Delancey Haig / BG-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Delancey Haig · 5 May 2026 10:30
Renewal call with Delancey Haig on 5 May 2026. About seven of forty Growth users are active. The CFO, Rupert Lasker, wants a value case and a believable usage measure before committing, and a price rise at first renewal is flagged.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Renewal call with Delancey Haig on 5 May 2026. About seven of forty Growth users are active. The CFO, Rupert Lasker, wants a value case and a believable usage measure before committing, and a price rise at first renewal is flagged.
What happened: Daniel Okafor reported about seven daily users out of forty licensed, down by getting on for half on the quarter before. Saskia Mendes owned the shortfall and said no tickets were raised because the product works.
Customer view: Rupert Lasker asked what the £44k buys, floated building it in-house, and said fewer suppliers is his aim. He would not commit on the call and gave Saskia two weeks to get the directors using it.
Commercial: Priya Raman said the first renewal moves onto the current price list, with the exact figure to follow in writing. Rupert's reaction was that it goes up while seven people use it.
Watch: a handful of people ask nearly all the questions, so losing two would leave almost nothing. Finance manager Desmond Oyelaran wants usage, connected systems and cost on one page.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Renewal value and usage
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- Daniel Okafor sends usage by role and a one-page value summary, and books the directors' session with Saskia Mendes.
- Priya Raman sends the renewal paper and exact figure before Tuesday 19 May 2026.
- Saskia Mendes gathers the directors within two weeks and supplies real cases for Desmond Oyelaran to check.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- About seven of forty Growth seats are in daily use, so the CFO may judge the subscription poor value.
- The first renewal moves to the current price list while usage is falling.
- A few people ask nearly all the questions, a key-person risk.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A value case on cost per placement and caught contractor invoice disputes could answer the CFO's test.
- Director working sessions and a single usage page could rebuild adoption inside the Growth subscription.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforMorning, everyone, thank you all for making the time. Let me just check who's joined. Saskia, Rupert, I can see you both, and Desmond, hello. Priya's here too.
Rupert LaskerMorning. Can you hear me? How long is this going to take?
Saskia MendesCan hear you fine, Rupert. Sorry, I'm a minute behind, the lift in our building has a mind of its own this week.- Daniel OkaforNo trouble at all. We've got the half hour, Rupert, and I'd like to use it properly but I won't pad it. Priya, do you want to set out where we are?
Priya RamanSure, thanks Daniel. So, quick recap, to keep momentum. The contract runs to 2 July 2026, you're on Growth at £44,000 a year, forty users, and the renewal has an expected close of Tuesday 19 May 2026. Today is really about making sure you're happy with what you're getting before we put any paper in front of you.- Rupert LaskerSay the number again. Remind me of the annual cost.
- Priya Raman£44,000 a year, Rupert, for the Growth subscription. The implementation was a separate one-off at the start, so that's not in it.
- Rupert LaskerFine. And what are we actually using? Because I look at the invoice and I don't see the thing it's for.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a fair question and it's the right one to ask, so let me be straight about it. I pulled the usage this morning. You've got forty licensed users, and on an average day over the last month it's about seven who are actually in there. That's down by getting on for half compared with the quarter before.
- Rupert LaskerSeven. Out of forty.
- Saskia MendesCan I jump in, Rupert? I'd rather say it myself than have it said about us. Yes, it's lower. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. The directors need this, but a lot of them have drifted back to asking their own teams and keeping their own spreadsheets, and I haven't kept on top of it.
- Rupert LaskerWhy is that? Is it that it doesn't work, or that nobody likes it?
- Saskia MendesIt works. That's the annoying part. We haven't raised a single ticket in the last month, nothing's broken, the data's there. It's habit. Most of the directors came in at the start, had a good go, and then on a busy week the old way was just quicker.
- Daniel OkaforAnd I'd add, Rupert, that no tickets is a mixed signal. It means nothing's failing, which is good. It also means people aren't coming to us with questions either, and with a team this size I'd usually expect a few how-to questions along the way.
- Rupert LaskerSo we're paying for forty seats for seven people.
- Priya RamanI'd put it slightly differently, if I may, Rupert. The licence is for the firm, it's the Growth tier, several teams, and it was always meant to build as the directors came on. But I hear you. I'd rather we fix the usage than argue about the licence.
- Rupert LaskerCan we do this ourselves? Honestly. Our data team could build a view of clients, vacancies, placements, invoices. What would that cost us?
- Daniel OkaforYou could, and I wouldn't tell you otherwise. What I'd say is that the first build is the easy bit. The hard bit is keeping a lot of sources joined up every single night, and that's what the directors never had to think about. But the real question is whether it's used enough to justify that, and today it isn't, so I'm not going to sell you on it.
- Saskia MendesRupert, can I make it simpler? When a director uses it, they walk into a review knowing the vacancies, the placements, the invoices and the complaints together. That's what we bought it for. The problem isn't the product, it's that I haven't got enough of them using it.
- Rupert LaskerWho is using it, then? Seven people. Is it the same seven?
- Daniel OkaforMostly, yes. I can give you the names by role in writing after this, I'd rather not read people out on a call. A handful of people ask nearly all of the questions, and that's a risk in itself, because if two of them move on, you're back to nothing.
Desmond OyelaranCan I ask something from the finance side? On the renewal itself, what are the mechanics? I've got the order form from 3 July 2024 and every invoice has been paid, nothing outstanding, but I want to know whether the renewal is the same paper.- Priya RamanGood question, Desmond. Same structure, annual in advance, thirty day terms. The current term ends 2 July 2026 and the renewal starts 3 July 2026. One thing I do want to be upfront about, and I'll put it in writing so nobody's guessing: because it's your first renewal, it moves onto the current price list rather than the original one. I'll send the exact figure with the paper, not guess it on a call.
- Rupert LaskerSo it goes up. For seven users.
- Priya RamanIt's the list moving, Rupert, not us singling you out, and that's exactly why I'd rather we spend the next two weeks showing you the value than haggle over a number. If we can get this over the line by Tuesday 19 May 2026, great, but I'd rather we get it right.
- Rupert LaskerI'm not going to commit to anything on this call. What would actually change my mind?
- Daniel OkaforCompletely understood, and I wouldn't ask you to. Can I suggest three things, and then I'll just close the loop at the end. One, I give you usage by team and by role, so you can see where the empty chairs are. Two, Saskia and I sit down with the directors in small groups and work out what they'd really ask it in a normal week. Three, we put a value case in front of you and Desmond in plain terms: what the brain has done for you since July 2024, and what it could do for cost per placement.
- Rupert LaskerCost per placement is what I care about. Not page views.
- Daniel OkaforAgreed. I'd rather not hand you a page of vanity numbers. Questions asked is the measure I trust, and who's asking them.
- Daniel OkaforLet me share the usage view so we're all looking at the same thing. Can everyone see it? So this is questions asked, by month, since go-live. The line climbed nicely through the first year, it held fairly steady after that, and in the last quarter it's come down. It hasn't fallen off a cliff, but it's clearly lower, and you can see it's the same few names doing most of it.
- Saskia MendesYeah, that matches what I'd guess. I'm one of those names, I'm slightly embarrassed to say.
- Rupert LaskerSo who isn't asking? The directors? Or someone else?
- Saskia MendesThe directors, mainly. Some of the account managers dip in, but the directors are the ones I bought it for. A couple of them told me in the spring they didn't know what to ask it. Which, fair, I should have run a session on that months ago.
- Daniel OkaforThat's the part I'd like us to fix, and honestly it's partly on us too. We did the training at the start and our check-ins since have been more about the system than the directors. And to answer Rupert's earlier worry, this sits inside the subscription, it's what I'm here for. I'll come back to you by the end of next week with a plan, session by session.
- Rupert LaskerI signed this because Saskia told me we'd catch contractor invoice disputes sooner. Has that happened? Show me one.
- Saskia MendesIt has, a few times, and it's the thing I'd point to. A director sees an invoice query and a complaint on the same client and picks up the phone before it becomes a formal dispute. I can get you the examples. Desmond knows the invoice side better than I do.
- Desmond OyelaranI'd want to look at it properly before I said it was down to the brain. I don't want to guess and then have it picked apart.
- Rupert LaskerThat's what I mean. Nobody can tell me.
- Daniel OkaforThen that's the first thing the summary should answer. I'll ask Saskia for two or three real cases to go in it, with the director's permission, and Desmond can check them against the invoices.
- Priya RamanAnd just so it's on the record, happy to make this easy: nobody's asking for a signature on the back of this call. If the review shows the value, we move quickly. If it doesn't, we should talk about what Growth should look like for you, rather than carry forty seats nobody uses.
- Rupert LaskerThat's a more honest answer than I expected.
- Desmond OyelaranFrom my side, can I ask for the usage and the list of connected systems in one place? If Rupert asks me what we get for £44k, I'd like to answer with something other than a feeling.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, Desmond. I'll build a single page: users by month, questions by month, the systems feeding it, and the cost alongside. Plain English, no jargon.
- Rupert LaskerFewer suppliers is what I'm after, generally. If this earns its place, fine. If it's a nice-to-have, it goes.
- Saskia MendesUnderstood. Rupert, can I ask for one thing? Give me the next two weeks to get the directors in a room. If I can't move it, I'll be the first to say so.
- Rupert LaskerTwo weeks. Then I want a number I can believe. Not seven out of forty again. What does good look like?
- Daniel OkaforThat's worth agreeing now. I'd say good is that most of the directors are asking something most weeks, and the questions come from a wider group than today. I'd rather not put a magic number on it on a call, Rupert, but I'll propose one on the page for Desmond, and you can tell me if it's too soft.
- Rupert LaskerFine. Put it in the page.
- Priya RamanLet me read back where we've landed, so we've all got the same list. Daniel sends usage by role and the one page value summary, Saskia pulls the directors together, and I come back with the renewal paper and the figure before Tuesday 19 May 2026, so you've got it in hand even if you're not signing then. The contract ends 2 July 2026, so there's room, but not endless room.
- Daniel OkaforJust to close the loop, I'll send the usage page by Friday, and I'll book the directors' session with Saskia this week.
- Rupert LaskerThank you. Is that everything?
- Daniel OkaforThat's everything from me. Thank you all again for your time, and Rupert, thank you for the straight questions. Best wishes to everyone, speak soon.
- Saskia MendesThanks all. Speak soon.
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