Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Onboarding
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 2 Apr 2025 10:15
Laura Penhaligon agreed the connector order with Neil Craven and Ashok Patel: credit, then branch orders, then delivery. Neil's worry is that people will not use it. Ashok wants a second admin.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Laura Penhaligon agreed the connector order with Neil Craven and Ashok Patel: credit, then branch orders, then delivery. Neil's worry is that people will not use it. Ashok wants a second admin.
What happened: Laura ran a kickoff on access, connector sequence, ownership and rollout. A housebuilder had rung Neil that morning about different terms quoted by two branches, which he used to frame the goal.
Customer view: Neil's worry is that people will not use it. Ashok wants balances to match the ledger before anyone in a branch sees them.
Commercial: The Enterprise plan covers twenty connectors, single sign-on, automatic provisioning and security review help. Calls and emails are second wave, and Neil said he would pay to see calls alongside orders.
Watch: Ashok is the only admin, and delivery may slip if depot formats are worse than expected.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Connector plan and ownership
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
positive
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Laura sends the written plan with connector target dates, the credit table list and a one-page summary for Neil by the end of the week.
- Ashok creates the read-only credit service account, names a second admin and arranges a time with his IT colleague.
- Neil gives a view on the pilot branch next week and passes the security questionnaire to Ashok.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Neil fears low adoption if only he and Ashok look at it.
- Ashok is the only admin until a second one is named.
- Delivery may slip if depot data formats are worse than expected.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Second-wave call and email indexing is something Neil said he would pay to see.
- Enterprise single sign-on, provisioning and security review help are included and can be set up now.
Transcript
Laura PenhaligonMorning, both. Can you hear me all right? I can see you on screen but nothing from Neil yet.
Neil CravenAye, think so. Is that better? I was on mute. Had a builder on the other line and I didn't want to put him on speaker.- Laura PenhaligonMuch better, yes. And Ashok, hello.
Ashok PatelHello, Laura. Yes, I can hear you both. Sorry, give me a second, I've left a screen share open from another meeting. There. Gone.- Neil CravenBefore we start, I'll tell you what happened this morning, because it's the whole reason we're doing this. One of our big housebuilder accounts rang me before I'd got my coat off. Two of our branches had quoted them different terms on the same site. Which branch, which account? I didn't know, and neither did credit. That's what I want fixed.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's a helpful way to open, actually. That's the picture I'd like us to keep in front of us for the next twelve weeks. One trade account, seen the same way by the branch, the key account team and trade credit.
- Neil CravenSpot on. What's the builder actually seeing, that's what I keep asking. Right now they're seeing us argue with ourselves.
- Laura PenhaligonHa. Well, let's see if we can stop that. So the plan for today, I've got four things. First, where you are with access and the Snowflake side. Second, the order we connect the sources. Third, who owns what at your end. Fourth, how we roll out to branches. Does that work, or is there something you want to add?
- Ashok PatelThat works. Can I start with what I've changed since we last spoke? It's not much, but it affects the order.
- Laura PenhaligonPlease do.
- Ashok PatelI've set up the separate area inside our Snowflake account, as you asked, with its own role. I've given your team read access to the schema names only, nothing underneath. I've also pulled a sample extract from the branch system, one region, so we can see what the account numbers actually look like. And I'll be honest, the data says otherwise to what I'd assumed.
- Laura PenhaligonOtherwise how? What did you find?
- Ashok PatelThe same trade customer can have a different account number in different branches. Sometimes it's a prefix, sometimes it's just a different number altogether. Credit has one master number, but the branches don't always use it. So which account number is that, becomes the first question every time.
- Neil CravenFifteen years I was a branch manager. I could have told you that. Every branch has got its own little habits. We had a customer in my old branch who was three different accounts and one of them was just his brother's name.
- Laura PenhaligonRight, and that's really common in a group your size, with ninety-odd branches. It's not a failing, it's just how groups grow. What we normally do is build a mapping table early. It takes every local number and ties it to one master trade account. B-Viz then reads everything through that.
- Ashok PatelI was hoping you'd say that. Who builds the mapping, though? Because I'd rather not have it done blind.
- Laura PenhaligonWe draft it from your extract, you check it. Nothing goes live without you signing it off. It's your data and it sits in your Snowflake account, so you can look at every row.
- Ashok PatelGood. I'll test it on one branch first, then widen it. I don't switch on a source until I've seen it load cleanly.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's exactly how I'd want to do it. Let me share my screen and show you the connector plan, because it will make the order easier to talk about. One moment.
- Laura PenhaligonCan you see that? It's a simple table. Down the left, the sources. Across the top, the weeks. Your Enterprise plan gives you room for up to twenty connectors, so we're not short of space. The question is sequence, not count.
- Neil CravenAye, I can see it. It's small, mind. Can you make it bigger?
- Laura PenhaligonIs that any better? I'll zoom in.
- Neil CravenThat's grand.
- Laura PenhaligonSo my suggestion for the first wave is the branch system for orders, the credit system for balances and limits, and the delivery system. Those three are what you described when we scoped it. Then the second wave is the calls and emails, so you can see what's actually been said to a customer alongside the numbers.
- Ashok PatelI'd probably put credit first, before orders. Credit is the cleanest. One system, one team, and the ledger is the thing everyone trusts. If the balances match the ledger, I'll believe the rest more easily.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's a fair point. Start with the thing you trust, and use it to check the others. I'm happy to swap them.
- Neil CravenLet's not lose the delivery one, though. When a builder rings up and says the lorry didn't turn up, that's the call that really bothers me. I need to know if it left the yard.
- Ashok PatelIt stays in the first wave, Neil. But the delivery data is the messiest, if I'm honest. The depots keep it in a slightly different format. So I'll want longer on that one.
- Laura PenhaligonThen let's say credit first, branch orders second, delivery third, but all inside the first wave. We'll agree a target date for each connector to be live, and I'll put those in writing so everyone is looking at the same thing.
- Neil CravenGood. Put it in writing. Let's sort it, not talk about it.
- Laura PenhaligonHa, understood. Ashok, on the credit system, what do I need from you? Access, a service account, anything like that?
- Ashok PatelA read-only service account, which I'll create. I'll send the connection details through your secure route, not by email. And I need to know which tables you'll touch, so I can say yes or no table by table.
- Laura PenhaligonYes, I'll send you the list. You'll be able to take anything off it. And we only read, we never write back to the source.
- Ashok PatelGood. I never delete anything I can't restore, so read only suits me.
- Neil CravenCan I ask something a bit daft? We've got a hundred and sixty licences. Do all of those need setting up straight away? Because I'll be honest, branches won't all be in at once.
- Laura PenhaligonNot daft at all. The hundred and sixty is what you've licensed, not what you have to switch on day one. For the first weeks I'd expect a small group, you two, someone from credit, a couple of key account managers. Then we add branches in waves as we go.
- Ashok PatelAnd sign-in? We said we'd use our single sign-on. That's an Enterprise thing, isn't it?
- Laura PenhaligonYes, single sign-on and automatic user provisioning are both included in your plan. Which means when someone joins or leaves a branch, the access follows your directory. I'll need someone from your IT side on a short call to set that up.
- Ashok PatelI'll bring a colleague from IT. She'll want to see the requirements first, so send them over in advance and she can read them before the call.
- Laura PenhaligonWill do. Also, because you're Enterprise, the implementation includes help with your security review. If your security team has a questionnaire, send it to me and we'll answer it together.
- Neil CravenThey'll have one. They always do. I'll get it from our risk people and pass it on to Ashok.
- Ashok PatelSend it direct to me, Neil, I'll handle the answers. It's mostly where the data sits and who can see it.
- Neil CravenRight you are.
- Laura PenhaligonOkay, so, owners. Let me put names against the plan. Ashok, you're the admin and the technical owner, so connectors, the mapping, access. Neil, you're the sponsor on the business side. Is there someone in credit we should name?
- Neil CravenThere will be. I want to ask the credit controller who knows the big accounts best, rather than the most senior person. I'll check she's got the time before I put her name down. I won't promise anyone who hasn't agreed.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's sensible. And I'd say one person from a branch as well, someone who'll tell us honestly when something looks wrong. Not the manager who's keenest, the one who's most sceptical.
- Neil CravenHa. I know exactly who. Mind, I'd never say that to a supplier about a branch, so I'll leave the name for now.
- Laura PenhaligonFair enough. Just let me know when you're ready. On our side it's me day to day for the implementation. Lewis Kerr is your account owner, and Daniel Okafor will be your customer success manager once we're live. I'll introduce Daniel properly at the end of the implementation.
- Neil CravenLewis I've met. Daniel I haven't. That's fine.
- Laura PenhaligonNow the pilot branch. Ashok, you said you'd test on one branch first. Which one, and why?
- Ashok PatelA mid-sized one, not the biggest. Big enough to have real trade customers with real credit, small enough that if we get it wrong, nobody is hurt. I'd also like it to be a branch where the account numbers are a bit untidy, because I'd rather find the problems early.
- Neil CravenI can think of a couple. One in the Midlands, one up near here. Let me ask both managers. I don't want to land it on them without a word.
- Laura PenhaligonPerfect. If you can come back with a choice by next week, that would let us keep to the plan.
- Neil CravenNext week's fine. I'll message you both.
- Ashok PatelCan I raise reconciliation? I want it written down somewhere. When B-Viz shows a balance for a trade customer, it has to match the ledger. Not roughly. If it doesn't match, I need to know why before anyone in a branch sees it.
- Laura PenhaligonAgreed, and I'd make that a formal check in the plan. For the pilot branch, we compare balances for a sample of accounts against the ledger, and you decide whether it's good enough to widen. If there are differences we explain them first, and they might be timing, they might be the mapping.
- Ashok PatelTiming is my guess. The ledger closes at night, and the branch system is live through the day.
- Laura PenhaligonQuite possibly. Which is where the nightly refresh comes in. It completes by seven in the morning your time on business days, so what people see at the start of a day is last night's position. We'll make that visible in the pages, so nobody mistakes it for live.
- Neil CravenThat's fine by me. Branch managers are in at half six anyway, they'll just wait till seven for the numbers. What matters is they all see the same ones.
- Laura PenhaligonOkay. Let me move on to rollout and training. My thinking is we don't do a big launch. We do the pilot branch, then a small group of branches, then the rest in waves. Each wave gets a short training session, about the length of a lunch break, and we show them real accounts from their own branch.
- Neil CravenShort is good. These lads don't sit through slides. Show them one of their own customers and what it tells them, and they'll get it. What's the builder actually seeing, and what can I say to him? That's what they care about.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's how I'd run it. We'd also build a couple of starter pages, one for a branch manager and one for credit, so there's something useful on day one. You can change them afterwards, and Ashok can build dashboards as well if you want them.
- Ashok PatelI'd like to build the credit one myself, once the data matches. I'd rather not hand people a page I haven't checked.
- Laura PenhaligonOf course. I'll sit with you the first time, if that helps.
- Ashok PatelIt would. Thank you.
- Neil CravenCan I ask about calls? Our sales lads record calls with the big accounts. Does that come into B-Viz as well, so I can see what was said alongside the orders?
- Laura PenhaligonYes, that's the second wave. The call recorder connects, the transcripts are indexed against the same master account, and then you can ask a question like, what did we tell this customer about delivery last month. The answer points back to the call.
- Neil CravenNow that, I'd pay to see. Half my problems are somebody promised something and nobody wrote it down.
- Ashok PatelWe'll need to be careful about who sees what, though. Not every call should be visible to every branch. I'll want to look at permissions before we switch it on.
- Laura PenhaligonQuite right, and that's why it's second wave. We'll go through permissions with you before any calls are indexed. You can restrict by team.
- Laura PenhaligonLet me pull the timeline together, then, so I've got it right. Twelve weeks in total. The first stretch is access, the mapping and credit. Then branch orders and the pilot. Then delivery. Then the calls and emails, then the wider rollout and training. Does that match what you both heard?
- Ashok PatelYes, with one caveat. Delivery might slip if the depot formats are worse than I think. I'd sooner say so now than promise a date.
- Laura PenhaligonNoted, and thank you. Say it early if it does. I'd rather move a date in the plan than find out at the end.
- Neil CravenAnd I'll not promise the branches a go-live until Ashok's checked it. I've done that before and it came back to bite me.
- Laura PenhaligonAny worries I haven't covered? Anything that's keeping either of you awake?
- Neil CravenHonestly, just that people won't use it. We've bought plenty of systems that sat there. If it's only me and Ashok looking at it, it's a waste.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's the right worry to have. The best protection is that it answers a real question on day one, like your housebuilder this morning. If the first thing a branch manager does is look up a customer and find it useful, they come back. We'll pick a handful of those questions together for the pilot.
- Ashok PatelI'd add that I'm the only admin at the moment. If I'm off, nobody can fix a connector. Can we name a second admin?
- Laura PenhaligonGood thinking, and I'd strongly recommend it. Someone in your data team who can look after the connectors when you're away. We can include them in the admin walk-through.
- Ashok PatelThere's one lad on my team who'd be right. I'll ask him and send you his name.
- Neil CravenWhile I think of it, can we get a short note I can give our managing director? Just what's happening and when. Nothing technical. He'll ask me on Friday.
- Laura PenhaligonYes, I'll write a one-page summary of the plan in plain words after this call. You can forward it as it stands. I'll keep price and contract out of it, as that's with Fiona and Lewis.
- Neil CravenAye, good. That's one for Fiona, I'll not touch it.
- Laura PenhaligonRight, next steps, so we're clear who's doing what. From me: the written plan with target dates for each connector, the table list for the credit system, the requirements for your IT colleague, and the one-page summary for Neil. I'll aim to get all of those to you by the end of the week.
- Ashok PatelFrom me: the read-only service account for credit, the sample extract with account numbers, which I'll send on once I've checked what's in it, the name of the second admin, and a time for my colleague in IT.
- Neil CravenAnd from me: the pilot branch, I'll have a view by next week. The credit controller, once I've asked her. And the security questionnaire, which goes straight to Ashok.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's everything I had. Should we put the next call in the diary now? I'd suggest a short check-in in a week or so, to see where access has got to.
- Ashok PatelA week is fine. Mornings are better for me, before the branches start ringing.
- Neil CravenSame here. Anything after nine and my phone doesn't stop.
- Laura PenhaligonMornings it is. I'll send an invite for the same time next week, and you can move it if something comes up.
- Neil CravenRight then, I'd best go and ring that builder back. Thanks, Laura, this has been useful. Ashok, we'll speak later.
- Ashok PatelThanks, both. I'll get the extract checked this afternoon. Speak soon.
- Laura PenhaligonBrilliant. Speak next week, and have a good rest of the day. Bye for now.
- Neil CravenCheers, bye.
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