Merriott Lyle Distribution / BG-Demo – Negotiation
Callcompleted
Merriott Lyle Distribution · 7 Sep 2026 09:45
Malcolm Ridgway questioned the £4,548 expansion against usage down by about a third. Owen Tallis agreed more users is not the answer, and 14 Sep 2026 became a reconvene date, not a signing date.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Malcolm Ridgway questioned the £4,548 expansion against usage down by about a third. Owen Tallis agreed more users is not the answer, and 14 Sep 2026 became a reconvene date, not a signing date.
What happened: Lewis Kerr and Owen Tallis took the £4,548 plus VAT expansion to Malcolm Ridgway, Bernadette Lowry and Fiona Marsden. It is an amendment under the existing MSA, co-termed to 28 Feb 2027, and no further discount was offered.
Customer view: Malcolm said payment is on time and he is asking what he gets for the money. Bernadette said her team opens the brain less because when it disagrees with the statement she goes with the statement.
Commercial: Owen said the evidence does not support more users yet, and Lewis proposed a usage review, a base and two periods for the figure quoted, and a reconvene. Fiona will take a draft amendment, not executed, to approvals.
Watch: Bernadette distrusts the dashboards, not the service, and will test the brain against accounts she picks. The evidence does not show the outcome of 14 Sep 2026.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Usage drop, data trust
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- Lewis Kerr to send Malcolm Ridgway the usage base and two periods, and Fiona Marsden the draft amendment, on 7 Sep 2026.
- Daniel Okafor to send a usage review by team and user that week and run Bernadette's chosen accounts.
- Lewis Kerr and Owen Tallis to reconvene with Malcolm on 14 Sep 2026 for his decision.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Active users are about a third lower than the previous quarter against two hundred licensed seats.
- The Head of Credit Control does not trust the dashboards and defers to the ledger, which erodes day-to-day value.
- If the review finds the product is not useful to her people, the CFO expects a conversation about the subscription itself.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A reconciliation of statement against brain on accounts Bernadette Lowry picks could rebuild trust in the data.
- The expansion stays on the table, with the quote reissued on the same terms if the close moves.
Transcript
Lewis KerrMorning, everyone. Can you all hear me alright? I can see Malcolm and Fiona, just waiting on Bernadette.
Fiona MarsdenMorning, Lewis. Yes, loud and clear. Bernadette's in the lobby, I think. She's been stuck in another call.
Bernadette LowryHere, sorry. Overran by five minutes and the link wouldn't load. Morning all.- Lewis KerrNo problem at all. Thanks for making time. I've also got Owen with me this morning, our VP Sales. He's joining because there's a pricing point on the table and I'd rather he heard it from you directly.
Owen TallisMorning. Owen Tallis. I don't want to take over, Lewis has the account. I'm here so that if there's a decision on price, it can be made on the call and not over three emails.
Malcolm RidgwayMorning. What's changed since the last one?- Lewis KerrFair question, Malcolm. Two things. The quote for the expansion has gone out in writing, and the expected close we have against it is Monday 14 September 2026, so a week today. And the usage picture has moved, which I think you've seen, and I'd rather we talk about that honestly before we talk about the quote.
- Malcolm RidgwayGo on.
- Lewis KerrSo you're licensed for two hundred users on Enterprise. Over the last thirty days the average number of active users has been around forty. That's about a third lower than the quarter before.
- Malcolm RidgwayA third of what? What's the base?
- Lewis KerrThe average active users over the previous quarter. Same measure, same definition, a thirty day average. I don't have the earlier figure in front of me to the decimal and I'm not going to quote it from memory.
- Malcolm RidgwayPut it in writing. The base and the two periods.
- Lewis KerrI'll send that over today.
- Bernadette LowryCan I ask something first? Who's dropped off? Because if it's credit control I want to know why. I'd have thought my team was the biggest group on there.
- Lewis KerrI can't say that by team yet, Bernadette. I can see it by user and by date from our side, but I haven't cut it by function. That's one for Daniel Okafor, your customer success manager. He has the breakdown.
- Bernadette LowryHm. I'll be honest, my people open it less than they did. When the brain and the statement disagree I go with the statement. And then they stop opening it. That's on me as much as anyone.
- Lewis KerrThat's useful to hear, and thank you for saying it. Can I ask, when they disagree, is it the data that's wrong, or is it a timing thing?
- Bernadette LowryUsually timing. Occasionally I don't know, and I can't tell you which. The ledger says otherwise and that's the end of it for me. I'll believe it when it reconciles.
- Malcolm RidgwayLet me be clear about where I am. You are paid. Every invoice, on time. No one here is using payment as leverage. I'm asking what I get for the money.
- Owen TallisUnderstood, and we know you're on time. That's appreciated. The question you're asking is the right one.
- Malcolm RidgwayThen answer it. You have a subscription with us at £127,500. Fewer people are using it. Now you want to sell me more. What does that do to the case I take to the board?
- Lewis KerrRight. So, to put a number on it, the expansion is £4,548 plus VAT. That's the total value of the deal, so it can include a one-off implementation element, it is not an annual figure, and the written quote shows the split. It would be co-termed to your renewal on 28 Feb 2027.
- Malcolm RidgwayCo-termed. So I pay a part year on it, then it joins the renewal.
- Lewis KerrThat's how it's structured, yes. The contract end date on your order form is 27 Feb 2027 and the renewal date we hold is the day after. It would line up with that.
- Fiona MarsdenSorry, can I just check the paperwork side? Is this an amendment to the existing order form, or a new one? Because I need to know which it is before it goes near our approvals.
- Lewis KerrAn amendment, referencing the executed order form, sitting under the MSA you already have. Not a new contract. I'll make that explicit in the cover note.
- Fiona MarsdenGood. And the schedule will state what the extra is. Not just a description, the actual quantities.
- Lewis KerrYes. Quantities, the price, the VAT position and the dates. If it isn't on the schedule, it isn't in the deal.
- Malcolm RidgwayNever sign without reading the schedule. And I've read the schedule on the main contract, so I'll read this one. Now. Back to my question.
- Owen TallisCan I take that one, Lewis?
- Lewis KerrPlease do.
- Owen TallisMalcolm, here's where I stand. Usage is the thing I'd be worried about in your seat. A third lower with two hundred seats paid for is not a story I'd want to carry upstairs. So I'm not going to tell you more users is the answer, because the evidence doesn't support it yet.
- Malcolm RidgwayThat's an unusual thing for a salesman to say.
- Owen TallisIt's an honest pipeline. If you sign on Monday and the numbers don't recover, I'm back here at renewal having this call again, with less goodwill. I'd rather see the usage turn first.
- Malcolm RidgwayAnd the cost of that is? If I wait.
- Lewis KerrThe quote holds. I'm not going to put a clock on it that makes you decide under pressure. The price in the written quote is the price, and we'd re-issue it in the same terms if the close moves.
- Owen TallisAnd to be plain, let's not discount twice. The quote is already the number. I'm not going to improve it on the call just because the close date is next week.
- Malcolm RidgwayI wasn't asking for a discount. I was asking whether I'm buying the right thing.
- Owen TallisGood. Then we're on the same page.
- Bernadette LowryCan I raise the support side? We have the one ticket in the last month. I want it on record that it was handled properly. I'm not here to complain about that.
- Lewis KerrThat's good to hear. Nothing high priority, one ticket, closed. Is there anything outstanding on it that I should know about?
- Bernadette LowryNo. It's the dashboards I don't trust, not the service. Different problem.
- Malcolm RidgwaySo the service is fine. Payment is fine. The data is the question, and the people are the question. Say that back to me, Lewis.
- Lewis KerrService is fine, payment is fine, usage is down by about a third, and we don't yet know whether the reason is the data, the habit or something in the business that has changed. That's fair. And I don't think it's right to ask you to expand until we do.
- Fiona MarsdenDoes anyone at your end know what has changed on our side? Because I don't. Nothing's been switched off from procurement's point of view.
- Lewis KerrNot from what I can see. No connector has been removed, as far as we know. I'd rather Daniel looked properly than guess on a call. Could we ask the branch and key-account teams as well, not only credit control?
- Bernadette LowryYou can ask them. I can't promise you'll like the answer.
- Lewis KerrI'd prefer a straight answer I don't like to a nice one I can't use.
- Malcolm RidgwayRight. So what are you proposing? Specifically. A date and a person.
- Lewis KerrThree things. One, Daniel does a usage review by team and by user, this week, and it comes to you in writing. Two, I send the base and the two periods for the figure I quoted, today. Three, we don't treat Monday 14 September 2026 as the signing date. We treat it as the day we reconvene and decide.
- Owen TallisWho signs, on your side, if it does go ahead? Malcolm?
- Malcolm RidgwayMe. After Fiona has been through the schedule and Bernadette has told me she is content.
- Bernadette LowryI'm not going to be content on a dashboard. I'll want to see a statement and the brain agreeing, on a handful of accounts I choose.
- Lewis KerrThat's reasonable, and it's something we can do. You pick the accounts, Daniel runs them against what you have, and you see where they differ. I won't tell you in advance that they'll match.
- Bernadette LowryGood. I'll send Daniel a list. I won't put credit positions in an email to sales, so he'll get account names only and we'll talk through the rest.
- Lewis KerrThat works. Names only is fine.
- Fiona MarsdenWhile that's happening, can I have the amendment draft anyway? Not to sign. So that I can get it in front of our approvals people and we aren't losing a week if Malcolm says yes.
- Malcolm RidgwayFine. Marked as draft, and clearly not executed.
- Lewis KerrUnderstood. Draft, not executed, and it'll say so on the front. The executed order form stays the document that governs until anything else is signed.
- Owen TallisWhat's the next dated step? I want it said out loud before we finish.
- Lewis KerrToday, I send the usage base and periods to Malcolm, and the draft amendment to Fiona. This week, Daniel sends the review by team. Monday 14 September 2026, we reconvene and the decision is Malcolm's.
- Malcolm RidgwayAnd if the review says the usage is low because the product isn't useful to my people?
- Owen TallisThen we have a different conversation, and it's about the subscription and the value, not about a small expansion. I'd want to hear that sooner rather than at renewal.
- Malcolm RidgwayGood. Then I'll hold you to that. Anything else? I've another meeting.
- Fiona MarsdenNothing from me. I'll wait for the draft.
- Bernadette LowryNothing. I'll send the names.
- Lewis KerrThank you, all. Kind regards. Speak on Monday week, and I'll get those documents over today.
- Owen TallisThanks, everyone. Appreciate the straight talking.
- Malcolm RidgwayGoodbye.
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