Delancey Haig / BG-Demo – QBR
Callcompleted
Delancey Haig · 3 Mar 2025 13:45
Saskia Mendes says directors need the brain but only about twelve of forty licences are active. She wants directors asking, not her team. Daniel Okafor ruled out selling more users and offered a dashboard page and a director session.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Saskia Mendes says directors need the brain but only about twelve of forty licences are active. She wants directors asking, not her team. Daniel Okafor ruled out selling more users and offered a dashboard page and a director session.
What happened: Saskia opened with a director who walked into a client review already knowing about a queried contractor invoice. Daniel then showed a mocked-up one-page-per-client dashboard built on Growth.
Customer view: Saskia called twelve of forty active honest but not where she wants it. Her own team likes the brain, while the directors want a page they open on the train.
Commercial: Contract is £42k a year, matches invoices and is paid up to date. Renewal date is 3 Jul 2025, with a written notice to follow, and Daniel said he is not guessing at changes.
Watch: Saskia has no value quote yet for the renewal signer. A Monday-morning thinness remark is unconfirmed, and dashboard permissions are a stated condition.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Adoption and dashboards
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 drafts a thirty-minute director session outline using their own clients.
- Daniel sketches the weekly open dispute list and returns by the end of the following week.
- Daniel sends the written renewal notice in a few weeks.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Only about twelve of forty Growth licences are active and directors are not yet in the habit.
- No customer quote on the value of the brain exists yet for whoever signs the renewal.
- Dashboard rollout depends on director-level permissions and a tidy-up of older complaint tagging.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A per-client dashboards builder page, already part of Growth, matches what directors say they want.
- A weekly open invoice dispute list could turn lucky catches into routine value.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello Saskia, thank you for making the time. Can you hear me all right?
Saskia MendesLoud and clear. Hi Daniel. Sorry, I'm eating a very late lunch, give me one second.- Daniel OkaforNot at all, it's a quarter to two, you're allowed. I think it's only the two of us today, so I'll assume nobody else is joining.
- Saskia MendesJust us. Right, I have to tell you what happened this morning, because it's basically the whole QBR in one story.
- Daniel OkaforGo on, please.
- Saskia MendesSo one of our client-account directors was about to go into a review with a big client, and she'd asked the brain, almost as an afterthought, what's the picture on this client. And it came back with the open vacancies, the placements from the last quarter, and a contractor invoice that the client had queried and nobody had picked up. Two weeks, that had been sitting there. She walked into the room already knowing about it and fixed it in the meeting.
- Daniel OkaforThat's exactly what it was built for. And she'd have found out in the room otherwise, I suppose, with the client looking at her.
- Saskia MendesExactly that. Which is a bad day. So, yes, the directors need this, and that's where I'm coming from today. What have you got for me?
- Daniel OkaforLovely. Well, that's a good way in. I've put together the usual shape for a quarterly review: usage first, then what's been asked and built, then tickets, and then I'd like to spend a bit of time on where you want to take it next, including the renewal in the summer. Does that work?
- Saskia MendesWorks. Can we make it simpler though? Last time I got a lot of charts and I couldn't tell you afterwards what to do with them.
- Daniel OkaforFair, and I've taken that on board. Three pages this time. I'll share my screen now. Can you see it?
- Saskia MendesYep. Bit small. Oh, that's better.
- Daniel OkaforSo the headline. You're on Growth, you've got forty licensed users, and over the last quarter the number of people actually active in a typical month has gone up quite nicely compared with the quarter before. It's a little under a quarter more people, which in a team your size is noticeable.
- Saskia MendesRight. And what's the actual number? Because I don't want you telling me it's up when it's up from nothing.
- Daniel OkaforNo, it's a fair challenge. On average it's around twelve people active in a given thirty days. So out of forty licences, roughly a third.
- Saskia MendesMm. Okay. So that's honest, and it's not where I want it. Twelve out of forty. I'd say my team still asks most of the questions, and I want the directors asking, not me asking on their behalf.
- Daniel OkaforI think that's a really clear way to put it, and I'd say the trend is the right way round even if the level isn't where you want it. How is the team finding it day to day? Not the directors, I mean your own people.
- Saskia MendesThey like it. They're quick with it. The thing they say is that they stopped opening four different systems to answer one question. The directors are a different story, they're busy, they don't want to learn a tool. They want a page they open on the train.
- Daniel OkaforYes. And that's where I wanted to bring in the dashboards builder, because it's part of Growth and, if I'm honest, you've barely touched it. Can I show you what I mean?
- Saskia MendesPlease. Go on.
- Daniel OkaforRight, so this is one I mocked up with your own data, nothing that isn't already connected. One page per client: open vacancies on the left, placements over the last two quarters in the middle, and on the right the invoices and any complaints. It's the same thing your director asked the brain this morning, but she wouldn't have to ask. It would just be there.
- Saskia MendesOh, that's it. That's the thing. Can the directors only see their own clients?
- Daniel OkaforThey can be set up that way, yes. I'd want to check with you who sees what, because that's your call, not mine. But it can be done.
- Saskia MendesI'd want that. Some of the contractor stuff is sensitive. Not everyone should see every dispute.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. I'll write that down as a condition, so it doesn't get lost.
- Saskia MendesSorry, I was just reading it properly. The complaints column, is that coming from the helpdesk?
- Daniel OkaforIt's your helpdesk and your CRM together, yes. The match between a complaint and a client is the bit I'd want to sit with your team on, because a few of the older ones don't have a clean client reference.
- Saskia MendesThey won't. We were messy before. Honestly, some of that's historic and I'd rather say so than have you build something clever on top of rubbish.
- Daniel OkaforI'd rather that too. So that goes on the list as well: a small tidy-up of how older complaints are tagged.
- Daniel OkaforLet me go to the second page, which is tickets. Just to close the loop on the quarter: you raised two with us over the last month, and neither was urgent. Nothing high priority, nothing that waited around. Does that match your memory?
- Saskia MendesYeah, that matches. And I'd have shouted. I never let a question go unanswered for more than a day, and I'd expect the same of you.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is fair, and I think the support team would say the same about you. No surprises from the data refresh either, as far as I can see. Anything you've noticed that I haven't?
- Saskia MendesNo. Well, one thing. A director said the answers on Monday mornings felt thinner than later in the week. But I couldn't reproduce it, so I didn't raise it.
- Daniel OkaforThat's useful to know, thank you. If it happens again, send me the question and roughly when you asked it, and I'll look at it properly rather than guess. I don't want to tell you it's fine when I haven't checked.
- Saskia MendesWill do. I'll get her to screenshot it next time.
- Daniel OkaforOkay, third page. This is the one I most wanted to talk through, and it's about who's using what. Ignore the numbers for a second and tell me, who are the people you'd most like to see in the brain by the summer?
- Saskia MendesThe client-account directors, all of them. Not half. If I'm honest I've got about half in a rhythm and the other half are waiting for someone to put it in front of them.
- Daniel OkaforThen I'd suggest we stop thinking about licences and think about those directors by name. Forty seats is plenty for what you've described. You're not short of capacity, you're short of habit.
- Saskia MendesHa. Yes. That's the sentence. Can I steal that?
- Daniel OkaforPlease do. Now, what could we do about habit? One idea is a short session, thirty minutes, with the directors who aren't using it yet. Using their own clients, not a demo. Another is that I look at who's logged in but hasn't asked a question, and we work out why.
- Saskia MendesDo both. The session is the better one, though. If they see their own client on screen they get it. If they see mine, they don't care.
- Daniel OkaforI think that's right. I'll draft an outline, you tell me who to invite, and we pick a slot that doesn't clash with their review calendar.
- Saskia MendesOkay. Can I ask about something a bit different? The renewal. It's the summer, isn't it?
- Daniel OkaforIt is. Your contract runs to 2 Jul 2025 and the renewal date is 3 Jul 2025. I'll come back to you properly in a few weeks with a written notice, which is how we normally do it, so there's nothing sudden.
- Saskia MendesAnd what are we on at the moment? I should have it in my head and I don't.
- Daniel OkaforContracted at £41,800 a year, and that matches what's been invoiced, so no gaps between the order form and the accounts. And you're up to date on payments, which I always like to say out loud.
- Saskia MendesGood. Finance would be unhappy otherwise. So what do you need from me before then, apart from being nice about it?
- Daniel OkaforHa. Mostly I'd like you to be able to say, in your own words, what it's worth to you. Not for me, for whoever signs. Some of that is the story you opened with. What did the client actually say, if you like, when that invoice was sorted out?
- Saskia MendesHa, you've got my phrase. What did the client actually say. I don't know yet, the director only came out of the room at lunchtime. I'll ask her. If it's good I'll get it written down.
- Daniel OkaforThat would be gold. A couple of those, and we won't be arguing about value on the day.
- Saskia MendesRight, so on the other side, am I going to be asked for more users or something? Because I don't need more users, I've told you, I need the ones I've got to turn up.
- Daniel OkaforNo, I wouldn't suggest it. Forty is more than enough. If anything it's the reverse, and I'd rather we fill the seats you've got and then have a conversation later if the directors take to it and you outgrow them.
- Saskia MendesGood. I'd rather hear that from you than get a sales call.
- Daniel OkaforYou won't get a sales call from me. Just to close the loop on the renewal, I'm not guessing at any changes there. If there's anything you need to know on terms, I'll tell you when I've got it in writing, not before.
- Saskia MendesFine by me.
- Daniel OkaforWhile I think of it, there's one more thing I wanted to ask. The contractor-invoice disputes. You've said before that you want to catch them early. Are those showing up in the brain the way you hoped, or is it still the odd lucky catch like this morning?
- Saskia MendesHonestly? Lucky catch, mostly. This morning worked because she asked. If it flagged them without being asked, that would be the thing. A short list every Monday, disputes open more than a few days, by client. Can that exist?
- Daniel OkaforI think it can, as a page in the dashboards builder, and I'd want to make sure the definition of open dispute is yours. I'll sketch it and come back to you by the end of next week with something you can react to.
- Saskia MendesBrilliant. React is what I do best.
- Daniel OkaforI had noticed. Is there anyone on your side who should be looped in on that, so it's not all down to you?
- Saskia MendesSomeone from my team who runs the invoice queries day to day. I'll copy them in on your email. They know what a real dispute looks like better than I do.
- Daniel OkaforOkay, that's the main of it. Let me read back what I've got, so we're both leaving with the same list. Is that all right?
- Saskia MendesPlease. I'll shout if it's wrong.
- Daniel OkaforOne. I draft the outline for a thirty-minute session with the directors who aren't yet in the habit, using their own clients. You send me the names and the best slot. Two. I sketch the weekly list of open invoice disputes, and I come back to you by the end of next week. Three. The permission question, so that directors see only their own clients, goes on the list for whoever builds the pages. Four. You ask the director what the client actually said, and send me a line or two if it's good. Five. If the Monday morning answers feel thin again, you send me the question and the time. And the renewal notice follows from me in a few weeks.
- Saskia MendesThat's it. Add one: I'll tell the other directors you're not going to make them sit through a demo.
- Daniel OkaforHa, I'll hold you to that. Fair enough, I'll keep it practical.
- Saskia MendesDaniel, last thing, before I forget. Is it all right if I forward your three pages to my boss? I think she'd actually read these.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, they're yours. I'll tidy the wording and send you the summary this afternoon, so it's tidy for her.
- Saskia MendesPerfect. Thanks, Daniel. This was actually useful, and it was shorter than I feared.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, Saskia, I appreciate your time and your honesty about where adoption is. Speak soon.
- Saskia MendesCheers, Daniel. Speak soon. Bye.
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