Ambrose Kell Associates / BG-Demo – Discovery
Callcompleted
Ambrose Kell Associates · 5 Jul 2023 14:15
Discovery call on 5 Jul 2023. Emma Illingworth and Priti Priestley described client, project and billing data scattered across systems. Nell Ashcombe pitched Starter and agreed a demo on their own data in mid-August.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Discovery call on 5 Jul 2023. Emma Illingworth and Priti Priestley described client, project and billing data scattered across systems. Nell Ashcombe pitched Starter and agreed a demo on their own data in mid-August.
What happened: Nell ran discovery with Emma, Head of Client Services, and Priti, Finance Director. Both described slow answers because data sits in separate systems.
Customer view: Emma cannot answer client questions quickly. Priti said billing queries mean going through three systems, and she asked about cost, retraining and what happens if they change their mind.
Commercial: Nell positioned Starter, with four connectors and four weeks to set up. He quoted in the region of twenty-five thousand pounds all-in for year one, with the implementation not recurring.
Watch: the figure was a verbal estimate, not a proposal. Priti's question about changing their mind suggests she will want a clear value case.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Nell Ashcombe to send dates for a demo on Ambrose Kell's own data in mid-August.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The all-in first-year figure was only a verbal estimate, and Priti asked what happens if they change their mind.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Starter with its four connectors covers the Salesforce, helpdesk, project tool and email systems they named.
Transcript
Nell AshcombeThanks for making time, Emma and Priti. What do you both need to leave this call with?
Emma IllingworthWell, we've been thinking about how our consultants work. They're juggling clients, project data, notes, timesheets, all in different places. And when a client rings, we often can't answer a question quickly because the information's scattered.
Priti PriestleyFrom finance perspective, the same issue. Billing queries come in and we're going through three systems to pull the right data. It's slow and it's error-prone.- Nell AshcombeOkay, so you're looking for a single view of the client and the project, and the finance side of it. Are you using Salesforce, or something else for CRM?
- Emma IllingworthSalesforce, yeah. We also use the helpdesk for client communication, email's scattered, and there's a project tool where timesheets sit.
- Nell AshcombeRight. So if we could pull all that together: client record, projects, timesheets, finance, email: and let you ask a question about any of it, would that solve it?
- Priti PriestleyThat sounds like what we need, yeah. How would it work?
- Nell AshcombeWe build a layer on top of your data that sits inside your own systems. You ask it questions: in words, not SQL, and it pulls the answer from wherever the data lives. Takes a few weeks to set up, and you keep complete control of your data.
- Emma IllingworthHow many systems could you connect?
- Nell AshcombeDepends on the tier. We have Starter, which supports four connectors, Salesforce, the helpdesk, project tool, email. That would cover what you've described.
- Priti PriestleyAnd cost-wise?
- Nell AshcombeStarter is implementation and setup, then a year's subscription. I'd need to walk through your setup, but we're talking in the region of twenty-five thousand all-in for the first year. Could be less depending on how much customisation you need.
- Emma IllingworthOkay. And after the first year?
- Nell AshcombeYou renew the subscription. The implementation is one-time. So it's less after year one.
- Priti PriestleyWho would actually use this? Would we need to retrain people?
- Nell AshcombeIt's just asking questions, so the people who need answers: consultants, finance, operations, they'd use it. It's much faster than what you're doing now. No technical background needed.
- Emma IllingworthHow long would it take to set up?
- Nell AshcombeFour weeks for Starter. We'd connect the systems, make sure the data's right, train your team.
- Priti PriestleyAnd what if we get started and then change our mind?
- Nell AshcombeYour data stays in your Snowflake account, so you control it. If you stop using us, the data's still yours. But honestly, most people find it becomes essential pretty quickly.
- Emma IllingworthOkay. So what's the next step?
- Nell AshcombeI'd like to come back and do a short demo on your actual data: client records, projects, the lot. Then you can see what it looks like in practice. Would mid-August work?
- Priti PriestleyYeah, that'd be good.
- Nell AshcombeGreat. I'll send some dates. Cheers, both.