What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Active users fell by roughly a fifth on the previous quarter. Dana Whitaker's finance team is questioning forty seats and she asked what options exist on seat numbers, ahead of the 2 Feb 2027 renewal.
What happened: Elena Novak opened with usage, which averaged about six active people a day, down roughly a fifth on the previous quarter. Dana Whitaker put it down to people pulled onto other work, August leave and her own lapse in nudging.
Customer view: Dana's finance team has started asking about the value of forty seats. She asked whether seats could come down, and said she wanted options, not to make a request.
Commercial: Jordan Pike owns commercial terms and Elena will brief him. Questions asked also lean heavily on Dana, which is a key-person risk.
Watch: Only one how-to ticket was raised and no product frustration was reported. The renewal is on 2 Feb 2027, so there is time to show more people asking more questions.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Elena Novak to send Dana the list of licensed users and recent activity privately after the call.
- Elena Novak to brief Jordan Pike that Dana asked about seat options, and ask him to contact her.
- Elena Novak to propose morning refresher times, with a follow-up call in a few weeks.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Finance is comparing forty licensed seats with about six daily users, which could lead to a seat reduction at renewal.
- Value depends heavily on Dana Whitaker, a key-person risk.
- Habit is the problem: the brain is not yet part of the regional managers' daily routine.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A thirty-minute refresher for the regional managers using questions from their own buildings.
- Weekly set questions per team to build a habit and widen the number of people asking.
- A usage list sent privately to Dana lets her right-size access and show finance a clear plan.
Transcript
- Elena NovakHello Dana. Can you hear me?
- Dana WhitakerHi Elena. Sorry, I'm just coming out of another meeting. Give me one minute to get my headphones. Okay. Yes, I can hear you.
- Elena NovakNot a problem at all. Good afternoon from Amsterdam. I imagine you are still in the middle of your morning.
- Dana WhitakerHalf past ten and it already feels like a long day. I'm good though, I'm good.
- Elena NovakThank you for making time. As I wrote in the agenda, there are three items. One, how usage has moved over the last few weeks. Two, the one ticket you raised with us. Three, what we agree to do together before your renewal. I will make sure that we close with written actions, as last time.
- Dana WhitakerRight, yes. I saw. Okay. I'll be honest, I had a feeling this call was going to be about the usage thing.
- Elena NovakBefore that, to confirm the actions from last time: I sent the written summary and the short how-to for your two regional managers. Did they arrive?
- Dana WhitakerThey did. Thanks. Honestly I forwarded the how-to and I don't know whether anybody opened it. Which, I guess, is kind of the theme.
- Elena NovakThat is useful to know. Then let us begin with usage, and not leave it to the end. To confirm, you are on Growth, with forty licensed users. Over the last thirty days the average number of people active on a given day was about six. Compared with the previous quarter, that is down by roughly a fifth.
- Dana WhitakerMm. Yeah. That's what I thought. It felt quieter.
- Elena NovakPlease do not take this as criticism. It is simply the trend I would like us to understand. It was going the other way when we spoke three weeks ago, and I would like to know what changed.
- Dana WhitakerI know. It was up, and I was pleased, and now I'm, I don't know, I'm a bit annoyed with myself, honestly.
- Elena NovakPlease, there is no need. Can you help me understand what you are seeing on your side? Not the numbers, but the people.
- Dana WhitakerSo. A couple of the property managers who were using it the most got pulled onto other work for a while. Some inspections, a lot of lease paperwork. And a couple of others have been off, it's August, people take vacation. But then I also think I stopped nudging. I did the thing I told you I'd do, I told them to ask the brain, and then I got busy and didn't check.
- Elena NovakThat is very honest, thank you. May I ask, are those who were pulled onto other work expected to come back to it?
- Dana WhitakerI think so. I mean, I hope so. I can't promise. It depends how the quarter goes.
- Elena NovakUnderstood. So, to separate the causes, it may be partly seasonal, partly people's time, and partly habit. Is that fair?
- Dana WhitakerThat's fair. Yeah. Though I don't love that the number's down when I've got to go and justify the thing.
- Elena NovakWhich brings me to something I would like to be careful about. Has someone asked you to justify it?
- Dana WhitakerOur finance team has started asking, nothing formal. They look at the licence count, forty seats, and they see six or so people. They do the maths. It's £50k a year, so they notice.
- Elena NovakThat is reasonable of them, and I would rather we face it now than in the new year. May I explain how I read it?
- Dana WhitakerPlease.
- Elena NovakForty licences is what the Growth plan includes, and you have headroom, so low use is not about a limit. The more important measure is the questions asked, and who asks them. Let me share my screen. Can you see it?
- Dana WhitakerOne sec. Okay, yes.
- Elena NovakQuestions asked have dipped as the number of people has, which is what I would expect. The thing to look at is how many different people are asking, and how much of it comes from one or two.
- Dana WhitakerSo it's me again.
- Elena NovakPartly, yes, and I say that kindly. It is the same point we discussed before. If most of the value depends on one person, it is fragile.
- Dana WhitakerYeah. I know. Okay. So what do we do about it?
- Elena NovakI would suggest three things. One, a short refresher session for the regional managers, thirty minutes, with real questions from their own buildings, not a generic demo. Two, I send you a list of who has licences and has not logged in recently, so that you can decide who still needs access. Three, we choose two or three questions for each team that they ask every week, so that it becomes a habit.
- Dana WhitakerI like the first one. The second one scares me a bit. If I see forty names and most of them haven't logged in, that's a bad look.
- Elena NovakIt is a bad look only if we do nothing with it. And I would not send it to anyone but you. To confirm, you decide what to do with it.
- Dana WhitakerOkay. Fine. Send it to me.
- Elena NovakNow the second item, the ticket. To confirm, you raised one in the last thirty days, a how-to question, and nothing urgent. It was answered and closed. Was it resolved to your satisfaction?
- Dana WhitakerYeah, that was one of the managers, just how to do something. She got her answer, no issue.
- Elena NovakGood. One ticket and nothing urgent is healthy. It does at least tell me that someone is trying things.
- Dana WhitakerRight. Small comfort.
- Elena NovakPerhaps a little more than that. Now the third item, the renewal. Your contract runs to 1 Feb 2027 and the renewal date is 2 Feb 2027. I do not wish to alarm you, but it is better that we use the months in between. Jordan Pike is the account owner on our side, and he will want to hear this from me.
- Dana WhitakerShould I be worried about the renewal?
- Elena NovakI would say you should be attentive, not worried. Nothing is wrong with the service and you have raised nothing urgent. What matters is whether, by the time your finance team looks at this, you can show that more people are asking more questions. That is what I would like us to work on together.
- Dana WhitakerAnd if it doesn't go up? Hypothetically. Could we bring the number of seats down?
- Elena NovakThat is a commercial question, and I would not like to answer it from memory. It sits with Jordan, as he owns the commercial terms. I will make sure that he contacts you, and I will tell him that you asked, so that he is not surprised.
- Dana WhitakerOkay. No, that's fair. I'm not saying that's what I want, I just wanted to know what the options look like.
- Elena NovakOf course. I will write that down exactly as you said it, that you are asking about options and not making a request.
- Dana WhitakerThanks. I appreciate that.
- Elena NovakBefore we close, is there anything about the brain itself that has frustrated people? Anything that made them stop using it?
- Dana WhitakerNot that I've heard. It's more that it's not in their day yet. They've got their routine and the brain isn't part of it. Which is on me. Which I said already. And the accounting thing I mentioned last time has gone quiet too, their lead's been swamped. I haven't forgotten.
- Elena NovakThere is no pressure on that. Let us leave it until usage is steadier. I will keep the note open. Then it is something we can fix with habit rather than with product. Shall I read back the actions?
- Dana WhitakerGo on.
- Elena NovakOne. I send you the list of licensed users and recent activity, privately, after this call. Two. I propose a short refresher session for the regional managers, and you tell me which of them should be there. Three. We agree a small set of weekly questions for each team. Four. I tell Jordan that you have asked about options for the seats, and ask him to contact you. Five. I send a written summary of today. And for you, six, you consider with your finance team what they would want to see before the renewal. I will not suggest dates for their work, as you would know best.
- Dana WhitakerThat all sounds reasonable. Can the refresher be in the morning, my time? Afternoons are chaos.
- Elena NovakI will note that. I will propose times in the morning your time, and the managers can choose. I suggest a short call again in a few weeks, to see whether the numbers have moved. Would that suit you?
- Dana WhitakerYeah, that's good. Hold me to it. Elena, thanks. I'd rather hear it straight, so thank you.
- Elena NovakYou are welcome, Dana. It is better to hear it now. I will write today.
- Dana WhitakerOkay. Speak soon.
- Elena NovakSpeak soon. Goodbye.