Harcastle Environmental / BB-Demo – Kickoff
Callcompleted
Harcastle Environmental · 2025-04-16 14:15
Kickoff for Harcastle Environmental's Growth brain. Four sources go live first, the call recorder last. Route planning is an older system exporting nightly files, which may affect timing. Owners were assigned.
What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Kickoff for Harcastle Environmental's Growth brain. Four sources go live first, the call recorder last. Route planning is an older system exporting nightly files, which may affect timing. Owners were assigned.
What happened: Marcus Bell restated the order form: Growth, forty users, £40k a year, signed on 11 April 2025 and running to 10 April 2026. Nicola Brearley said the value is one view of collections, tickets and invoices for account managers.
Customer view: Helen Dyson raised data access, a leavers process and the sensitivity of call recordings. Calls were moved to last, with four sources live first.
Commercial: Five systems use five of the eight Growth connectors. Single sign-on sits with Enterprise, and Marcus passed that question to Lewis.
Watch: Laura Penhaligon would not promise step dates until the route planning export is seen. Helen will ask the supplier for a more direct route.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Growth implementation kickoff
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Laura Penhaligon to send the access checklist, list of names and connector plan with owners filled in.
- Helen Dyson to ask the route planning supplier for a more direct route and report back.
- Nicola Brearley to choose the first depot and account managers by Friday.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- The older route planning system may only offer nightly file exports, which could delay the plan dates.
- Call recordings raise privacy concerns and are deferred, so their value is not yet proven.
- The IT lead wants a leavers process so former staff do not keep access.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Five sources use five of eight Growth connectors, leaving headroom for more.
- Single sign-on was raised and is an Enterprise feature, so it is a possible upgrade conversation for Lewis.
Transcript
Marcus Bell NoneHello, hello. Can you both hear me all right? I've got Laura on the line as well, she's just joining.
Laura Penhaligon NoneAfternoon all. Yes, I'm here, sound's fine at my end.
Nicola Brearley NoneAfternoon. Yes, loud and clear. Helen's just coming in, she's in the other meeting room fighting with the screen.
Helen Dyson NoneSorry, sorry. Here now. Afternoon everyone. I'll leave the camera off if that's all right, the connection in here is dreadful.- Marcus Bell NoneNo problem at all, audio's what matters. Thanks for making the time, I know it's been a busy week.
- Nicola Brearley NoneBusy is one word for it. I'll tell you the worst one, because I've had it since first thing this morning. A care home that's had a missed collection three weeks running, same round, and this time they rang our managing director directly. Which, to be fair, I'd have done in their shoes.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat sounds like exactly the sort of thing you're hoping to see in one place.
- Nicola Brearley NoneIt is. The account manager had the ticket in the helpdesk, the invoice query was sitting with finance, and the conversation with the depot was just somebody's memory. Three places, and nobody had the whole story. That's the pitch to the board, really. Sorry, I've launched straight in.
- Marcus Bell NoneNo, that's a good place to start. Let me share my screen and say what I'd like to cover, so we stay on track. First, what you want the brain to do for your account managers. Then the systems it needs to read and who owns each one at your end. Then what we need from IT, how the weeks run, and who does what after today. Sound right?
- Nicola Brearley NoneFine by me. I'll want to spend longest on the first bit.
- Marcus Bell NoneOf course. Just so we're all reading from the same page: the order form was signed on 11 April 2025, it's Growth, forty users, £39,600 a year, and it runs to 10 April 2026. Anything outside that I'd pass to Lewis, but I don't expect it today.
- Nicola Brearley NoneThat matches what I've got. And forty is plenty to start. I'd rather fill them than ask for more.
- Marcus Bell NoneGood. Right then, Nicola, in your own words, what does a good day look like for an account manager once this is live?
- Nicola Brearley NoneThree things. One, they open a customer and see the last few collections, including anything missed, without ringing a depot. Two, they see the open tickets and what we told the customer on the phone, so nobody gets asked the same question twice. Three, they can see whether the invoice is paid or disputed before they pick up the phone to talk about anything commercial. If I get those three I'll be happy. If I get them by the summer I'll be delighted.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat's really clear, thank you. So that's collections, helpdesk tickets, call recordings and invoices. Which systems hold each of those today? I want to be sure I've got the list right before I say anything about timing.
- Nicola Brearley NoneCollections sit in the route planning system the depots use, that's the one I know best from my old job. Tickets are in the helpdesk. Calls are with the call recorder, though only the account managers' calls, the depots just use ordinary phones. Invoices are in the accounting system, and finance own that. And the CRM sits over the top, for who owns which customer.
- Helen Dyson NoneCan I flag the route planning one now? It's an older system. It sits on a server in the building, and I'm honestly not certain it has any sort of proper interface. It does export files overnight, that I do know. Whether we can get at it more directly I'd have to ask the supplier.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat's useful, and much better to hear in week one than week five. A nightly file export is workable. We'd land the files in your Snowflake account and the brain reads from there. It's a bit less live than the others, but collections don't change by the minute.
- Nicola Brearley NoneNo, yesterday's collections are fine. What I can't have is last week's.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneUnderstood. The refresh is done by seven each morning on business days, so an account manager would see yesterday's rounds when they sit down.
- Nicola Brearley NoneWhich is when they're at their desks. Good.
- Marcus Bell NoneCan I put that against the connectors? You've got eight on Growth, and I make that five systems so far. So there's room. I wouldn't fill them just because they're there, mind.
- Nicola Brearley NoneFair. I'd rather have five working than eight half working.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's my view too. Laura, do you want to take the screen?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneYes, give me a second. Mm. Can you see that? So this is the plan we normally work from. The left-hand column is the source, then who owns it at your end, who looks after it from our side, and what we need to switch it on. I've put in the five Nicola just listed and left the owner column blank on purpose.
- Nicola Brearley NoneBlank is helpful. I'll fill what I can. CRM and helpdesk, that's my team, I own both and I'll have the admin logins. Accounting is finance, so I'll ask one of our finance team to be the named person. Call recorder, again mine.
- Helen Dyson NoneRoute planning would be IT, then, by default, because it's on our server. I'll put myself down for now and then hand it to a colleague in IT who runs it day to day.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneLovely. Each one needs a person who can say yes to us reading it, and a person who can answer when something looks odd. They don't have to be the same.
- Nicola Brearley NoneWhich is a good point, because the one who can say yes is often not the one who knows.
- Marcus Bell NoneHappy to jump on a call with finance when you've picked someone, Nicola, just to explain what we read and what we don't. People get nervous about the accounting system, understandably.
- Nicola Brearley NoneThey will. It's invoices, though, isn't it? I'm not asking anyone to hand over bank details.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneInvoices and their status is what we'd ask for, and you can narrow it further than that. We'll write down exactly which fields, and finance can strike anything off.
- Helen Dyson NoneRight, can I ask the dull questions now, while I've got the floor? Where does all this actually live?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneInside your Snowflake account. We don't copy your data into ours. The brain is built and run in your account, so what's indexed stays there, and you can see it, restrict it, or switch it off.
- Helen Dyson NoneAnd you get in how?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThrough a role you create for us, with the permissions you decide. You can see everything that role does in your own logs, and you can take it away whenever you like.
- Helen Dyson NoneGood. Because the first thing our board asks me is who at your end can see customer data.
- Marcus Bell NoneShort version, only the people working on your implementation, and only through that role. I'd rather you checked than took my word for it.
- Helen Dyson NoneI will. I'll want the list of names in writing.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneI'll send that after the call with the access checklist. It's one page.
- Helen Dyson NoneThe calls worry me more than the invoices, honestly. There's people's voices in there, and sometimes a customer says things they didn't think would be kept.
- Nicola Brearley NoneMm, that's true. I'd forgotten that. Some of those calls are not lovely.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneWe can index the transcripts only, or leave the call recorder until last and decide once you've seen the rest working. Plenty of customers do that. It's your call, and it doesn't hold anything else up.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI'd be happy to leave it to the end. Collections, tickets and invoices are most of the value. Calls are the nice to have.
- Helen Dyson NoneThen I'd rather that, yes. Calls last.
- Marcus Bell NoneNoted. Laura, can you mark the call recorder as the last in the plan?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneDone, I've moved it down. Four live first, then calls.
- Helen Dyson NoneOne more from me. Do people log in with their normal work accounts, or is it a separate login?
- Laura Penhaligon NoneOn Growth they'd have their own logins. Single sign-on sits with the Enterprise tier.
- Marcus Bell NoneIf that matters to you, that's one for Lewis, and I don't want to say something off the cuff on what it would involve.
- Helen Dyson NoneFor forty people it's manageable. I just need a proper leavers process, so nobody's still logged in six months after they've gone.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat's fair, and we'll put it in the checklist as a question for you, who removes people and how quickly.
- Nicola Brearley NoneCan we talk about who actually gets this first? Because I don't want forty people poking at it in week two and deciding it's rubbish.
- Marcus Bell NoneQuite right. What would you suggest?
- Nicola Brearley NoneOne depot first, with the account managers who cover it, plus me. Whichever has the most complaints, honestly, because they'll tell me quickest whether it's any good. I'll choose with the team. Which depot, which round, that's how I'd frame it to them.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneThat works well for us. The plan runs around eight weeks. The first couple are access and connecting the sources. Then we check the data with you, which is where the odd things show up. Then a small group uses it for real, and then the wider team. I'd hesitate to promise dates for each step until we've seen the route planning export.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI'd rather you hesitated and got it right. But I do want account managers using it before the quarter's out, if that's realistic.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneI think it's realistic for the first group. I'll tell you straight away if the export changes that.
- Marcus Bell NoneAnd from my side, I'll pull the numbers every few weeks so we can see who's actually asking questions and who isn't. Nothing fancy, a short note.
- Nicola Brearley NonePlease do include who isn't. That's the bit I can do something about.
- Marcus Bell NoneWill do. Shall we book thirty minutes each week, the four of us, just while the connectors go in? Helen, only when it touches IT, obviously, I don't want to eat your Wednesdays.
- Helen Dyson NoneWeekly's fine for the first month. After that I'd drop to when needed.
- Nicola Brearley NoneSame slot as today would suit me, if that's convenient. Afternoons are quieter once the rounds are out.
- Marcus Bell NoneSame slot it is, I'll send the invite after this.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneLet me read back what I've got so we all leave with the same list. Nicola owns the CRM, the helpdesk and the call recorder admin access, and will name someone in finance for the accounting system. Helen owns the route planning export for now and the Snowflake role. I send the access checklist and the list of names today, and the connector plan with the owners filled in. Anything wrong there?
- Helen Dyson NoneI'd add that I'll ask the supplier about a more direct way into route planning, so you know by next week whether it's files or something better.
- Laura Penhaligon NonePerfect, adding that.
- Nicola Brearley NoneAnd I'll choose the first depot and the account managers by Friday and tell you who. What's the fix and who owns it, as I keep saying to my team, and now I've got an answer for this one.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's everything from me. Anything else before we let you get back to your complaints?
- Nicola Brearley NoneNo, I'm happy. That was more useful than I expected, to be honest. Thanks, both.
- Helen Dyson NoneNothing more from me. I'll look out for the checklist.
- Laura Penhaligon NoneIt'll be with you within the hour. Speak soon.
- Marcus Bell NoneCheers, all. Speak next week.
- Nicola Brearley NoneSorry, one last thing, I'm still on. Can the invite say Wednesday afternoon? Otherwise it ends up in my diary on the wrong day. Thanks, bye.
Callsmade from