Merriott Lyle Distribution / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Merriott Lyle Distribution · 29 Apr 2026 13:15
Deepa Chauhan wants more branch managers asking the brain. Active use is level at just under sixty of two hundred seats. Support is quiet, invoices are paid, and the renewal is due at the end of February next year.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Deepa Chauhan wants more branch managers asking the brain. Active use is level at just under sixty of two hundred seats. Support is quiet, invoices are paid, and the renewal is due at the end of February next year.
What happened: Deepa attended alone and said her one need was to get more branch managers asking the brain rather than ringing head office. Daniel Okafor reported just under sixty daily active people, essentially level on the previous quarter.
Customer view: Deepa wondered whether a quiet support queue means people have given up. She asked directly whether they should pay for fewer seats.
Commercial: Daniel said the order form and invoiced annual figure agree at £128k a year, with invoices paid. He wants Malcolm brought in early ahead of the renewal at the end of February next year, with a value case.
Watch: A large share of questions comes from a small group, which is a key-person dependence. A regional director who asks a lot is changing patch later in the year.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Branch adoption and renewal
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Daniel Okafor to send credit control date options in the first half of next month.
- Daniel Okafor to come back by the end of next week on a saved view of likely duplicate accounts.
- Deepa Chauhan to send a short list of pilot branches and bring Malcolm into the renewal picture.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Active use is level at just under sixty of two hundred seats, so the seat count may be questioned at renewal.
- A large share of questions comes from a small group of key-account managers.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A small pilot of the stop-on-account question with a handful of branches could widen adoption among branch managers.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello, Deepa, good afternoon. Can you hear me all right?
Deepa ChauhanI can, yes. Afternoon, Daniel. Sorry, I've just come out of another meeting, give me one second to find the right window.- Daniel OkaforNo rush at all. Thank you for making the time. I think it's just the two of us today, so I'll assume nobody else is lurking.
- Deepa ChauhanJust us. Colleagues in credit control wanted to join but it's month-end for them, so you've got me on my own. Which, to be fair, is usually how it works out.
- Daniel OkaforHa, understood. How's the week been? Last time we spoke you were in the middle of the regional directors' sessions.
- Deepa ChauhanOh, that finished. Mm. Those were long days. Lots of people with strong views about whose account is whose. But it's calmer now, and it's raining in Birmingham, which suits my mood quite well.
- Daniel OkaforSunny here for about ten minutes this morning, and then it gave up. So, just to set the shape of this, it's a check-in, not a presentation. I'd like to hear how the team is finding it, look at where usage has got to, and make sure we're not storing up anything for later. Does that sit right with you?
- Deepa ChauhanIt does. Though I'll tell you the one thing I need from the call, so I don't forget. I need a clearer answer on how we get more branch managers actually asking the brain, rather than ringing head office. Everything else is secondary to that.
- Daniel OkaforThat's helpful, and it fits with what I was going to bring anyway. Let me put the numbers on the table first and then we can come back to it. Is that all right?
- Deepa ChauhanGo on.
- Daniel OkaforSo you're on Enterprise, with two hundred licensed users. Over the last thirty days the average number of people active on a given day has been just under sixty. And when I compare that with the previous quarter, it's essentially level. No jump up, no slip down.
- Deepa ChauhanRight. Level. Which I suppose is better than falling, but it's not the direction I was hoping for.
- Daniel OkaforI understand that. I'd read it as a stable core and a lot of headroom. The people using it are using it consistently, but there are well over a hundred seats that aren't showing up on a normal day.
- Deepa ChauhanShow me where that number comes from, though. Is that people logging in, or people asking questions? Because I know the key-account managers are in there every day, and I'd say that's more than a handful.
- Daniel OkaforFair challenge. It's people who did something in the product that day, so opening a page, asking a question, running a search. It's counted from the product's own activity, not from a login. And the key-account managers are a good share of that sixty, you're right.
- Deepa ChauhanOkay. Then it's the branches. It's always the branches. They have about a hundred and twenty sites between them, and I'd guess a fraction of the managers have asked the brain a single thing.
- Daniel OkaforThat would match what I see. And I don't think it's a product problem. When you set it up, the story was one view of each trade account, with orders, disputes, calls and invoices together. The key-account and credit-control people got that value first because they live in it. The branch managers have a different job and a different rhythm.
- Deepa ChauhanYes. They run a counter, and a yard, and a van schedule. They don't sit and explore. If it isn't in front of them at the moment they need it, it doesn't happen.
- Daniel OkaforExactly that. So what tends to work, from other customers who've had the same shape, is not a general training day. It's picking one question a branch manager already has, and making the brain the quickest way to get that answered.
- Deepa ChauhanSuch as?
- Daniel OkaforYou tell me, you know them far better than I do. What's the question a branch manager asks head office most often?
- Deepa ChauhanHm. Honestly, it's whether a customer is on stop. Someone turns up at the counter, wants to put a load on account, and the manager doesn't know whether credit control have put a hold on. So they phone. Then someone phones back. Then the customer's already walking.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a very good one. It's concrete, it's time-sensitive and it involves two teams, which is exactly where one shared view earns its keep. And it's a question the brain can already answer if the credit-control information is flowing into it as it should.
- Deepa ChauhanIt is flowing. At least I believe it is. This is partly why I wanted credit control on today, to be honest. Let's get credit control in the room, properly, next time. Not just me relaying.
- Daniel OkaforI'd welcome that. Just to close the loop on it, I'll find a slot that avoids their month-end and send you a couple of options. Would that be useful?
- Deepa ChauhanPlease. Anything in the first half of the month is better for them.
- Daniel OkaforNoted. First half of the month.
- Deepa ChauhanCan I raise something else while we're on credit control? The thing that keeps coming up in the monthly account-data review. Which account, which branch? Because we still get customers appearing more than once. Trade accounts with similar names, one trading name and a registered name, that sort of thing. And someone looks at the wrong one.
- Daniel OkaforYes, I remember you mentioning it. Can you say a bit more about what you're seeing? Is it duplicates in the source systems, or is it something the brain is doing when it joins them up?
- Deepa ChauhanMostly the source. The CRM has the same business entered by two different branches, slightly differently. The brain just shows both, faithfully. Which is fair enough, I suppose. I'd rather it was honest than clever.
- Daniel OkaforI think that's the right instinct. If the brain quietly merged things on its own guess, you'd have a different and worse problem, because you wouldn't know what it had decided. What it can do is surface the likely pairs, so the people who own the data can decide.
- Deepa ChauhanAnd that's the bit I'd want to bring to the review. A list of likely duplicates, ranked, so the regional directors can't say it's rumour. Show me the list and show me where it came from.
- Daniel OkaforI can help you build that as a saved view. I'd want to be careful about what I promise on a scheduled report, so let me check exactly how it's best set up for your configuration, and I'll come back to you by the end of next week. Is that fair?
- Deepa ChauhanThat's fair. I don't want to tell the regions something is coming and then have it not exist. I've done that once and I'm not doing it again.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. Then we only tell them what's real. A saved view you can show them today is real. Anything beyond that, we say when it's actually there.
- Deepa ChauhanGood. Right. What else did you want to cover? I've taken the first twenty minutes with my own agenda.
- Daniel OkaforNot at all, it's more useful this way. A few things from my side. Support first. In the last thirty days there were two tickets from your team, and nothing marked high priority. Does that match how it's felt on your side?
- Deepa ChauhanYes, I think so. It's been quiet. I'd have said something if it hadn't. Though, to be honest, I sometimes wonder if quiet is because people have given up, rather than because things are fine.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a thoughtful thing to say, and I'd rather you said it. With a level number of active users, I wouldn't want to read quiet as good by itself. It could be a settled team. It could be a team that has stopped expecting much. That's one reason I'd like to get the branch managers in.
- Deepa ChauhanMm. Agreed.
- Daniel OkaforOn the commercial side, nothing unusual. Your invoices are all paid, nothing overdue. And the annual figure on the order form and what we've invoiced agree, at one hundred and twenty-seven thousand five hundred pounds a year.
- Deepa ChauhanYes, that's what I have. I don't deal with the money directly, Malcolm handles that side, but I haven't heard any noise from finance, so I'll take that as agreement.
- Daniel OkaforGood. And I'd rather it came from Malcolm than from me anyway, so that's the right place for it. I'll make sure that when we get nearer the renewal, which is the end of February next year, he's brought in properly and early. Nobody should be surprised.
- Deepa ChauhanI appreciate that. He doesn't like surprises and, to be frank, nor do I.
- Daniel OkaforOf course. We're a good way off, but it's the sort of thing worth saying out loud early. And what I'd want to be able to show him by then is a clear account of what the brain has been worth to you. That's much easier if the branch managers are part of the picture.
- Deepa ChauhanSo it's the same point again. Value is people asking questions.
- Daniel OkaforIt is, I'm afraid, I keep coming back to it. The best single measure I have is how many questions are asked and by whom. And what I'd gently flag is that a large share of the questions come from a small group. That's lovely for them, but it's a dependence.
- Deepa ChauhanMeaning if two of the key-account managers left, the numbers would look very different.
- Daniel OkaforThat's precisely it. Not a worry today, but it's the kind of thing I'd want to have spread out before it matters.
- Deepa ChauhanOkay. Then let's be practical. If I wanted to start with the stop-on-account question, what would it take? Who needs to do what? Give me three things.
- Daniel OkaforThree things, all right. One: we agree the exact question and the wording a branch manager would naturally use, so it works the way they'd type it or say it. Two: we choose a small group of branches to try it, maybe a handful, a mix of busy and quiet, from different regions. Three: someone on your side, probably you, tells those managers what it's for and who to come to if it gives a strange answer.
- Deepa ChauhanAnd someone on yours?
- Daniel OkaforMe. I'd check what they ask over the first few weeks and tell you honestly what's working and what isn't. If it's getting asked and answered, we widen it. If it isn't, we find out why before we spend anyone else's time.
- Deepa ChauhanI like that. Small, then wider. Not a big launch email that everyone ignores.
- Daniel OkaforExactly. A big launch email is how you get a spike for a week and then a flat line.
- Deepa ChauhanHa. I have sent that email. More than once.
- Daniel OkaforWe've all sent that email. Right, there's one more thing I wanted to ask, which is about the people. Is your own team stable? Is anyone moving on, or taking on new responsibilities, that I should know about, so I can make sure the right people are on the account?
- Deepa ChauhanStable, I think. Nothing I'm aware of. One of the regional directors is changing patch later in the year, but I wouldn't call that a departure. It's just a different set of branches.
- Daniel OkaforThat's useful. If they're someone who's been a regular user, it might be worth a short conversation so they carry the habit across to the new patch.
- Deepa ChauhanGood thought. I'll mention it. Actually, she is one of the people who asks a lot. So yes, that's worth doing.
- Daniel OkaforThen she could be a good voice for the branch managers, too. Someone who can say, I use this and here's what I get out of it. That tends to land better than anything I could say.
- Deepa ChauhanYes. The regions listen to each other far more than they listen to us. Right. Let me think about who the first handful of branches should be, and I'll send you a short list.
- Daniel OkaforThat would be ideal. And I wouldn't over-think it. A mix is more important than a perfect set.
- Deepa ChauhanUnderstood. One more question, if I may, and it's a bit sideways. The two hundred seats we have. Is there any reason to think we should be paying for fewer? I'm not asking to cut anything, I just want to know whether we're being sensible.
- Daniel OkaforI'm glad you asked it straight. My honest view is that I'd rather fill the seats than shrink them. You bought Enterprise so the branch, key-account and credit-control teams could share one view, and the two hundred is sized for that. The gap between two hundred and just under sixty is adoption, not over-purchase. But that's exactly the argument I'd want to be able to make with evidence when the time comes, which is another reason for the branch work.
- Deepa ChauhanFair. I'd rather you were direct about it. Thank you.
- Daniel OkaforAlways. Is there anything about the connectors or the nightly refresh that's bothering anyone? I haven't seen anything flagged, but you'd know better than the dashboard.
- Deepa ChauhanNo. People have said the figures are there in the morning when they expect them. That's been reliable, and it matters. If it were late once a week, the branches would stop trusting it, and I'd never get them back.
- Daniel OkaforI completely agree. Trust is the thing. It takes months to build and one bad morning to dent. If you ever notice a figure that looks stale, tell me straight away, even if it's only a feeling, and I'll look at it before it becomes a conversation in the regions.
- Deepa ChauhanI will. I'd rather bother you than be embarrassed in front of a regional director.
- Daniel OkaforYou wouldn't be bothering me. Right, shall I recap what I have, so we both leave with the same list?
- Deepa ChauhanPlease. I'll probably forget half of it otherwise.
- Daniel OkaforSo from me: first, a few date options with credit control, in the first half of next month, avoiding month-end. Second, I'll come back to you by the end of next week on a saved view of likely duplicate accounts, and tell you honestly how it's best set up. Third, a short note on how we could start the stop-on-account question with a handful of branches, so you can react to something on paper.
- Deepa ChauhanAnd from me, the list of branches, and a word with the regional director who's changing patch. And I'll bring Malcolm into the picture, gently, so he's not hearing the renewal word for the first time from a calendar invite.
- Daniel OkaforPerfect. That's a good list. I don't think we've dropped anything.
- Deepa ChauhanI don't think so. Oh, wait. One last thing, and it's a small one. Lewis. Is he still the person I'd go to if I had a commercial question?
- Daniel OkaforYes, Lewis Kerr is the account owner on the commercial side, and I'm your customer success contact. For anything about how it's used, come to me. For terms and anything contractual, Lewis, and I'm always happy to be copied so nothing falls between us.
- Deepa ChauhanGood. That's clear. Thank you.
- Daniel OkaforThen thank you, Deepa. I know the first half of the afternoon was already full. It's really helpful to hear it in your words, rather than reading it off a chart.
- Deepa ChauhanLikewise. It's easier to push things forward when I've said them out loud to someone. Right, I'd better go and look at some branch names. Speak soon.
- Daniel OkaforSpeak soon. Best wishes, and enjoy what's left of the rain.
- Deepa ChauhanHa, I'll try. Thanks, Daniel. Bye now.
- Daniel OkaforBye, Deepa.
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