Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Negotiation
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 29 Jan 2025 15:30
Negotiation call on an Enterprise deal. The Group Finance Director signs subject to a board paper and will not agree a price on a call. Target signing is 14 Feb 2025. The £144k total including implementation is not an annual figure.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Negotiation call on an Enterprise deal. The Group Finance Director signs subject to a board paper and will not agree a price on a call. Target signing is 14 Feb 2025. The £144k total including implementation is not an annual figure.
What happened: Lewis Kerr and Owen Tallis agreed scope as Enterprise with Neil Craven, Fiona Metcalfe and Gillian Thewlis. Nothing was signed; the aim was a dated path to the order form.
Customer view: Fiona signs subject to the board paper and wants a one page summary of scope, recurring cost, step-ups and commitments. She will not renew without a usage case.
Commercial: The £144k deal amount is the total including implementation, not annual. Owen said any first-term concession falls away at renewal, and Lewis advised against buying extra users or connectors before seeing branch usage.
Watch: The credit feed connector matters most to Gillian, while Neil wants branches live first. Both want freshness cover and read-only credit limits, and the evidence does not show whether either was agreed.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Enterprise price and terms
Importance
neutral
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 the revised order form and one page summary by the end of that week, with Owen Tallis checking the numbers.
- Lewis Kerr to write each connector commitment, both sequencing options and the read-only credit limit line into the draft.
- Fiona Metcalfe to send a written response ahead of the board and tell BG-Demo early if the date slips.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The board decides, and Fiona Metcalfe would not promise the 14 Feb 2025 signing target.
- The £143,500 total has been read both ways internally, as total or annual, and could be misread again.
- A late credit feed connector would give the credit team little value in the first quarter.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Enterprise freshness credits and company-wide scope fit a credit team that needs a current position.
- Three branch managers who saw the demo could speak to Fiona as customer references.
- A usage report from the first quarter could support a later add-on or renewal conversation.
Transcript
Lewis KerrHello, can you all hear me alright? I've got Owen with me on this side.
Neil CravenAye, loud and clear. Bit of an echo, maybe. Hang on, I'll mute my other laptop.
Owen TallisGood afternoon, all. Fine on my side.- Neil CravenThat's better. Sorry about that. I've had a builder on the phone since eight this morning about a delivery that went to the wrong yard, so I'm running on coffee.
- Lewis KerrWhich branch, which account? Only joking, I'm borrowing your line.
- Neil CravenHa. Don't. It's sorted, more or less. Fiona, Gillian, are you both on?
Fiona MetcalfeI'm here. Gillian is just joining, she's coming from another meeting. Before we start, Lewis, what decision is needed from me today?- Lewis KerrFair question, and I'll be straight about it. Today we're not asking you to sign anything. We'd like to leave with the scope agreed in principle, the open commercial points written down, and a dated path to the order form. Our target is Friday 14 February 2025, which is the date we have pencilled in.
- Fiona MetcalfeGood. Because I should say now that I don't agree a price on a call. I'll hear it, I'll take it away, and we'll respond in writing.
- Owen TallisThat's completely fine, and it's how we'd prefer it. What I'd like is for us to leave knowing what's the next dated step, and who signs.
- Fiona MetcalfeI sign, subject to the board paper. The board meets in the first half of February, so the timing is tight but not impossible.
Gillian ThewlisSorry, sorry, I'm here. Afternoon, everyone. Have I missed anything?- Lewis KerrNot a thing, Gillian, we've only just started. I was about to recap where we've got to.
- Lewis KerrSo, from the demo on your own trade account data and the two workshops since, the shape is Enterprise. That covers your branch teams, the trade credit team and the key account managers, all looking at the same view of a trade account: orders, deliveries, calls and credit position together. It runs inside your Snowflake account, so the data doesn't leave your estate.
- Neil CravenThat's the bit that matters to me. What's the builder actually seeing? If a housebuilder rings a branch about a late delivery, the branch needs to know if credit has put a hold on that account, and the other way round.
- Gillian ThewlisAnd from my side, the hold decision shouldn't be a surprise to the branch. At the moment I ring round. It takes half the morning.
- Lewis KerrRight, and that's exactly the case we built the demo around. Now, on the number. The deal amount on the proposal is £143,500. To put a number on it, that's the total value of the deal, with the implementation included. It's not an annual figure, and I'd like us all to be clear on that, because I know it's been read both ways internally.
- Fiona MetcalfeThank you, that is exactly the confusion. In pounds, please: what do we pay up front, and what recurs?
- Lewis KerrThe order form separates the two lines. A fixed implementation fee, paid on signature, and then the annual subscription, invoiced in advance. I'll set them out line by line in the revised draft rather than quote the split from memory on a call. All prices are exclusive of VAT, and I'll show the VAT position on each line.
- Fiona MetcalfeFine. I would rather see it on paper.
- Owen TallisIf I can add something. We've held the scope tight so that the price is fair for what you're getting. Where we can help is on the first term only. Any concession is a first term concession, and it falls away at renewal. I'd rather say that now than have it be a surprise in a year.
- Fiona MetcalfeThat's the sort of thing I'll want to be able to explain to the board. A price that steps up later needs to be visible from the start.
- Owen TallisAgreed. It will be in the order form in plain words. And let's not discount twice. If we go on the first term, we don't then reopen it at the first renewal conversation.
- Fiona MetcalfeWe'll look at it at renewal, in the usual way, with a usage case. I won't renew without one.
- Owen TallisWhich is fair, and frankly it's what we'd want too. Our customer success lead, Daniel Okafor, will set up the usage reporting so you have that case from the first quarter, not scraping for it at the end.
- Neil CravenI like that. I've had suppliers promise us the moon and then nobody can say what we got. Let's sort it, not talk about it.
- Gillian ThewlisCan I ask about the connectors? We talked about the order system, the delivery tracking, the telephony and the credit insurance feed. Are all of those in the scope, and by when are they live?
- Lewis KerrGood question. The connectors named in the order form each carry a commitment that they go live within a set number of days of the start. I don't want to give you a figure from memory, so I'll write each commitment against each connector in the draft and you can challenge them one by one.
- Gillian ThewlisMm. The credit feed is the one I care about. If that goes in late, my team gets nothing out of the first quarter.
- Neil CravenAnd the delivery tracking, for the branches. If the credit feed is late, I'd still want the branches live first so they're not waiting on each other.
- Owen TallisThat's a sequencing choice, and it's yours to make. Lewis, can we note both options in the plan? Credit first, or branches first.
- Lewis KerrYes, I'll put both in. I'll want a view from you both on which is the priority, and I suspect you two will want to agree that between you before it reaches Fiona.
- Neil CravenWe will. Gillian and I'll have a word this week. We usually agree, it's the timing that gets us.
- Gillian ThewlisUsually.
- Fiona MetcalfeRight. Security. I have a short list from our IT and risk people. What does the security review involve, and who from your side will support it?
- Lewis KerrEnterprise implementation includes security review support. In practice that's a questionnaire, a call with your risk people, and our team answering follow-ups. Because B-Viz is built and run inside your own Snowflake account, a lot of the usual questions about where data sits are quicker to answer. Single sign-on and user provisioning are part of Enterprise too, so your IT team can manage access the way they do for everything else.
- Fiona MetcalfeGood. I'll ask them to send the list to you directly rather than through me.
- Lewis KerrPerfect, I'll send over the right contact today.
- Owen TallisWhile we're on it, one thing on service levels. For Enterprise, we credit you if availability falls short, and we also credit you if the nightly refresh isn't complete on time. Not every tier gets that second one. For a credit team working off yesterday's position, I'd think that matters.
- Gillian ThewlisIt does matter. A stale credit position is worse than none. If the branch is told an account is fine when it isn't, that's exposure.
- Fiona MetcalfeWhat's our exposure on that, then? If B-Viz is behind and a branch releases an order against a stale position?
- Owen TallisHonestly, Fiona, B-Viz shouldn't be the control. Your credit limits stay with your credit team. B-Viz shows the position; it doesn't set the limit, and sales can't change one through it. That's by design.
- Fiona MetcalfeGood. Because I will never let a credit limit be set by sales, and I want that written down.
- Lewis KerrI'll add a line to the scope note that B-Viz is read-only for credit limits. Gillian, would you check my wording when it arrives?
- Gillian ThewlisOf course. Send it to me and I'll mark it up.
- Neil CravenCan I ask about users? We've got ninety-odd branches, and I don't want to find we've bought for head office and nobody else can log in.
- Lewis KerrThe Enterprise tier is sized for company-wide use, with a user allowance and a connector allowance, and I'll set both out in the draft. If you grow beyond them, additional users and connectors are available as add-ons, but I'd not recommend buying them before you've seen how the branches use it. I'd sooner you came back to us after a quarter with real numbers.
- Neil CravenThat's a straight answer. I like that.
- Fiona MetcalfeAnd the board will like it better than being sold more than we need. Now, payment. Our terms are what, Gillian?
- Gillian ThewlisWe pay on terms and we don't pay early. Our standard is what we've already sent over, and I'd expect your invoices to match it.
- Lewis KerrOur standard is thirty days from invoice, annual in advance, quarterly if you ask. If you want quarterly, say so now and I'll price it in, because it affects the cash profile on our side.
- Fiona MetcalfeAnnual is fine for the subscription, provided the implementation fee is tied to a milestone and not simply a date. Is that possible?
- Owen TallisThat's something I can look at. A fixed fee against a milestone is reasonable if the milestone is clear and within our control. I'd rather not tie it to something outside both our hands, like a third party's change. Lewis, can you draft it with a first milestone and a second?
- Lewis KerrWill do. I'll send that over today with the rest, or tomorrow morning at the latest. I'd rather it was right than fast.
- Neil CravenCan we talk about training? Branch managers aren't going to read a manual. They'll watch someone do it once, and then they'll ask the person next to them.
- Lewis KerrThere's an on-site training day available as an add-on, and Daniel's team runs remote sessions as part of the onboarding. My honest view is to start with remote sessions by role, branch managers separate from credit, and see whether you need the on-site day afterwards.
- Neil CravenAye, that makes sense. Let's start remote and see.
- Fiona MetcalfeNow, the thing I keep coming back to. The total. I've seen the figure and I'm not going to react to it today. But I need to explain to the board what they get for it, and what the alternatives were.
- Owen TallisThat's reasonable. What would help you? A one page comparison, or the usage case up front?
- Fiona MetcalfeA one page summary. Scope, what's in the total, what recurs, what steps up, what the commitments are. If it fits on a page, it can go in the paper.
- Owen TallisWe'll do that. Lewis will draft it and I'll read it before it leaves, so the numbers are clean.
- Lewis KerrI'll send that over today as well. It'll show the deal amount of £143,500 as the total including implementation, and separate the recurring part clearly so nobody reads one as the other.
- Gillian ThewlisPlease do. Last quarter we had a supplier whose headline number was a three year total, and it caused a week of arguing.
- Neil CravenI remember that. Not again.
- Fiona MetcalfeRight. If I understand where we are: scope is Enterprise, the connectors are to be listed with commitments, credit limits stay read-only, security questions go direct, payment milestones are under review, and the price I take away. Is that fair?
- Lewis KerrThat's exactly right. Anything you'd add, Owen?
- Owen TallisOnly the dates. Revised order form and one page summary from us by the end of this week. Your security list to Lewis early next week. Fiona's response in writing ahead of the board. And the target of Friday 14 February 2025 to sign. Is that realistic, Fiona?
- Fiona MetcalfeIt's the target. I won't promise it, because the board decides, not me. But I'll tell you early if it's slipping.
- Owen TallisThat's all I'd ask. I'd rather hear it early than be given a hopeful date.
- Neil CravenI'll keep pushing from my end. I've got three branch managers who've seen the demo and keep asking when they can have it.
- Lewis KerrThat's helpful to hear, Neil. If any of them would be happy to speak to Fiona about what they saw, that might carry more weight than anything we write.
- Neil CravenI'll ask. They'll say it straight, mind. They won't polish it.
- Fiona MetcalfeThat's precisely why I'd value it.
- Lewis KerrBrilliant. Thank you all, that was a useful half hour. I'll send everything over today. Kind regards, speak soon.
- Owen TallisThanks, everyone. Speak soon.
- Neil CravenCheers all. Back to my builder.
- Gillian ThewlisThanks, bye.
- Fiona MetcalfeThank you. Goodbye.
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