Brackwell Freight Ltd / BG-Demo – Check In
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Brackwell Freight Ltd · 23 May 2025 13:30
Liam Doherty told Marcus Bell the depots have not adopted the brain, leaving eight active users against forty on Growth. He gave a strong value example and wants a plan to show his finance director.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Liam Doherty told Marcus Bell the depots have not adopted the brain, leaving eight active users against forty on Growth. He gave a strong value example and wants a plan to show his finance director.
What happened: On the 23 May 2025 check-in Marcus Bell reviewed usage, one closed ticket and the renewal. Liam Doherty said the depot account managers logged in once and tailed off.
Customer view: Liam called it a good tool that has not been pushed hard enough with the people who would get most from it. His best example: he saw exception tickets and call tone building and had the depot manager ring a retail customer first.
Commercial: Order form and invoices both show £44k a year, paid on time. Liam expects his finance director to ask what that buys and needs a plan, not just a number.
Watch: Questions asked are steady but concentrated in a few people. Liam declined budget for an on-site training day until the short sessions are tried.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Depot adoption and value
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Marcus Bell to send the usage summary note and check how depot manager access and dashboard pinning work.
- Liam Doherty to send Marcus the depot names and a day for a thirty-minute video session.
- Marcus Bell to prepare the value summary ahead of the quarterly review, with Tom Ashdown picking up the renewal later.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Eight active users against forty licences will be challenged by the finance director at renewal.
- A handful of people ask most of the questions, a single point of failure if Liam is away.
- The depots' transport system is old and may not be connectable, so the Growth connector headroom may go unused.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Short depot sessions starting with Trafford Park could give a rising usage trend before the renewal.
- The on-site training day add-on is available if the short sessions do not land.
- Liam's retail contract example gives a concrete value story for the finance director.
Transcript
Liam DohertyHello, hello. Can you hear me alright? I've got the headset on this time so it should be better than last time.
Marcus BellLoud and clear, Liam. Afternoon. Much better than last time, yeah, no more tin can.- Liam DohertyLove that. Sorry, I'm a minute or two behind, I was stuck in a thing about the delivery windows for one of the retail accounts. It never ends.
- Marcus BellNo problem at all. I've only just got my own screen sorted. How's the weather over your side? It's been properly grey in Manchester all morning, hasn't it.
- Liam DohertyGrey, then a bit of sun, then grey again. Typical. The yard at Trafford Park looked like a lake first thing. The drivers were not impressed.
- Marcus BellI bet. Right, shall we get going? I'll share my screen in a second and just say what I want to cover, and you tell me if I've missed anything.
- Liam DohertyGo for it.
- Marcus BellOkay, can you see that? It's the usage summary I've pulled for you. Three things really. First, how the team's using the brain at the moment. Second, anything that's come in through support. And third, I'd like to have a quick word about the renewal at the end of the year, just so nothing's a surprise later. Then anything you want to raise.
- Liam DohertyYeah, I can see it. That's fine. I've got a couple of things of my own but let's do yours first, mine will probably slot into the usage bit anyway.
- Marcus BellPerfect. So, usage. You've got forty licensed users on Growth. In the last month, on average, about eight people are actually active in a given period. Which, I'll be honest, is a bit lower than I'd like to see against forty.
- Liam DohertyYeah. Yeah, I thought it'd be something like that.
- Marcus BellAnd it's down a touch on the previous quarter. Not a cliff, just a small dip. So it's not a drama, I just want to understand what's behind it before it turns into a trend.
- Liam DohertyRight. So I'll tell you what it is. It's me, it's the rev ops team, a couple of the account managers who got it straight away, and that's pretty much the core. The depots haven't really come on board properly. That's the thing I keep coming back to. Can we get the depots on it?
- Marcus BellThat's what I was wondering. So the licences are there, the people are in the system, but they're not logging in.
- Liam DohertySome of them logged in once, in the first couple of weeks after we ran the session, and then it just tailed off. They're depot account managers, Marcus, they're on the phone, they're in the warehouse, they're dealing with a load that didn't turn up. They're not sitting at a desk thinking, I'll go and ask the brain a question.
- Marcus BellYeah, no, that makes sense. And that's fair. It's easy for me to look at a chart and say adoption's low, but it's a different job for them.
- Liam DohertyExactly. And the ones who do use it, love it. One view, that's the point. They see the account, they see the delivery-exception tickets, they see the last call, all in one place. Once they've had that it clicks. It's getting them to that first proper use.
- Marcus BellMm. Can I show you something? If I scroll down here, this is questions asked by month. So that's the number I care about most, because it's the best sign that people are getting value, not just logging in.
- Liam DohertyGo on.
- Marcus BellIt's steady. It's not growing, but it's not collapsing either. And if I look at who's asking them, it's concentrated. A handful of people are asking most of the questions. I won't read out names, but you'd probably guess.
- Liam DohertyMe, for one.
- Marcus BellHa, you're up there, yeah. Which is fine, nothing wrong with it. It's just that if one or two people are doing most of the asking, that's a bit of a single point of failure. If you're away for a fortnight, the numbers fall off.
- Liam DohertyFair. I mean, I do take holidays, I swear. It's not that bad. But yeah, I take the point.
- Marcus BellSo what would help? Because I'm happy to jump on a call with the depot managers, or run something short and practical. Not a big training day with slides. More like, here's three questions you can ask on a Monday morning that save you an hour.
- Liam DohertyYes. That. That's exactly it. Short, and about their actual accounts. If it's generic they'll switch off in the first five minutes.
- Marcus BellRight. So I'd suggest we pick a couple of depots to start, not all six at once. Try it with the ones where you've got the most enthusiastic manager, see what lands, and then roll it out. Does that sound sensible?
- Liam DohertyYeah. I'd go with Trafford Park, obviously, because I'm there and I can stand over people. And then one of the others. I'll have a think about which. There's one where the manager's quite keen on the data side of things.
- Marcus BellGood. And there's also the option of a proper on-site training day. That's an add-on, so it's a conversation with Tom rather than me, I wouldn't want to get into the detail of that. But I wanted you to know it exists if the short sessions don't do it.
- Liam DohertyOkay. Let's try the short ones first. I don't want to go asking for budget before I know it works.
- Marcus BellTotally. That's how I'd do it as well.
- Liam DohertyCan I tell you why I'm keen, actually? Because it might help you with the, what's it called, the value story.
- Marcus BellPlease. That's exactly what I'm after.
- Liam DohertySo, a few weeks back, one of our bigger retail contracts. I'm not going to name them, you know the sort of thing. Their exception tickets started building up. Late deliveries, a couple of short deliveries, nothing dramatic on its own. But I was looking at the account in the brain, and I could see the tickets, and I could see the tone on the last couple of calls, and I thought, this one's going to ring us.
- Marcus BellRight.
- Liam DohertyAnd I got the depot manager to ring them first. Before they rang us. Which, in this business, that's the whole game. Normally you find out when the customer's already furious and halfway out of the door.
- Marcus BellThat's a brilliant example. Honestly. That's the sort of thing I'd want in front of your finance people at renewal. Is it okay if I note that down, in general terms, without the customer name?
- Liam DohertyYeah, of course. Keep it general. But I'd say it's the best example I've got, and it only happened because I happened to look. If the depot managers were looking, it'd happen all the time.
- Marcus BellWhich is the argument for getting them on it. Okay. Let me move on to tickets, if that's alright, and then we'll come back to the renewal.
- Liam DohertyGo on.
- Marcus BellSupport's quiet. There's been one ticket in the last month, nothing high priority, and it's been closed. Response was well inside what you'd expect on Growth. So no complaints from that side, which I'm glad about.
- Liam DohertyYeah, I remember that one. It was me, I think. It got sorted quickly. I don't like leaving a ticket sitting, so I chased it, but I didn't need to, really.
- Marcus BellHa, I can tell you chase them. It's good, honestly. And the connectors? Anything that's stopped loading, anything that's looked odd on your side? I can see the records still coming in, so I think we're alright, but you'd know before me.
- Liam DohertyNo, all fine as far as I know. The nightly refresh has been there when people come in. I'd have shouted. I'd have shouted pretty loudly, to be fair.
- Marcus BellI'm sure you would. Good. Then the other thing, a question really. Is there a source you'd like in there that isn't? You've got room on the connector side on Growth, so if there's a system the depots live in that would make the brain more useful for them, it might be worth thinking about.
- Liam DohertyHm. That's a good one. The thing the depots actually live in is the transport system, and that's the bit that's, well, it's awkward. It's an old thing and it's not got a nice way of getting data out. I'd need to talk to someone in IT. I don't want to promise anything.
- Marcus BellThat's fine. I'm not going to promise anything from my side either, I'd want to check with the engineers what's realistic. But if you get a view from IT on what it could expose, send it over and I'll take it to the team.
- Liam DohertyWill do. I'll ask this week. Well, next week, I think they're off Monday. But I'll ask.
- Marcus BellPerfect. No rush. Right, renewal. So I just want to say up front, I'm not here to open a commercial conversation, that's Tom's side and he'll be in touch nearer the time. But the contract runs to 30 Nov 2025, so the renewal date is 1 Dec 2025, and it's about six months away. I'd like us to go into it with a proper picture of what the brain's done for you.
- Liam DohertyOkay. Good. Because I'll be honest, that's one of the things I wanted to ask. I know it's on Growth at forty-four thousand a year, and my finance director will want to know what we get for that. Not in a nasty way, he's just careful.
- Marcus BellSure, that's reasonable. So that's £44k a year on the order form, and the invoices have matched that. As far as I can see there's nothing overdue. Has finance flagged anything on their side?
- Liam DohertyNo, nothing. They pay on time, I'd know if they hadn't, someone would tell me. It's just the value question. It's always the value question.
- Marcus BellRight. So what I'll do is put together a short summary before the quarterly review. What you're using, how the questions asked have moved, the connectors, and that retail contract example, without names. And then be honest about where we've got headroom, which is the depots.
- Liam DohertyI like that. Be honest about the depots. If I go to my finance director and say, look, we're at eight people out of forty, he'll ask why we're paying for forty. So I need a plan to show him, not just a number.
- Marcus BellAgreed. That's why I'd rather get the short sessions done over the next few weeks, so that by the time we sit down for the renewal there's a real trend to point to. Even if it's only a couple of depots, a rising line tells a better story than a flat one.
- Liam DohertyYeah. So the sessions, what's your availability? I'd like to do Trafford Park in the next couple of weeks.
- Marcus BellI can do a video session at pretty short notice, or if you'd rather have me in the room I'd have to check my diary, I've got a few things in the North West anyway. Which would you prefer?
- Liam DohertyVideo's fine to start. I'll be in the room anyway so I can nudge people. Thirty minutes, maybe? They'll not sit for longer.
- Marcus BellThirty minutes is perfect. Shall we book 30 minutes then, once you've picked who's coming? Let me know the people and the day and I'll put it in.
- Liam DohertyYep. I'll get a list. And, sorry, one other thing. Can the depot people see just their own accounts? Because the first thing someone's going to ask is, why am I seeing everything?
- Marcus BellGood question. They'd see what their access lets them see, and we set that up with you. I'd want to double check how you've got it configured at the moment so I don't give you a wrong answer. Can I come back to you on that by email?
- Liam DohertyPlease. No rush, I'd just rather know before I stand up in front of them.
- Marcus BellOf course. Right, is there anything else on your list that I've not touched? You said you had a couple of things.
- Liam DohertyMostly covered it. The depots, the transport system, the value thing. Oh, and the dashboards. I built a couple, I'm quite proud of them, but nobody else is looking at them. Is there a way of making them more visible? Pinning them, or something?
- Marcus BellDashboards are a Growth feature, so you've got those, and I can see the ones you've built, which is good, that's real investment on your side. As for pinning, let me have a proper look at what's available and I'll tell you what I find. I don't want to say yes and then be wrong.
- Liam DohertyFair enough. It'd be great if the depot managers opened the thing and the first thing they saw was their own board. That's what I'm picturing.
- Marcus BellThat's a nice idea, actually. It might even be the thing for the short session. Here's your board, here's what it's telling you, here's one question to ask.
- Liam DohertyYes. Love that. Let's do that.
- Marcus BellOkay. Let me just recap so we're both on the same page, and tell me if I've got anything wrong. I'll send you a note after this with the usage summary. I'll look at how access works for depot managers and whether the dashboards can be surfaced more easily. You'll pick the depots and send me the names and a day. And you'll ask IT what the transport system could expose, with no commitment either way. Then I'll prepare the value summary ahead of the quarterly review, and Tom will pick up the renewal conversation nearer the time.
- Liam DohertyThat's it. That's all of it. You should be doing my job, you've got a better memory than me.
- Marcus BellI wrote it down as we went, honestly. Thanks for being straight about the depots, by the way. It's much easier to help when I know what's actually going on.
- Liam DohertyNo, it's fine. Better you hear it from me. It's a good tool, we just haven't pushed it hard enough with the people who'd get the most out of it. That's on me as much as anyone.
- Marcus BellWell, we'll sort it. Anything else before I let you go? I know you've got a day of it.
- Liam DohertyNo, I think that's us. Send me the note and I'll get you those names early next week.
- Marcus BellBrilliant. Thanks, Liam. Enjoy what's left of the Friday, and the weekend, whatever the weather does.
- Liam DohertyYou too. Cheers, Marcus. Speak soon.
- Marcus BellCheers. Bye.
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