Grisedale Search & Selection / BG-Demo – Proposal
Callcompleted
Grisedale Search & Selection · 1 Sep 2025 14:00
Priya Raman presented a £2,614 Starter expansion. Lauren Pilkington said only she and one or two consultants use the brain, and Stuart Haworth questioned what the £20k a year buys. The expansion is on hold behind an adoption session.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Priya Raman presented a £2,614 Starter expansion. Lauren Pilkington said only she and one or two consultants use the brain, and Stuart Haworth questioned what the £20k a year buys. The expansion is on hold behind an adoption session.
What happened: Priya put the expansion at £2,614 in total, on the same contract and renewal date. Lauren said that of fifteen licences, only she and one or two consultants use the brain on a normal day.
Customer view: Stuart asked what he is paying nineteen and a half thousand for and does not want to buy more for something half the office ignores. He also does not want to repeat this call next year.
Commercial: Priya linked a first-term price conversation to signing by Tuesday 30 September 2025. She also tied the expansion to usage, with Marcus Bell running a session on the consultants' own client accounts.
Watch: Value is being questioned on a Starter contract that runs to the end of April next year.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Low adoption, expansion proposal
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 sends the proposal figures and the 30 Sep 2025 deadline the next day.
- Marcus Bell contacts Lauren Pilkington about a short consultant session.
- Lauren Pilkington collects the consultants' most common questions.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Stuart questions the value of the current Starter subscription because only a few of fifteen users are active.
- Low usage puts the renewal at the end of April next year in doubt if adoption does not improve.
- The expansion may stall if the consultants still do not use the brain after the session.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A session on the consultants' own client accounts could turn the team into regular users.
- The £2,614 expansion remains open once existing users are active.
Transcript
Priya RamanHello, hello. Can you both hear me all right?
Stuart HaworthLoud and clear, Priya. Did you see the match at the weekend? Absolute shambles in the second half.- Priya RamanI try not to, Stuart, it ruins my Mondays. I'll leave the football to you.
Lauren PilkingtonHe's been moaning about it since eight o'clock this morning, so thanks for that. Hi Priya.- Priya RamanHi Lauren. Right, thanks for making time this afternoon. Quick recap of where we are, so we're all on the same page. You're on Starter, fifteen users, nineteen and a half thousand a year, and that runs to the end of April next year. Last time we spoke about the expansion, and the proposal came over to you both. I'd love to keep momentum and see if we can get this over the line by Tuesday 30 September 2025, if that works for you.
- Stuart HaworthOkay. Give me the headline. What's the number and what's in it for the consultants?
- Priya RamanThe expansion comes to £2,614 in total, and that's the whole thing, nothing hiding behind it. It sits on top of what you've already got, same contract, same renewal date.
- Stuart HaworthAnd that gets me what, exactly?
- Priya RamanMore room to bring more of the team into the brain, so the consultants see a client's open roles and any complaints before they pick up the phone. Which is what Lauren was asking for back in the spring.
- Lauren PilkingtonYeah, it was. Can I come in on that, though? Quick one. Before we talk about adding more, I'm a bit uneasy, because we're not actually using what we've got.
- Priya RamanGo on.
- Lauren PilkingtonWe've got fifteen licences and on a normal day it's me and maybe one or two consultants. Two, if I'm honest. Everyone else went back to their inboxes. I keep meaning to run a session and then a placement comes in and that's the week gone.
- Stuart HaworthHang on, is that right? Two people? What am I paying nineteen and a half thousand for?
- Lauren PilkingtonThat's what I'm saying, Stu. It's a fair question. I'm not saying the brain's bad, it's that people don't reach for it.
- Priya RamanNo, and I'm glad you've said it straight, Lauren, that's helpful. Let me say where I think we are. The data's there and it's working. What we haven't done is make it part of the consultants' morning. That's an adoption point, and it's very fixable.
- Stuart HaworthFixable how? Because I don't want to spend more on something half the office ignores.
- Priya RamanFair. So, two things. Marcus Bell, our customer success manager up in Manchester, can run a short session for the consultants on their own client accounts. Not a generic tour, their clients. And Lauren picks the two or three questions the consultants ask most, and we show them getting the answer in the brain rather than digging through email.
- Lauren PilkingtonThat'd save us hours, honestly. Last week a consultant spent half a morning working out whether a client had complained before she rang them.
- Stuart HaworthRight, that's the sort of thing I care about. A consultant walks into a call blind, that costs me a placement.
- Priya RamanExactly that. So the expansion makes sense once the people you've already got are actually in there. I'm not going to push you to buy more before that's true.
- Stuart HaworthGood. Because I'll be straight with you, I'd normally want to talk about money before I sign anything.
- Priya RamanI'd expect nothing less, Stuart.
- Stuart HaworthSo what can you do on the price? What's that cost me if I say yes this month?
- Priya RamanOkay. I can take a conversation about the first-term price back to my side. I'll be honest, there's a limit to what I can do, but if we can get this signed by Tuesday 30 September 2025, I'd be happy to make this easy and see what's possible. After that date I can't promise the same.
- Stuart HaworthFine. Don't tell me a number now then, come back to me with it.
- Priya RamanWill do. I'll send it tomorrow with the date on it, so there's no confusion.
- Lauren PilkingtonCan I ask something? If we do the session with Marcus, how long does it take? I can't pull the consultants away for half a day.
- Priya RamanI'd rather Marcus answers that properly, he'll know what's sensible. My guess is short and in small groups, but I don't want to promise you something on his behalf.
- Lauren PilkingtonThat's fine. I'll message him. Ta.
- Stuart HaworthOne more thing. If the consultants still don't use it after the session, what then? I don't want to be having this call again next year.
- Priya RamanThen we'd have a different conversation, and a fair one. Let's see how the usage looks in a few weeks and decide on the expansion with that in front of us. You've got the contract to the end of April either way.
- Stuart HaworthRight. So sort the session, send me the price with the deadline, and I'll look at it with Lauren.
- Lauren PilkingtonAnd I'll get the consultants' questions together. I'll ask them tomorrow, they'll love being asked.
- Priya RamanBrilliant. So, to recap: I send the proposal figures and the date tomorrow, I ask Marcus to get in touch about a session, and Lauren collects the questions. Anything else before we go?
- Stuart HaworthNo, that's me. Enjoy the rest of your Monday, Priya.
- Priya RamanYou too. Speak soon, both of you. Best, Priya.
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