Ashwell Mercer Interiors / BG-Demo – Negotiation
Callcompleted
Ashwell Mercer Interiors · 22 Jul 2024 13:30
Negotiation on Growth at a total deal value of £52k. Valerie asked for timing flexibility, not a lower price. Owen would not move price again and will revert on splitting the implementation invoice. Signature target is Fri 9 Aug 2024.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Negotiation on Growth at a total deal value of £52k. Valerie asked for timing flexibility, not a lower price. Owen would not move price again and will revert on splitting the implementation invoice. Signature target is Fri 9 Aug 2024.
What happened: Owen Tallis joined Priya for the commercial discussion. Valerie Okon framed the board's three questions: what we pay and when, what we get and by when, and what happens if it does not work.
Customer view: Valerie said she was not asking for a lower number, only for timing. Quarterly invoicing for the subscription was agreed as an option, and she wants the implementation fee split.
Commercial: Owen said he would not discount twice and would come back by the end of the week on a two-part implementation invoice. He told the customer plainly that Growth has no credit for freshness, only for availability.
Watch: Valerie wants her solicitor to review the liability section. Debbie Rowntree said credit control is short-handed.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Growth terms and billing
Importance
upsell
Sentiment
positive
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Priya to send the order form, agreement and one-page summary by Friday.
- Owen to confirm in writing by the end of the week whether the implementation invoice can be split in two.
- Debbie to send the list of systems to connect so the order form names the right connectors.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The customer learned that Growth gives no service credit for stale data, which Valerie wants stated plainly in the board paper.
- Valerie's solicitor review of the liability section and the board meeting could delay signature.
- Debbie said credit control is short-handed, which is an adoption risk if time is not set aside.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Craig expects around thirty users against forty included, so there is headroom.
- The freshness credit is an Enterprise feature, which is a possible future upgrade conversation.
Transcript
Priya RamanHello, hello. Can everyone hear me alright? I can see Craig and Valerie, Debbie, you're just joining, great.
Debbie RowntreeHi, yes, I can hear you. Sorry, I was in the other meeting room and the screen took a minute.
Craig AshwellAfternoon all. I've got Valerie next to me, so if the sound echoes that's why.
Valerie OkonGood afternoon. Before we start, can I ask about invoices? When would the first one arrive, and what would it cover?- Priya RamanHa, straight in. Good, that's exactly where I wanted to get to. Let me just recap where we are so Owen's got it too. Owen's with me today, by the way, Owen Tallis, our VP Sales. He's here because we're on the commercial side now and I'd like to keep momentum.
Owen TallisAfternoon, everyone. Thanks for making the time. Priya's told me a lot about the project teams. Where do we stand against the date, Priya?- Priya RamanSo, the date we've been working to is Friday 9 August 2024 for signature. The demo on your own project data went well, Craig's team liked the client view, and we've agreed Growth is the right tier. The deal total is £51,600. That's the whole deal value, implementation included, so Valerie, that's the number to hold in your head.
- Valerie OkonUnderstood. And that figure is one-off plus subscription together, not a yearly price.
- Priya RamanCorrect. It's the total for the deal, and I'll show you how it splits in the order form so there's no ambiguity.
- Owen TallisAnd just so we're all on the same page, I'd rather we settle the shape of it today and not keep circling. Who signs, on your side?
- Valerie OkonI sign the contract on the company's behalf. But I don't sign anything new without the board. They meet shortly, and I'd need the paperwork in good time before that.
- Craig AshwellShe's being polite. The board will say yes. I've been banging on about this for months.
- Valerie OkonThe board will want to see terms first, Craig. That's how it works.
- Craig AshwellFine, fine. What do they need to see?
- Valerie OkonThree things. What we pay and when. What we get and by when. And what happens if it doesn't work.
- Priya RamanHappy to make this easy. Let's take them in that order. Owen, do you want to talk through the payment side?
- Owen TallisSure. Standard position: the implementation is a fixed fee, the subscription is invoiced annually in advance, and the terms are thirty days. If it helps cash flow, we can invoice the subscription quarterly instead, on request. That's something we do. I'd put that on the table now.
- Valerie OkonQuarterly would help. What's outstanding by client matters to us at the best of times, and we like our own outgoings to line up with what we collect.
- Debbie RowntreeCan I ask something practical? If it's quarterly, are there four separate invoices each year, and do they go to me or to Valerie?
- Priya RamanGood question. Four invoices, and we can send them to whoever you name. Debbie, if you're the one chasing and matching them, I'd put your name on it.
- Debbie RowntreeYes, that would be me. I do the matching. It saves Valerie having to forward things.
- Valerie OkonAnd the implementation fee. Is that invoiced upfront or in stages?
- Owen TallisLet me be straight about that. It's a fixed fee and it's billed on signature in the normal run of things. I'd rather not carve it into stages, because the work is the same either way and it gets complicated to track. But I'm listening if there's a strong reason.
- Valerie OkonThe reason is simply timing. We have a few valuations due in, and retentions that haven't been released yet. I'd prefer not to take a large payment out in one go if I can avoid it.
- Craig AshwellWhich is exactly the problem the brain's meant to fix. We can't see which clients owe us what, next to what's been built. Sorry, carry on.
- Owen TallisNo, that's useful, Craig, that's the value case. Valerie, let me think out loud. We've already put the subscription on the quarterly option. What I won't do is move the price again. Let's not discount twice. The number Priya gave is where we are.
- Valerie OkonI wasn't asking for a lower number. I was asking about timing.
- Owen TallisUnderstood. Then timing I can work with. Let me take the implementation invoice and see whether we can split it in two, one on signature and one at go-live. Can I come back to you on that by the end of the week?
- Valerie OkonThat would be acceptable. Please put it in writing, with the date.
- Priya RamanI'll do that. Noted, Owen's coming back to us on the implementation invoice split. I'll pop it in the follow-up email so it's not lost.
- Craig AshwellRight. Can we talk about what we get? Because that's what I'm bothered about, not whether we pay in two bits or three.
- Priya RamanOf course. Growth means several teams, so your project, commercial and credit-control teams all fit. It's forty users and eight connectors, and it comes with the dashboards builder and quarterly reviews with Marcus, who'll be your customer success manager.
- Craig AshwellForty users. We're, what, thirty or so who'd actually use it, if I'm honest. Project managers, the commercial team, quantity surveyors, Debbie's lot.
- Debbie RowntreeCredit control is only a couple of us, but we'd be in it daily.
- Owen TallisSo there's headroom. Good. That's where you want to be, not scraping the ceiling in the first month.
- Craig AshwellAnd connectors. Remind me what counts as one.
- Priya RamanEach source system you plug in. Your CRM, your accounting system, your helpdesk if you have one, the call recorder, email. Eight is the limit on Growth, and from what we mapped in the demo you'd use fewer than that to start.
- Craig AshwellWhat we need most is the project and commercial side, the variations, next to what's been invoiced. Where's the variation, what has the client signed, has it been billed. That's the whole point.
- Debbie RowntreeAnd from my end, I want the invoices from the accounting system sitting next to the calls and emails with that client. So when I ring someone about an overdue invoice I know what's been said already.
- Priya RamanThat's precisely what we showed in the demo. Invoices, emails and calls for the client in one place, and you can just ask it.
- Valerie OkonMay I ask about the second point? What we get by when.
- Owen TallisGrowth implementation is eight weeks. Fixed fee, fixed scope. The connectors named in the order form carry a live-within commitment, so if we say the accounting system will be live within a set number of days, that goes in writing and we're held to it.
- Valerie OkonHeld to it in what sense?
- Owen TallisIt's a contractual commitment in the order form. I won't dress it up as more than that. If we miss it, we're in breach of something we signed, and Marcus would be the first person you'd speak to.
- Valerie OkonThat is clearer than I expected. Thank you.
- Craig AshwellCan I be impatient for a second? Eight weeks from when? From signature?
- Priya RamanFrom kickoff, which we'd set right after signature. If we get this over the line by the ninth, we start straight away. And I'd rather we don't lose the weeks between.
- Craig AshwellGood. Because we've got two big fit-outs landing in the autumn and I want the brain live before the variations start piling up.
- Owen TallisThen the next dated step is the board, yes? Valerie, when do they meet?
- Valerie OkonI won't give you a date I can't keep. They meet in the first part of next month. I'd want the order form with me a good while before.
- Owen TallisFair enough. Then we need the draft to you this week, and no later. Priya, can you do that?
- Priya RamanYes, absolutely. I'll send it by Friday. And I'll write it so that the board can read it cold, with the split between implementation and subscription clearly shown.
- Valerie OkonThat would help. Thank you.
- Debbie RowntreeCan I ask one more about the third thing Valerie mentioned? What happens if it doesn't work, or the data goes stale?
- Priya RamanI'll let Owen answer, but the headline is that the service levels are in the contract, and they depend on the tier.
- Owen TallisRight. On Growth, availability is ninety-nine point five percent, and there's a service credit if we miss it. A priority-one issue gets a first response within one business hour. The nightly refresh finishes by seven in the morning on business days. That's every tier. Be clear, though: the credit on Growth is for availability. If the brain's up but the data's late, you'd raise it with Marcus, but there's no automatic credit for freshness. That's an Enterprise feature.
- Craig AshwellSo if it's up but wrong, we don't get anything.
- Owen TallisNot a credit, no. You get a fast response and a fix, and a conversation with Marcus about it. I'd rather tell you that now than have you find out later.
- Valerie OkonI appreciate that. I'll want the board paper to say it plainly.
- Priya RamanI can draft a short summary for you, Valerie, in plain language. Price, billing, what's delivered, what the service levels are. One page.
- Valerie OkonOne page, please. And no jargon.
- Craig AshwellCan I raise something else? Who on our side owns this? Because last time we brought in a system, nobody owned it and it went stale within a quarter.
- Owen TallisGood instinct, and it's the thing that most often goes wrong. Someone on your side needs to be the owner, with a deputy. In my experience, if it's only one person asking the questions, you've got a risk.
- Craig AshwellI'll be the owner for the commercial side. Debbie for credit control?
- Debbie RowntreeI can do that. I'd need a bit of time set aside, though. We're short-handed.
- Valerie OkonDebbie, we'll make the time. This is meant to save you time.
- Priya RamanThat's lovely to hear. And in kickoff Marcus will walk through who does what, so you won't be doing it blind.
- Craig AshwellFine. So what's left? Price is the price, billing's quarterly, implementation might be split. What else?
- Owen TallisHonestly, I think it's the paperwork and the date. Valerie, is there anything in the contract itself you'd want to see changed? Better to know now.
- Valerie OkonI'd want to read the master agreement properly. I've not seen the final wording, and I'd want our solicitor to look at the liability section.
- Owen TallisAbsolutely. Priya will send the agreement with the order form. If your solicitor has comments, send them through Priya and we'll turn them quickly.
- Priya RamanI'll flag it to our legal team today so nobody's waiting on us.
- Valerie OkonThank you. Then I think I have what I need for now.
- Craig AshwellCan I just say, from my side, I'm keen. I'd like this done. If there's anything holding it up, tell me and I'll sort it.
- Owen TallisAppreciated, Craig. Let me read it back, then. Priya sends the order form, the agreement and the one-page summary by Friday. I come back on the implementation invoice split by the end of the week. Valerie takes it to the board next month. Target signature is Friday 9 August 2024. Anything I've missed?
- Debbie RowntreeYou should add that I'll send the list of the systems we'd connect. So you can check it fits within the connectors.
- Priya RamanYes, please do. That'd be really helpful, and it means the order form names the right ones.
- Valerie OkonThen we'll pay on the agreed terms, once agreed. Thank you all.
- Priya RamanBrilliant. Thanks, everyone. Speak soon.
- Craig AshwellCheers all.
Callsmade from