Merriott Lyle Distribution / BG-Demo – Negotiation
Callcompleted
Merriott Lyle Distribution · 30 Jan 2025 16:15
Negotiation call with the CFO, Procurement and Credit Control on Enterprise at £146k total deal value. Quarterly billing agreed in principle; Credit Control wants a reconciliation acceptance step before sign-off.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Negotiation call with the CFO, Procurement and Credit Control on Enterprise at £146k total deal value. Quarterly billing agreed in principle; Credit Control wants a reconciliation acceptance step before sign-off.
What happened: Lewis Kerr and Owen Tallis took Malcolm Ridgway, Fiona Marsden and Bernadette Lowry through payment, renewal pricing, connectors, service credits and rollout. The £146k was again stated as the total deal value, not a yearly price.
Customer view: Bernadette is sceptical and wants the brain reconciled against her ledger before any branch is switched on. Malcolm said he will not sign over her.
Commercial: Owen agreed quarterly billing at no change to the subscription, with no further concession on top. Concessions apply to the first term only, and renewal is at list price for the tier.
Watch: Several wording items are still owed, including the acceptance clause, the service credit percentage and the executive sponsor's name. Some depots may open before the 07:00 refresh, which Bernadette is checking.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Enterprise order form negotiation
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Lewis Kerr to send the order form with split lines, VAT, quarterly wording and renewal note the same day, and the acceptance wording to Bernadette the next day.
- Fiona Marsden to return comments on the MSA and order form by the middle of the following week, and introduce her IT colleague by Friday.
- Bernadette Lowry to supply the debtor days baseline by the end of the following week.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Bernadette Lowry has not yet agreed the acceptance wording, and Malcolm Ridgway will not sign without her comfort.
- Some depots may start before the nightly refresh completes at 07:00, which would undercut the data freshness promise.
- The 14 Feb 2025 signature date depends on legal comments, the IT introduction and named contacts arriving in time.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A value case built on the debtor days baseline from the customer's ledger gives Malcolm the return measure he asked for.
- Rollout in waves across a large branch estate, starting with credit control and key accounts, gives a staged path to full use.
Transcript
Lewis KerrAfternoon, everyone. Can you all hear me alright? I've got Owen with me today, he's just joining.
Malcolm RidgwayI can hear you. Afternoon.
Fiona MarsdenYes, fine here. Bernadette's still in the call before this one. She said to start without her and she'll drop in when she can.
Owen TallisAfternoon, both. Sorry, I'm coming off a pipeline review that ran long. Don't let me hold you up.- Malcolm RidgwayWhat has changed since the last one?
- Lewis KerrFair question, Malcolm, and I'll keep it short. We took your points back to our side, and Owen's here because the commercial terms need a senior name on them. What you're looking at is Enterprise, for the branch teams, key accounts and credit control together. The figure on the table is £146,500, implementation included. To put a number on it, that's the total value of the deal, not a yearly price, and I want to say that at the start so nobody reads it the wrong way.
- Malcolm RidgwaySo the one forty-six five is the whole thing.
- Lewis KerrThe whole first-year outlay, yes. Subscription and the one-off implementation fee together. The order form will show the two separately, so you can see what recurs and what doesn't.
- Malcolm RidgwayPut it in writing. Both lines, with the base for anything that's a percentage.
- Lewis KerrI'll send that over today. And all prices I quote are exclusive of VAT, so I'll write the VAT position against each line as well.
- Owen TallisIf I can add one thing. Malcolm, where we are against the date is simple. We've been working to Friday 14 February 2025 for signature. Is that still the date on your side?
- Malcolm RidgwayIt's the date I gave my board. I'd like to hold to it. I'm not going to promise it until I've read the schedule.
- Owen TallisUnderstood. That's the right way round.
- Fiona MarsdenFrom my side, I've been through the draft order form and the MSA. I've got a short list of questions. Do you want them now or once Bernadette is here?
- Lewis KerrWhatever suits you. Why don't we take the commercial ones first, and keep the credit control questions for when she's on.
- Fiona MarsdenFine. First one is payment. Our standard is thirty days from invoice. Your draft says annual in advance. Is that fixed, or is there any give?
- Lewis KerrThirty days from invoice is our standard too, so that part matches. Annual in advance is the default. Quarterly is available on request, and I think it's reasonable to ask. Owen?
- Owen TallisQuarterly is fine. I'd want it written into the order form so it's not a side conversation. What I won't do is quarterly and a further concession on top. Let's not discount twice.
- Malcolm RidgwayAnd the cost of quarterly is?
- Owen TallisNothing on the subscription itself. It's a billing frequency, not a different price. The implementation fee is a one-off and invoiced on its own terms, and the order form will say when.
- Malcolm RidgwaySay it in the form, then. When.
- Lewis KerrNoted. I'll put the invoice triggers against each line so Fiona can check them.
- Fiona MarsdenSorry, just finding my notes. Right. Second one. Year two. What happens to the price at renewal? Our board will ask.
- Owen TallisGood one to ask now. Anything we concede in this deal applies to the first term only. At renewal you'd see the list price for the tier you're on at that point. Nothing hidden, but nothing carried over either. Your customer success manager, Daniel Okafor, will open that conversation about ninety days before the end of the term, so you'd never be surprised by it.
- Malcolm RidgwayNinety days. Is that in the contract or is that a habit?
- Lewis KerrI won't quote that from memory. Let me check the wording on the form and confirm it in the email today. I'd rather give you the clause than my recollection.
- Malcolm RidgwayGood. That's the answer I wanted.
Bernadette LowryHello, sorry. Bernadette. I've just got out of a call about an account that's been on stop since Monday. Are you in the middle of something?- Lewis KerrHello, Bernadette. We've done payment terms and year-two pricing. We're about to move to what you need to see from the product. Glad you're here.
- Bernadette LowryGood. Because I'll be straight. I've sat through a lot of demos where a dashboard says an account is fine and the ledger says otherwise. Who changed that? Where did it come from? I need to know that before I put my name to this.
- Lewis KerrThat's a fair worry, and it's the right one. The brain doesn't replace your ledger. It reads from it. It's built and run inside your own Snowflake account, so the data stays with you, and when it answers a question it shows where the answer came from.
- Bernadette LowryShows me where. Not just says it's from the ledger.
- Lewis KerrRight. The source record, the system it came from and when it was last refreshed. If the ledger and the brain disagree, the answer should point you to the ledger entry, not ask you to trust it.
- Bernadette LowryAnd when a customer disputes an invoice? Because those are the ones that age. If somebody in a branch asks the brain about that trade account, do they see the dispute or do they see a tidy balance?
- Lewis KerrThey should see the dispute alongside the orders, calls and invoices for that account. That's the reason you're buying the tier you're looking at. The branch, the key-account manager and your team are looking at one picture rather than three.
- Bernadette LowryShould. I'll believe it when it reconciles.
- Owen TallisCan I suggest something concrete, Bernadette? Make it a condition. During implementation, you pick a sample of trade accounts, including some with disputes and some on stop, and we reconcile what the brain says against your statements. If it doesn't tie, it's not accepted. That goes into the order form as an acceptance step.
- Bernadette LowryWho picks the sample?
- Owen TallisYou do. We don't choose the accounts we'll be tested on.
- Bernadette LowryThen I'd want my team to pick it, not sales. And I'd want it done before any branch is switched on.
- Lewis KerrAgreed on both. Credit control picks the sample, and the reconciliation sits before the branch rollout. I'll draft the wording.
- Malcolm RidgwayBernadette, is that enough for you to sign off on?
- Bernadette LowryIt's a start. I want to see the wording before I say yes. And I'm not going to discuss any particular account's credit position on an email thread, so if there's detail, it comes on a call.
- Lewis KerrThat's fine. We'll keep anything account-specific off email.
- Fiona MarsdenCan I come back to the order form for a moment? There's a section on connectors. We've listed the systems we want connected, and I see there's a commitment on how quickly each one goes live. Is that binding?
- Lewis KerrIt is. Each connector promised in the order form carries a live-within commitment, with a number of days against it. I'll point you to the exact line rather than read it from memory, hold on, let me bring up the draft.
- Fiona MarsdenTake your time.
- Lewis KerrRight. Got it. So each connector is a separate line, each with its own live-within period, and they're measured from the start of implementation. If one slips because a system on your side isn't ready, that's treated differently from a slip on ours.
- Fiona MarsdenHow is that decided? Who says whose fault it is?
- Owen TallisIt's a fair point. The order form should say what we need from you, access and a named contact for each system, and by when. If those are met and we miss, it's ours. I'd rather that's explicit than argued later.
- Fiona MarsdenI'd want that written down. A named contact per system on our side too. I'll have to find those people.
- Malcolm RidgwayFiona, find them this week. If it's only a name, it's quick.
- Fiona MarsdenWill do.
- Malcolm RidgwayLet me ask the question I actually care about. What do I show the board? In a year. What's the return?
- Lewis KerrHonest answer, Malcolm, is it depends on what we agree to measure at the start. I'd rather not hand you a promise I can't support with your own data. What I'd propose is that we pick a small number of measures together, things like the time credit control and branches spend chasing and reconciling a disputed account, and the questions your teams are asking the brain. We set the baseline in implementation and review it at the first quarterly review.
- Malcolm RidgwayYou said quarterly review. Is that in the tier?
- Lewis KerrIt is. And on Enterprise you also get a named executive sponsor on our side, so you'd have someone senior who answers for the relationship.
- Malcolm RidgwayWho is it?
- Owen TallisI'll confirm the name in writing. I don't want to give you a name on a call and have it change. You'll have it in the order pack.
- Malcolm RidgwayGood. I'm not interested in a meeting about features. I want to know what it costs, what it does to debtor days, and who answers if it doesn't.
- Owen TallisUnderstood. And we'll put the debtor days measure in the value case. If it's something you track, that's the cleanest thing to hold us to.
- Malcolm RidgwayIt's something I track. Weekly.
- Bernadette LowryI'll say, I'd want the baseline from the ledger, not from anyone's estimate. We have the debtor days history. I can supply that.
- Lewis KerrThat's exactly what we'd want. The baseline from your ledger, agreed up front, so nobody argues about it in a year.
- Fiona MarsdenRight, while we're on the order form. Service levels. The draft has availability and refresh commitments. If those are missed, what's the remedy?
- Lewis KerrOn Enterprise, service credits apply to availability and to data freshness. The freshness one matters for you, because a brain that was up but answering on stale data would otherwise be a quiet failure. The credit is expressed as a share of a month's fee for each month with a breach. I'll quote the exact percentage from the form in my email rather than from memory.
- Malcolm RidgwayA percentage of what base?
- Lewis KerrOne month's fee, so the subscription divided across the term, not the implementation fee and not the total deal value. I'll show the working in the email so there's no ambiguity.
- Malcolm RidgwayGood. That's the answer to the question I asked.
- Bernadette LowryAnd when's the refresh done? Because my team starts early. If the data isn't in before they start, it's no use to me.
- Lewis KerrThe nightly refresh is complete by seven in the morning your local time on business days. That's the commitment for every tier. If your teams start earlier than that in some branches, tell me and we should look at it, rather than assume.
- Bernadette LowrySome depots open before that. I'll find out which.
- Lewis KerrPlease do. It's a useful thing to know before we sign, not after.
- Fiona MarsdenNext. Security. Our IT team will want to go through your security documentation. On Enterprise I understand that's part of the package.
- Lewis KerrIt is. The Enterprise implementation includes support for your security review, so our team works with your IT through their questions. I'd like that running in parallel with the commercial discussion so it doesn't become the thing that moves the date.
- Fiona MarsdenI'll introduce a colleague in IT this week. Who do they speak to?
- Lewis KerrSend me the introduction and I'll connect them with the right person on our side the same day.
- Owen TallisAnd that's a dated step. Fiona, can we say the introduction goes out by the end of this week?
- Fiona MarsdenYes. By Friday.
- Malcolm RidgwayLet's go back to the money. I want to be sure I've got this. One forty-six five, total, first year, implementation in it. Quarterly billing available, no extra cost. Anything beyond the first term is list price for the tier. Correct?
- Owen TallisCorrect, with one clarification. The implementation fee is one-off, so it's not repeated. The subscription is what renews. At renewal you'd pay the subscription at the list price then in force, and any first-term concession falls away.
- Malcolm RidgwayI'd like that sentence in the cover note. Plain words.
- Lewis KerrI'll write it as plainly as that. You'll have it today.
- Malcolm RidgwayAnd is there anything else I should be afraid of? Any add-ons that appear later?
- Lewis KerrNothing appears that you haven't chosen. Additional users and connectors, extra support hours, on-site training, those are options. They're priced, and they only go on the form if you ask. If your usage pushed you past the included numbers, I'd tell you, but I'm not going to push you into something the usage doesn't support.
- Malcolm RidgwayThat's an unusual thing for a salesman to say.
- Owen TallisIt's how we'd rather do it. A renewal that never surprises anyone is worth more than an add-on you regret.
- Malcolm RidgwayWe'll see.
- Bernadette LowryOne more from me. Rollout. A hundred and twenty branches is not a switch you flick. What's the order? Because if you start with the branches and leave credit control last, I'll have people asking the brain things before I trust it.
- Lewis KerrThat's why I said the reconciliation sits before the branch rollout. I'd suggest credit control and key accounts first, then a small group of branches, then the rest in waves. But the order should be yours. Your team knows which branches are the noisy ones.
- Bernadette LowryThen I'd pick a couple of the difficult ones early. If it works there, it works.
- Lewis KerrThat's a better test than an easy branch, yes. I'll note it for the implementation plan.
- Fiona MarsdenIs the plan something we see before signing, or after?
- Owen TallisBefore. An outline plan goes with the order pack so you're signing against something real. The detailed one follows once you've named your contacts.
- Fiona MarsdenGood. That helps me.
- Owen TallisLet me pull this together, because I don't want to leave without dated steps. What's the next dated step on each? Lewis sends the order form, the cost split, the VAT position and the plain-words cover note today. Fiona, your comments on the MSA and the order form by when?
- Fiona MarsdenI can have them back by the middle of next week. I'll need a day or two with our legal team.
- Owen TallisMiddle of next week is fine. Bernadette, the sample of accounts and the debtor days baseline?
- Bernadette LowryBaseline I can do by the end of next week. The sample, I'll want to see the acceptance wording first.
- Lewis KerrThen the wording goes to you first thing tomorrow, separately from the order form, so it doesn't get buried.
- Bernadette LowryGood. Not on email with account detail in it, though. The wording is fine. The names of accounts stay on a call.
- Lewis KerrUnderstood.
- Owen TallisAnd who signs? Malcolm, is it you, or does it need another signature on your side?
- Malcolm RidgwayIt's me. Once I've read the schedule. And once Bernadette tells me she's comfortable. I won't sign over her.
- Owen TallisThat's clear. So the date we're holding is Friday 14 February 2025. If anything threatens that, I'd rather hear it early than on the day.
- Malcolm RidgwayYou'll hear it early. Same goes for you. If something moves on your side, I want to know.
- Owen TallisAgreed. That cuts both ways.
- Lewis KerrCan I just confirm I've got the list? From me today: the order form with both lines separated, VAT position, the quarterly billing wording, the ninety-day point checked against the form, the service credit percentage with its base, the plain-words renewal note and the executive sponsor's name. Tomorrow: the acceptance wording for Bernadette. Have I missed anything?
- Malcolm RidgwayThe connector commitments, with the named contacts on both sides.
- Lewis KerrYes, thank you. That goes in with the order form.
- Fiona MarsdenThat covers my list. Thanks, both.
- Bernadette LowryI'll read it when it arrives. Then I'll tell you what I think.
- Lewis KerrThat's all I'd ask. Thank you, everyone. I'll send that over today.
- Owen TallisThanks, all. Speak next week.
- Malcolm RidgwayGoodbye.
- Fiona MarsdenBye for now.
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