Penmaen Software / BG-Demo – QBR
Callcompleted
Penmaen Software · 30 Dec 2024 16:15
Penmaen Software's CFO, Huw Bevan, questioned adoption (six or seven active against forty seats) and said he will want a usage case before renewal. Support and payments are clean; renewal is 25 Jul 2025.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Penmaen Software's CFO, Huw Bevan, questioned adoption (six or seven active against forty seats) and said he will want a usage case before renewal. Support and payments are clean; renewal is 25 Jul 2025.
What happened: Marcus Bell ran the QBR with Cerys Llewellyn, Huw Bevan and Ffion Rees, with Tom Ashdown joining. Six or seven people are active on a typical day against forty licensed seats, mostly in customer success.
Customer view: Huw, the CFO, challenged adoption and asked what the company would lose if it stopped. Cerys said they would lose the per-operator view and be back to Ffion's manual Mondays.
Commercial: Tom said Growth is £40k a year, to be confirmed against the order form. The term ends 24 Jul 2025 and renewal is 25 Jul 2025.
Watch: Most questions come from Ffion and two managers, a key-person risk. Marcus promised Huw a one-page usage summary after a January training session.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Adoption and renewal value case
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- Marcus Bell to run a training session for the remaining managers in the first week back in January.
- Marcus Bell to send Huw Bevan a one-page usage summary after that session.
- Tom Ashdown to confirm the Growth price against the order form and send it over.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Only six or seven of forty licensed users are active, so the CFO may doubt the subscription's value at renewal.
- Most questions come from Ffion Rees and two managers, a key-person dependency.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Other teams such as finance and account managers could be brought in, using the unused Growth seats as headroom.
- Ffion's dashboards give a concrete case of hours saved to anchor the renewal conversation.
Transcript
Marcus BellHello, hello. Can everyone hear me alright? I've got Cerys and Ffion, and I think Tom's just joining.
Cerys LlewellynAfternoon, Marcus. Yes, loud and clear. Huw's just fetching a coffee, he'll be a minute.
Tom AshdownAfternoon all, sorry, bit of a scramble. How's everyone's week going, this odd stretch between Christmas and New Year? Is anybody actually working?
Ffion ReesOnly the people on this call, I think. The office in Cardiff is like a ghost town. I had to put the heating on myself.- Tom AshdownHa, no drama then, you've got the place to yourself. Better than my house, there's about nine of us in it.
- Cerys LlewellynMine's been quiet, which is nice. My team did ask me this week whether we can see renewals coming further out, so I'm keen to hear what Marcus has got for us.
Huw BevanGood afternoon, everyone. Apologies, I was on mute and then on the wrong link. Marcus, before you start, may I ask about adoption? Who is actually using it?- Marcus BellGood question, Huw, and that's exactly what I want to cover. I've pulled the numbers. Let me share my screen. Can you see it? Right. So three things today: usage, what the team's built, and then a word on the contract with Tom.
- Huw BevanYes, I can see it. Please go ahead.
- Marcus BellSo on a typical day over the last month you've had between six and seven people active. That's up about a fifth on the previous quarter, so it's moving the right way. And questions asked are up month on month as well.
- Huw BevanSix or seven. And you've forty seats, I believe. So most of them are idle.
- Marcus BellForty licensed, yes. I wouldn't call them idle, more not started. The use is concentrated in the customer success team. That's headroom, if you wanted other teams in. But I take your point, Huw, it's fair to ask.
- Cerys LlewellynCan I come in on that? I've seen this work at other places, where it starts with one team and then finance and the account managers ask for a login once they see the output. We're not there yet, but Ffion's work is the reason people are asking.
- Ffion ReesYeah, so I built a couple of dashboards in the autumn. One is renewals by leisure operator, with the open tickets and usage next to each one. The other is a weekly view for the managers. Before that I was pulling it together by hand from three places, which took most of a Monday.
- Huw BevanAnd that Monday is now free?
- Ffion ReesMostly, yes. I still check the odd thing, but it's maybe an hour. The managers go straight to the dashboard now rather than asking me.
- Marcus BellThat's the pattern I see in the numbers too. Most of the questions come from Ffion and two of Cerys's managers. The only thing I'd gently say is it's good to spread that a bit, so it doesn't depend on one person asking everything. But that's a nice problem.
- Cerys LlewellynFair. I'll get the rest of the managers on a short session in January. Marcus, would you do that?
- Marcus BellHappy to jump on a call, or run a training session with the whole group. Shall we book half an hour for the first week back?
- Cerys LlewellynYes, let's do that. Which customers are at the edge, that's what they always want to know. If they can answer that in a few minutes, they'll use it.
- Huw BevanMarcus, what about support? Have there been any problems I ought to know about?
- Marcus BellNothing at all. No tickets in the last month, nothing open, and the nightly refresh has been landing as it should. Ffion would shout if it hadn't, I think.
- Ffion ReesI would, yes. It's been fine. The connectors have just sat there doing their job.
- Huw BevanGood. And invoices? I'd like to know we have not been late with you.
- Tom AshdownI can take that one. No, nothing overdue on your side. All paid, all on time. Honestly you're one of the easier ones, Huw.
- Huw BevanThank you. I prefer boring where cash is concerned.
- Tom AshdownWhile I've got the floor, just a word on the contract, nothing to decide today. You're on Growth, and I believe it's £39,600 a year, though I'll confirm that against the order form and send it over. The term ends on 24 Jul 2025, so the renewal date is 25 Jul 2025. Plenty of time.
- Huw BevanUnderstood. Let's not rush. But when we come to it I will want a usage case in front of me. What would we lose if we stopped?
- Cerys LlewellynI can answer that one for you now, Huw. We'd lose the per-operator view, and we'd be back to Ffion's Mondays. But I know you want it on paper, so we'll put it together.
- Marcus BellI can help with that. I'll write up a one-page summary of usage, who's asking questions and what's been built, and send it after the session in January so it has a bit more in it. You can use it or change it.
- Huw BevanThat would be helpful. Short, please. One page.
- Marcus BellOne page, I promise. Right, anything else from anyone? Anything you'd like to see in the product that you can't do today?
- Ffion ReesNot really. I might have a couple of ideas for the dashboards, but I'd rather try them myself first and come back to you.
- Tom AshdownBrilliant. Leave that with me and Marcus, we'll get something in the diary. Happy new year, all, enjoy what's left of the break.
- Cerys LlewellynDiolch, both. Happy new year, everyone.
- Huw BevanThank you, all. Happy new year.
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