Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Onboarding
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 21 Mar 2025 12:00
Second onboarding call with Ashok Patel alone. He is checking account prefixes and parent groups himself, and warns the finance director will judge the project on whether B-Viz matches the ledger. Customer tone is calm.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Second onboarding call with Ashok Patel alone. He is checking account prefixes and parent groups himself, and warns the finance director will judge the project on whether B-Viz matches the ledger. Customer tone is calm.
What happened: Callie Brennan and Ashok reviewed connector status, the delivery system's branch prefix and the credit system's parent group column. Nothing is merged automatically, and near-matches go to Ashok to review.
Customer view: Ashok says the finance director will stop trusting B-Viz if credit exposure differs from the credit system. He also says everything feels calm, which makes him slightly suspicious.
Commercial: the Enterprise contract covers single sign-on and automatic provisioning, but his IT colleague is needed to configure it. The security review is supported, and a formal questionnaire has not yet arrived.
Watch: Ashok does not yet know which definition finance uses for credit exposure, including disputed items. Account-level Snowflake rights sit with the platform team, so set-up depends on them.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Onboarding, ledger reconciliation, handover
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Ashok Patel to check the prefix length on two branches by Wednesday.
- Ashok Patel to confirm which credit exposure definition finance uses and send credentials, the folder include list and the CRM permissions screenshot.
- Callie Brennan to send the tracker and summary and book the next call at midday.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- If B-Viz credit exposure differs from the credit system, the finance director may stop trusting it.
- The credit exposure definition, including disputed items, is not yet confirmed.
- Single sign-on and Snowflake database set-up depend on IT and platform colleagues who have not yet been booked.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A clean ledger reconciliation gives Ashok something to show the finance director.
- A small tester group from credit and key accounts can build wider adoption of the licensed seats.
Transcript
Callie BrennanHello Ashok, can you hear me all right?
Ashok PatelHello, yes, loud and clear. Can you see my screen yet? Hang on, I'll stop sharing until we need it.- Callie BrennanNo, nothing yet, that's fine. How's your week been? You were saying last time it was month-end chaos.
- Ashok PatelStill is, a bit. Finance have been chasing the branch managers for stock counts, so everyone's short-tempered. But it's Friday, so I'm not complaining.
- Callie BrennanHa, fair. Right, let me give you the plan for the next hour, or rather the next forty-two minutes, since that's what we've got booked. First, I'll recap where each connector stands. Second, we'll go through the trade account mapping, because I know that's the thing you care about most. Third, the credentials and access I still need from your side. And last, what happens before we switch on the first refresh, and who owns what afterwards. Does that work?
- Ashok PatelThat works. Can I start with what I've changed since last time? It might save you a question or two.
- Callie BrennanPlease, yes. That's the best way to start.
- Ashok PatelSo, three things. I've created a read-only service user on the branch system, and I've limited it to one region for now. I haven't switched anything on, I just wanted the access to exist. Second, I've asked the credit team to give me an export of the trade account master so I can see how the account numbers are held. Third, I've found that the delivery system uses a different account number format from the other two. It's a longer string with a branch prefix.
- Callie BrennanOkay, that's useful, and it's good you caught the prefix now rather than after the load. When you say a branch prefix, is it the same prefix as the branch code in the branch system, or something separate?
- Ashok PatelMm. That's what I can't tell you yet. Which account number is that, in a sense. I think it's the branch code, but I'd want to test it on one branch before I say so.
- Callie BrennanGood, that's exactly what I'd want. I'd rather you say you don't know than guess. So what I need from your side is a sample: one branch, a handful of trade accounts, and for each the account number as it appears in all three systems. Can you pull that together?
- Ashok PatelYes. I'll pick a branch where the accounts are tidy, and then one where I know they aren't. I'd like to see both behave.
- Callie BrennanEven better. Right, let me share my screen, hold on. Can you see the tracker?
- Ashok PatelYes, I can see it. The font's small, but I can read it.
- Callie BrennanI'll zoom in. So this is the connector list from the order form. Enterprise gives you room for a good number of connectors, and you've told us you want the branch system, the credit system, the delivery system, your CRM, the call recorder, the helpdesk and the shared drive. That's the first wave. The finance ledger comes in the second wave, because you want to reconcile the reports against it.
- Ashok PatelRight, and I'd like to keep the ledger in the second wave. If I connect it too early and the numbers don't match, I'll spend a week working out whether it's the load or the ledger.
- Callie BrennanAgreed. Each one has a status here. Branch system: access created, not yet tested. Credit system: waiting on credentials. Delivery system: waiting on credentials and the mapping question. The CRM and the call recorder: both have written access from you already, so those are ready. The helpdesk and the shared drive: not started.
- Ashok PatelThat matches my list. The CRM one is clean, I tested the token on Tuesday. I'll send you a screenshot of the permissions so you can see exactly what it can read.
- Callie BrennanBrilliant, thanks. I'll attach it to the setup note. I should say, I never start a connector without written access, so even though you've told me on the call, I'll wait for that in an email or a ticket.
- Ashok PatelThat's fine, I'd expect that. Honestly, I prefer it.
- Callie BrennanGood. Now, the mapping. Can you share your screen with the account master? I'd like to look at the actual fields.
- Ashok PatelSure. Give me a second, I need to close a few things I shouldn't be sharing. Right, here we go. Can you see it?
- Callie BrennanYes. Okay, so this is the credit system export. I can see the account number, the account name, a parent group column, a credit limit, the terms. What's the parent group?
- Ashok PatelThat's for the key-account customers. A national contractor will have one parent and then a separate account at each branch they buy from. So the same contractor shows up as, well, a lot of accounts.
- Callie BrennanAnd that's where the one trade account across every branch idea comes from.
- Ashok PatelExactly. The key-account team want to open one page and see the contractor's orders, deliveries, calls and credit position together, regardless of which branch served them. Right now they open three systems and a spreadsheet.
- Callie BrennanOkay. So the parent group becomes the anchor, and the branch accounts hang off it. That maps cleanly, as long as the parent group is populated consistently. Is it?
- Ashok PatelNo. Not fully. Maybe most of the big ones are filled in, and the small ones are blank, which is fine, because a blank means it's a stand-alone account. But there are a few where someone typed the parent name slightly differently. I've seen at least a couple like that.
- Callie BrennanRight. I wouldn't want to correct those silently. What I'd suggest is that we load them as they are, and I produce a list of near-matches for you to review, because you know the customers and I don't. Would that be okay?
- Ashok PatelYes, that's much better than having something guess. The data says otherwise sometimes, and I'd rather decide myself.
- Callie BrennanNoted. I'll put that in the note: near-matches reviewed by Ashok, nothing merged automatically.
- Ashok PatelThank you. Can I ask about the delivery prefix again? Because I think it affects what you've just said.
- Callie BrennanPlease do.
- Ashok PatelIf the delivery system puts the branch prefix in front of the account number, then the same trade account looks like a different account in every branch. So it won't join to the credit system on the number alone.
- Callie BrennanYes, that's the risk. Two options. One, we strip the prefix on load and keep it as a separate field, so the join works on the bare number and you still know the branch. Two, we build a small lookup table that you maintain. I prefer the first, but only if the prefix is always the same length.
- Ashok PatelI don't know if it is. That's a thing to check on the sample. I'll test it on one branch first, and then on a second one, and tell you.
- Callie BrennanPerfect. Let me write that down. Prefix length check on two branches, by Ashok. Do you think you could have that done by the middle of next week?
- Ashok PatelProbably Wednesday. Tuesday if the credit team come back to me quickly. I'll say Wednesday so I don't promise something I can't do.
- Callie BrennanWednesday it is.
- Ashok PatelWhile we're here, can I ask how the nightly refresh works with so many branches? Some of them close early and some of them run late-night collections. Is there a point where the data has to be final?
- Callie BrennanGood question. The refresh is meant to be complete by seven in the morning your time on business days. That's the standard across every tier, and your contract doesn't change it. So anything posted overnight should be in by then. If a branch posts something late in the evening, it'll be in the next morning. If a system is down for maintenance when we pull, that night's data is stale, and we'd flag it.
- Ashok PatelOkay. And would I see the flag, or would someone have to tell me?
- Callie BrennanYou'd see it as the admin. There's a status page for each connector with the last successful load. I'll walk you through it once the first one is live. And I'd like you to be the person who checks it each morning for the first couple of weeks, so you know what normal looks like.
- Ashok PatelI was going to do that anyway.
- Callie BrennanI thought you might. Right, credentials. Let me go through what I still need. For the credit system, a read-only user and the connection details, in writing, to the support ticket, not to my email. For the delivery system, the same. For the helpdesk, an admin to authorise the connection. For the shared drive, which folders you want indexed, because you probably don't want everything.
- Ashok PatelNo, definitely not everything. There's HR stuff and some commercial terms that I wouldn't want searchable by every branch manager. I'll give you a list of folders to include rather than a list to exclude.
- Callie BrennanThat's the safer way round, yes. An include list. Brilliant.
- Ashok PatelAnd on access, we have a hundred and sixty licensed users, and I know the contract covers single sign-on and the automatic user provisioning. Who sets that up? Is it you or someone else?
- Callie BrennanI'll set up the connection on our side, but it needs someone in your IT team to configure your identity provider, and I'd want them on a short call with me. It isn't a big job, but I don't want to be guessing at your settings. Who's the right person?
- Ashok PatelA colleague in IT, he looks after our directory. I'll ask him for a slot, probably the week after next. Is that too late?
- Callie BrennanNo, that's fine, because we won't open it up to the full user base until the data's been checked anyway. For the first stage it's just you and a few testers, and they can log in directly.
- Ashok PatelRight, that was my plan. Me, two people from the credit team, and someone from key accounts. A small group who'll tell me when something looks wrong.
- Callie BrennanThat's a good group, because they cover the three views. Ask them to write down every question they try, even the ones that don't work. It gives us a lot of material for tuning.
- Ashok PatelWill do. Sorry, one second, someone's at my door. Mm. Right, they've gone.
- Callie BrennanNo problem. Where were we? The security side. Because you're on Enterprise, your security team will probably want to review how we run inside your Snowflake account. Have they started?
- Ashok PatelThey've asked for the architecture note, which I think you sent before the contract, and they've said it looks reasonable. But there's a formal questionnaire I haven't got yet. It's coming from the head of security, I think.
- Callie BrennanOkay. The implementation includes support for that review, so when the questionnaire lands, forward it to me and I'll get the answers drafted with our team. Don't try to answer it alone.
- Ashok PatelThat's a relief. Thank you.
- Callie BrennanNow, because everything runs in your Snowflake account, there's one thing I need to confirm. Who holds the admin rights on the account, and is it you?
- Ashok PatelI have a role that can create schemas and grant access within the database you'll use, but not the top-level admin. That sits with our platform team. So anything at the account level, I'd have to ask them.
- Callie BrennanThat's about what I expected, and it's a sensible split. What I need is a dedicated database and a warehouse for B-Viz, with a resource limit so a runaway query can't run up your bill. Your platform team would create those and then give your role the rights.
- Ashok PatelI can raise that today. Do you have the exact names you want, or do I choose?
- Callie BrennanYou choose, as long as it's something your team will recognise in a year. I'd keep the customer name out of it and just make it obvious. I'll include a suggested naming pattern in the setup note, take it or leave it.
- Ashok PatelGood. I'll take it unless it clashes with something.
- Callie BrennanOkay, let me summarise before we go on, because that was a lot. One, you'll test the branch system access on one branch first. Two, prefix length check on two branches by Wednesday. Three, credit and delivery credentials into the ticket. Four, include list of folders for the drive. Five, platform team to create the database and warehouse. Six, your IT colleague for the sign-on call. Did I miss anything?
- Ashok PatelThe screenshot of the CRM permissions.
- Callie BrennanYes, thank you. Seven. The screenshot.
- Ashok PatelCan I go back to one thing? The reports. The finance director will judge this project on whether the numbers match the ledger. If the trade credit exposure in B-Viz is different from what the credit system shows, he'll stop trusting it. How do we avoid that?
- Callie BrennanThat's the right worry, and I'd rather deal with it now. B-Viz doesn't recalculate your credit exposure, it reads what the credit system holds. So if the numbers differ, the first suspect is timing, a different cut-off time, and the second is a filter, for instance whether disputed invoices are included. Before the first refresh, I'd like you to tell me which definition finance uses.
- Ashok PatelI think it includes disputed items, but I'll check. I'd rather not tell you from memory.
- Callie BrennanPlease do. That goes in the note as a definition we agree in writing. Then, once the first refresh has landed, we reconcile a sample of accounts against the ledger together. If they match, you can show the finance director. If they don't, we'll know why before he asks.
- Ashok PatelYes. That's how I'd want to do it.
- Callie BrennanNext, adoption, a little. Daniel Okafor, your customer success manager, will join us after the first refresh, mostly to talk about training for the branch teams and the key-account people. Lewis Kerr, who looked after the commercial side, stays your contact for anything on the contract. Does that sound familiar?
- Ashok PatelYes, I've met Lewis. Daniel I've only had an email from. I'll look forward to it.
- Callie BrennanHe's good. Now, the handover. By the end of the implementation, my aim is that you can run this without me. So I'll write a setup note for each connector: what it reads, which account it uses, how to re-run a load, and what to do if it fails. You'll have it before I step away, not after.
- Ashok PatelI appreciate that. Last time we bought something like this, the consultant left and we had a PDF nobody understood.
- Callie BrennanI'd hate to leave you with that. If something in my note doesn't make sense, say so and I'll rewrite it. And I'd like you to try one re-run yourself while I'm still around, with me watching.
- Ashok PatelGood idea. I'll do that on the CRM one, since it's the cleanest.
- Callie BrennanPerfect. Anything else on your mind?
- Ashok PatelTwo tickets I raised this week, just to be sure you've seen them. One was a how-to about the connector status page, and one was about a permissions question. Both got answered, I just wanted to say thanks, they were quick.
- Callie BrennanGood, I'm glad. Nothing urgent open on your side, then.
- Ashok PatelNo, nothing urgent. Everything feels quite calm, to be honest, which makes me slightly suspicious.
- Callie BrennanHa. That's the right instinct at this stage. Keep the suspicion until the first refresh is in and checked.
- Callie BrennanSo, next steps. I'll send the tracker and a short summary of today this afternoon, with the list of what I need from you. You'll send the credentials to the ticket, the include list, the screenshot and the prefix check. Then early next week I'll review what's arrived, and we speak again once you've done the branch test.
- Ashok PatelThat sounds right. Would you do the next call at the same time? Midday suits me.
- Callie BrennanMidday works. I'll send an invite.
- Ashok PatelThank you, Callie. Have a good weekend.
- Callie BrennanYou too, Ashok. Speak soon. Thanks.
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