Jan 2027 with a ninety-day notice period.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Usage growth, connector expansion
Importance
upsell
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Amara Obi checks connector headroom and emails the add-on price with the usage chart today.
- Gemma Holt sends a one-pager on what customer service should see, with names, by the end of the week.
- Amara Obi books the next QBR for early July and copies Lewis in.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Gemma needs her boss's approval for any purchase, so the connector add-on depends on someone not on the call.
- Senior account managers distrust the system, which may limit depth of use.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- An additional connectors add-on could cover production planning data if the limit is reached.
- Customer service logins and a walkthrough build the value story ahead of the 5 Jan 2027 renewal.
Transcript
Gemma HoltHello? Can you hear me okay? I've got the headset on this time.
Amara ObiLoud and clear, Gemma. Hi, good afternoon. Can you see my screen yet or is it still the little spinning circle?- Gemma HoltSpinning. Oh no, there it is. Right, I can see a chart. Lots of blue.
- Amara ObiLots of blue is good. That's the one I'll come to in a minute. How's your week been? You sound like you're in the middle of something.
- Gemma HoltHa, honestly, a good one. Can I start with a win before we do the formal bit? Because the account managers are still buzzing about it.
- Amara ObiPlease. That's exactly how I like to start. Go on.
- Gemma HoltSo we had a retailer review coming up, one of the big supermarkets, and normally the week before I'd be in about four different spreadsheets trying to line up their orders against the service-level complaints. Late deliveries, short-dated product, that kind of thing. This time the account manager just asked the brain. Typed it in, got the orders and the complaints side by side, with the dates, in about a minute.
- Amara ObiOh, that's lovely. And the retailer didn't see it coming, I take it?
- Gemma HoltThat's the best bit. They went to raise a point about a run of late drops and we'd already got our own view of it, including the two weeks where it was actually their depot slot that moved. So we weren't on the back foot at all. The account managers love it, I keep saying that, but this was the first time it really changed the conversation.
- Amara ObiBrilliant. Do you mind if I write that up? I'd like to put it in the notes for the team, because it's the exact thing the brain was bought for. Orders, complaints and the retailer account in one place.
- Gemma HoltYeah, go for it. Just keep the retailer's name out of it, obviously.
- Amara ObiOf course. Right, so let me properly say hello, because I like to do that every time. I'm Amara, I'm your Customer Success Manager, so adoption, check-ins, the renewal conversation, that's me. Lewis is still your account owner on the commercial side. What I'd love to know from you is what good looks like for the next quarter. I've got my own view from the numbers, but yours matters more.
- Gemma HoltGood question. Good looks like more of the business using it. At the moment it's me and the account managers, mostly, and I think we've only scratched the surface. I want people asking it things without coming to me first.
- Amara ObiThat's a great place to be, and it fits with the numbers. Here's what the numbers say. Over the last thirty days you've had nearly nine people active on average. Compared with the quarter before, that's very nearly double.
- Gemma HoltNearly double. Huh. I knew it felt busier, but I didn't think it was that much.
- Amara ObiIt's real. And before you ask, it's not one person hammering it. There's a spread. A couple of your account managers are asking a lot, which is what I'd expect, but there are a few people who've come on in the last few weeks who weren't there before.
- Gemma HoltYeah, that'll be the two newer account managers. I sat with them for an hour each, showed them how to ask about a specific retailer, and then I just left them to it.
- Amara ObiWell, that's what the chart is showing. That climb there, that's those weeks. Whatever you did, do it again.
- Gemma HoltHa. Okay. So, small thing, you said nearly nine. We've got forty licences, haven't we? So that's quite a lot of empty seats.
- Amara ObiForty licensed users on Growth, yes. So you're using a fraction of what you've got. I don't say that as a criticism. It means you've got headroom. You can bring more people on tomorrow and it wouldn't cost you anything extra.
- Gemma HoltRight. Okay. That's actually the thing I wanted to ask you about. Can we get customer service on?
- Amara ObiGo on, tell me more. Who and how many?
- Gemma HoltSo the team lead in customer service has been asking me for ages. They're the ones who pick up the phone when a retailer complains about a delivery, and at the moment they're in a completely different system. They can see the call, but they can't see what we shipped or what the account manager already knows. I've been giving them screenshots, which is silly.
- Amara ObiScreenshots. Yeah. That's the sort of thing that goes stale as soon as you send it.
- Gemma HoltExactly. So I'd like them in the brain, properly, with their own logins. I think it's a small team. Six or seven people, I'd have to check.
- Amara ObiThen the seats are no problem at all, you've got plenty of room. Two things I'd want to check with you. One, which of your systems does customer service live in? Because the real value is the brain seeing their tickets alongside the orders.
- Gemma HoltThey use a helpdesk for the retailer complaints. I think it's already connected, isn't it? Because you pull the complaints through for us.
- Amara ObiLet me look rather than guess. Give me a second. Mm. Hang on, I'm in the connector list. Yes, so the helpdesk is there, and it's loading, records are going up week on week, so it's healthy. Good. So the data they need is already in the brain, it's just that nobody on their side has a login.
- Gemma HoltOh, that's easy then. So it's just logins.
- Amara ObiPretty much logins and a bit of setup. The second thing is what I'd actually want to think about, which is who should see what. Customer service seeing complaints and orders, great. Do you want them seeing everything the account managers see? Commercial notes, margins, that sort of thing?
- Gemma HoltNo. No, probably not the margin stuff. Hmm. That's a fair point. I hadn't thought about that. Can you restrict it?
- Amara ObiWe can. It's a conversation with whoever looks after access on your side, but yes. My suggestion is that you write down, in plain words, what customer service should be able to ask about, and what they shouldn't. Then I'll take it to our team and we'll set it up to match.
- Gemma HoltRight. Okay. I can do that. I'll do a one-pager. Give me till the end of the week or so.
- Amara ObiThat's perfect. And while you're writing it, add the names, if you can. Even rough. Then I can say how many seats we're talking about and not guess.
- Gemma HoltWill do. Sorry, can I ask the other thing now? What would it cost to add... well, I don't even know what I'm asking for. Say we wanted to connect another system. Do we have room?
- Amara ObiFair question. On Growth there's a limit on how many connectors you can have, and it's a hard limit, not a soft one. I don't want to quote you from memory, so let me check where you are against it, and I'll send you the number and the price of the add-on in an email today. Is there a specific system in mind?
- Gemma HoltNothing definite. It might be the production planning side, so we can say to a retailer, we know this line is short because of that. But that's a bigger conversation and honestly I'd need to take it to my boss anyway.
- Amara ObiUnderstood. I'd rather you had the price in your hand when you walk in. No pressure from me. It's a good problem to have, that you're asking.
- Gemma HoltYeah. I never buy anything without running it past him, so it'd be useful to have it written down.
- Amara ObiWritten down, with the usage chart on top of it, so he can see why. Nearly doubled is a nice thing to put in front of someone.
- Gemma HoltIt is, isn't it? Ha.
- Amara ObiOkay, let me do the dull bit quickly, then we can come back to the fun bit. Tickets. You've had two in the last thirty days. Neither was high priority, and both are closed. I looked at the times, and they were answered well inside what you're entitled to. Was there anything about either of them that left a bad taste?
- Gemma HoltNo, none. I think one was me not knowing how to save a question so I could ask it again. And the other was a colleague who couldn't see something. They were both sorted pretty much the same day.
- Amara ObiGood. Honestly, two small ones from a user base that's grown that much is a healthy sign. If you'd had none, I'd be more worried. Silence usually means people have given up.
- Gemma HoltHa, no, we haven't given up. We're the opposite. Right, I'm a bit of a nag.
- Amara ObiNag away. That's what I want. Money side, just so I've said it out loud: nothing overdue, invoices are matching the order form, fifty thousand a year. Does that match what you see?
- Gemma HoltI don't see the invoices, finance does, but nobody's said anything, so I'm assuming fine. If there was a problem I'd have heard about it in about five minutes.
- Amara ObiFair. Yes, from my side it's clean. Which brings me to the thing I always raise, which is the contract. You're in the first term, it runs to 4 Jan 2027, and the renewal falls on 5 Jan 2027. That sounds a long way off, but the notice period is ninety days, so I'd like us to start talking properly in the autumn. Not to sell you anything, just so nobody is surprised.
- Gemma HoltOkay. Yeah, no, I'd rather that. Last year's... well, before the brain, we had a supplier contract that rolled over without anyone noticing, and it was a mess.
- Amara ObiThen we won't do that to you. What I'd suggest is we get the next review in the diary now, and I'll put a reminder in for the renewal conversation well ahead of the notice date. And, if customer service is on by then, you'll have a really good story for the renewal, which will make it easy.
- Gemma HoltYes, please. Let's get it in the diary. What do you need from me?
- Amara ObiNothing except a window. Late summer, I'd say, but you tell me when the retailer reviews are heaviest and I'll stay out of the way of them.
- Gemma HoltOh, they're heaviest in the run-up to the autumn ranges, so avoid September, if you can. Early July might be better, or the back end of August.
- Amara ObiRight, I'll aim for early July and send you something. Let's get the next QBR in the diary, and I'll copy Lewis in so he knows.
- Gemma HoltPerfect. Oh, one more thing while I think of it. For the new account managers. Is there anything like a short walkthrough? Because I've been doing it myself and it's eating my afternoons.
- Amara ObiThere is. I can run a short session for them, thirty minutes, on how to ask good questions about a retailer, how to save the ones you use all the time. It's the thing that fixed your first ticket, in fact. Would you want me to do customer service at the same time, once they're on?
- Gemma HoltYes. Yes. Do both. That'd save me loads. Can I be in the room though? I don't want them hearing it from a stranger.
- Amara ObiOf course. You're the one they trust. I'll just be the person pressing the buttons.
- Gemma HoltHa, deal.
- Amara ObiCan I ask something a bit different? You said you want people asking it without coming to you. Who worries you? Who's the person you think will never use it?
- Gemma HoltOoh. Honestly? The people who've been here the longest. There's a couple of senior account managers who've got it all in their heads and a notebook. They're brilliant, but they don't trust a system. I think if one of them saw it answer something they didn't know, that'd change it.
- Amara ObiThen that's your next win. Don't try to convert them in a meeting. Wait for a question they can't answer, and then ask the brain in front of them.
- Gemma HoltSneaky. I like it.
- Amara ObiWorks every time. Right, let me read back what I've got, because I don't want to lose any of it. You'll send me a one-pager on what customer service should and shouldn't see, with names, by the end of the week. I'll check your connector headroom and email you the price for extra connectors today, with the usage chart. I'll book a short walkthrough for the newer account managers and customer service together, with you in the room. And I'll put the next QBR in for early July.
- Gemma HoltThat's it. That's everything. You're very organised.
- Amara ObiIt's the only way I stay sane. Anything else on your side? Anything bothering you that you've not said?
- Gemma HoltNo, honestly. I'd tell you. I'm not one for hiding things. If something broke, you'd hear it from me the same day, probably in capital letters.
- Amara ObiI believe you. Okay. Then I'll let you get back to your afternoon. Thanks for the story, Gemma, I'll make sure it gets round the team.
- Gemma HoltThanks, Amara. Speak soon. Cheers!
- Amara ObiBye for now. Best, Amara.
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