Delancey Haig / BG-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Delancey Haig · 14 Apr 2025 13:30
Rupert Lasker, the CFO, questioned twelve active users out of forty and the move from £42k to £44k. He asked to hold the price, wants usage and value evidence, and will not decide until he has both.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Rupert Lasker, the CFO, questioned twelve active users out of forty and the move from £42k to £44k. He asked to hold the price, wants usage and value evidence, and will not decide until he has both.
What happened: Rupert, Saskia, Desmond and BG-Demo's Priya Raman and Daniel Okafor discussed the Growth renewal. Priya quoted £44k with no implementation fee.
Customer view: Rupert thinks in cost per placement and wants to know what it has saved. He asked to hold the price, ruled out a one-team plan and said he would not decide today.
Commercial: Priya promised a written price with a date, aiming for before Monday 9 Jun 2025. Quarterly invoicing was accepted if the total is unchanged, and the customer pays to the day.
Watch: Questions come mostly from Saskia and three directors, a key-person risk. Rupert asked what happens to the data if they do not renew.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Growth renewal price
Importance
renewal
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- Priya Raman returns with a written price and a date, well before 9 Jun 2025.
- Daniel Okafor sends Rupert a one-page usage summary with the order form.
- Saskia Mendes collects two plain answers from the directors within a fortnight.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Rupert questions paying for forty licences with about twelve active and wants proof of savings.
- Questions come mostly from Saskia and three directors, so the brain depends on a few people.
- The rise from £41,800 to £44,000 ends the first-term arrangement and he asked to hold the price.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Training the contractor desks could widen usage and catch invoice disputes sooner.
- Quarterly invoicing on request could ease the price conversation if the total is unchanged.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforAfternoon, everyone, and thank you for your time. Just checking who has joined: I can see Saskia, Rupert and Desmond, and Priya is here with me. Is that everyone?
Saskia MendesThat's all of us. Desmond is fighting with his headset, so give him a second.
Desmond OyelaranCan you hear me now? Sorry, yes, afternoon all. The headset has opinions.- Daniel OkaforPerfectly clear. Lovely.
Rupert LaskerAfternoon. How long will this take? I've a hard stop at two.- Daniel OkaforWe've got the half hour booked, Rupert, so we'll see how far we get. We're only here to talk about the renewal and how the brain has been going for you.
- Saskia MendesCan I do my story first? It's quick. One of our directors had a client review on Thursday, and the client opened by saying they'd been billed twice for a contractor. Before, he'd have said he'd look into it and come back to them. This time he'd already pulled the placements and the invoices that morning, so he could say what had actually happened. The client went quiet and moved on. He told me afterwards he'd have been caught flat otherwise.
- Daniel OkaforThat's exactly the sort of thing I like hearing. Thank you, Saskia.
Priya RamanAnd a good way in. So, just to recap where we are, and to keep momentum: your current term runs to 2 Jul 2025, the renewal date is 3 Jul 2025, and if we can get this over the line by Monday 9 June 2025 then nobody is rushing at the end. Today is really about whether Growth is doing the job, and then what the renewal looks like. Happy to make this easy.- Rupert LaskerRight. So, what are we actually using?
- Daniel OkaforFair question, and I've got it in front of me. You're licensed for forty users on Growth. Over the last thirty days, on average, a little under twelve people have been active, and that's up by about a fifth on the quarter before. And just to close the loop on tickets: there has been one in the last month, and nothing urgent.
- Rupert LaskerTwelve out of forty. That's under a third.
- Daniel OkaforIt is, yes, and I won't dress it up.
- Saskia MendesCan I say something on that? Those twelve are the people who matter most. They're the client-account directors and the operations leads, and they're in it most days, usually just before a client call. The other licences are there for the wider desks, and honestly, that's on me. I haven't pushed it out to them as fast as I said I would.
- Rupert LaskerCan we do this ourselves? I mean the reporting. We've got people who can build a spreadsheet.
- Daniel OkaforI'd expect you to ask, and yes, you can build a spreadsheet, Rupert. What the directors have told us, though, is that a spreadsheet is a snapshot of one system at a time. The brain brings the vacancies, placements, invoices and complaints together on one page for each client, and it refreshes overnight, so it's there when they sit down in the morning.
- Rupert LaskerHm. They said that, did they?
- Saskia MendesI said it, and I'd say it again. The directors need this. The question I get asked most is what did the client actually say, and now the answer is on the page rather than buried in someone's inbox.
- Rupert LaskerOkay. Remind me of the annual cost.
- Daniel OkaforPriya, you'll have it exactly.
- Priya RamanYes. You're contracted at £41,800 a year at the moment, and that's what's on the order form and what's been invoiced. The renewal comes through at £44,000 for Growth, and that's with no implementation fee, because it's a renewal and not a new build.
- Rupert LaskerSo that's a little over two thousand more for the same thing.
- Priya RamanIt's the Growth list price. The arrangement from your first term sat below it, and that comes to an end at renewal. I know that isn't what anyone wants to hear. I'd rather say it plainly than have it appear on an order form.
- Rupert LaskerCan we hold it where it is?
- Priya RamanI won't promise something on a call, Rupert, and I'm not going to pretend I can. What I can do is take it back, see what's possible, and come back to you with something clear in writing, with a date attached so you know how long it stands. Would that help?
- Rupert LaskerIt would. And I'd like to understand what the twelve become before I sign anything. If it's still twelve in a year, I'm paying for forty.
- Daniel OkaforThat's fair, and it's the part I'd most like to spend time on. How is the team finding it, beyond the directors? Saskia, who isn't in yet that you'd like to be?
- Saskia MendesThe desks that run the contractor side. They're the ones who see the invoice disputes first. If they were in it, we'd catch a dispute in the first week rather than the third. Honestly, I think it's training. They've never had a proper walk-through, so they don't know what to ask it.
- Daniel OkaforThat's really useful. So what I'd suggest is a training session for those desks, a small one, about an hour, and I run it with you, Saskia, on your own client data so it isn't generic. I'll come back to you by the end of next week with some dates.
- Saskia MendesYes please. Can we make it simpler, though? If it's a long deck they'll switch off. Show them one client.
- Daniel OkaforOne client, a few questions, and then they ask their own. I'll keep it practical.
- Desmond OyelaranCan I ask about invoicing while we've got everyone? Is it annually in advance, same as before?
- Priya RamanSame as before, yes: annually in advance on thirty-day terms. If you'd rather split it, quarterly is available on request, so say the word and I'll put it in the order form.
- Desmond OyelaranWe'll think about quarterly. It would help cashflow on our side, but I'd need to check with Rupert.
- Rupert LaskerQuarterly is fine by me, as long as the total doesn't change.
- Priya RamanThe total stays the total. Just split.
- Daniel OkaforAnd Desmond, just to say thank you, you've been very prompt on invoices. There's nothing overdue at all, which makes my life a lot easier.
- Desmond OyelaranWe pay on the thirty days, to the day. Rupert makes sure of it.
- Rupert LaskerNot a day earlier.
- Daniel OkaforI wouldn't dream of asking. One more thing on usage, then I'll hand back. Since you went live in July 2024 the number of people asking questions has gone up on the quarter before, which is a healthy line. What I keep an eye on is whether most of the questions come from just one or two people.
- Saskia MendesIt's mostly me and three of the directors, if I'm honest. I'd like that to be much wider.
- Rupert LaskerSo if you're away, it goes quiet.
- Saskia MendesFair. Which is exactly why the desks need the training, so it isn't sitting with me.
- Daniel OkaforAnd that's the thing I'd worry about on any account, not just yours. The more people who've got their own habit of asking it things, the sturdier it is. So the training isn't a nice-to-have, I'd put it first.
- Rupert LaskerI think in cost per placement. A tool has to pay for itself inside a year. Tell me what it has saved, not what it does.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. What I can honestly show you is usage and what the directors say. I can't put a placement number on it from our side, and I'd rather not invent one. What I'd suggest is we ask the directors two plain questions: how often do they open the client page before a review, and have they caught anything earlier because of it. That gives you something real to weigh.
- Saskia MendesI can get that done within a fortnight. Short answers, in their own words.
- Rupert LaskerDo that. And send me the usage numbers in writing. One page.
- Daniel OkaforOne page, and I'll put it with the order form so it's all in one place.
- Rupert LaskerAnother thing. If we didn't renew, what happens to the data?
- Daniel OkaforGood question, and a fair one to ask. The brain runs inside your own Snowflake account, so the data sits with you either way. What you'd lose is the layer on top, the pages and the chat and the search that make it usable for the directors. I'm not asking you to look at it that way, mind, I just want you to have the whole picture.
- Rupert LaskerMm. Good. I like knowing where the exits are.
- Saskia MendesI'll leave pricing with you, Rupert. From my side, I'd want it renewed, and I'd want the other desks in it before the summer. That's all I'll say.
- Priya RamanThat's helpful, Saskia. So to put the options simply: renew Growth as it is, with the training and the usage page alongside, and I come back to you on the price with a date on it. Or, if you want to look at something smaller, we can talk about that, but I'd want to be straight that Growth is the tier built for several teams, which is what you have here.
- Rupert LaskerWe're not going to a one-team plan. The directors work across desks. I'm just asking what a fair number looks like.
- Priya RamanUnderstood, and that's what I'll go back and look at. If we can get this over the line by the ninth of June, that leaves plenty of room before the term ends on 2 Jul 2025, and nobody has to do anything in a hurry.
- Desmond OyelaranFrom a finance side, what will you need from me to process it? I don't want to be the bottleneck.
- Priya RamanNothing yet. I'll send the order form once the number is settled, and you'll see the invoice dates and the split if you go quarterly. You won't be chasing us for anything, I hope.
- Daniel OkaforLet me just close the loop on actions so we're all clear. I'll send you, Rupert, the one-page usage summary with the order form. I'll come back to Saskia by the end of next week with training dates for the contractor desks. Saskia is going to ask the directors those two questions within a fortnight. And Priya takes the price question away and comes back with something in writing. Have I missed anything?
- Saskia MendesThat's the lot. I'll send you the director answers as soon as I have them, Daniel, and you can fold them into the page for Rupert.
- Rupert LaskerWho do I speak to day to day, if I've a question? I don't want to be bounced around.
- Daniel OkaforMe, for anything about how it's being used or how the team is getting on. Priya for the contract and the numbers. And if you're not sure which, ask me and I'll get you to the right person.
- Priya RamanHappy to take either, honestly. Rupert, you have my details.
- Rupert LaskerRight. I won't decide today. I'd like the number and the usage in front of me first, and then I'll think about it properly.
- Priya RamanWouldn't expect you to, and I'd rather you had everything. I'll aim to have the figure with you well before the ninth of June, so you aren't deciding at the last minute.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, all of you. It's been a really good conversation, and I do appreciate the straight questions, Rupert. Saskia, thanks for the story. Desmond, enjoy the rest of the week, and I hope the headset behaves.
- Desmond OyelaranIt'll be going back to IT. Thanks, everyone.
- Saskia MendesBrilliant. Speak soon, Daniel. Bye, all.
- Rupert LaskerThank you. I've got to run. Goodbye.
- Daniel OkaforBye, Rupert. Best wishes, everyone. Speak soon.
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