Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 3 Jul 2025 13:00
Neil Craven, Strensall Merchants' Director of Trade Customers, says B-Viz has ended arguments over the facts and use is spreading branch by branch. He wants the finance lead in any price talk. The February renewal was raised early.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Neil Craven, Strensall Merchants' Director of Trade Customers, says B-Viz has ended arguments over the facts and use is spreading branch by branch. He wants the finance lead in any price talk. The February renewal was raised early.
What happened: Daniel Okafor held a check-in on 3 Jul 2025 with Neil alone. Daniel reported daily use at well over three times the previous quarter, healthy connectors and quiet support.
Customer view: Neil says the trade credit data now sits beside orders, so people get one answer. A credit controller has dropped her own spreadsheet, and a housebuilder complaint was settled while he was on the line.
Commercial: Daniel raised the February renewal early and said the contracted and invoiced figures match. Neil wants his finance lead in the room for any price talk.
Watch: Neil is a heavy user and calls himself evangelical, though he says he is not the only one now. The call also shows a hundred and sixty licensed seats with growth ahead, a leaver check with IT still open, and a newer colleague who questioned the cost.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Adoption and renewal value case
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Daniel Okafor to offer session times for the key account managers by the end of the following week.
- Daniel to check what call data is connected before answering the Midlands search question.
- Neil to ask IT for a heads-up on system changes and to check leavers' logins.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Neil asks a large share of the questions, so the habit could drop if he is away, though he says use has spread.
- A newer colleague questioned why Strensall Merchants pays for B-Viz, so the value case needs to reach newcomers.
- Joiner and leaver handling sits with the customer's IT team and has not been confirmed.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A short session for the key account managers on tidy account summaries using pages could deepen use.
- Rising use against a hundred and sixty Enterprise seats may make extra users relevant by the autumn.
- Stories such as the housebuilder call can feed a value case ahead of the February renewal.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello Neil, can you hear me alright? Thank you for making the time.
Neil CravenAye, loud and clear. Afternoon, Daniel. Sorry, I'm just finishing a sandwich, it's been one of those days.- Daniel OkaforNo trouble at all, you eat. I'm just checking who's joined. I did wonder if anyone from your key accounts team might dial in, but I can see it's just the two of us.
- Neil CravenJust me. Which is probably for the best, because I've had a housebuilder on the phone since first thing about a delivery and I've only just got my head back above water.
- Daniel OkaforOh dear. Did you get it sorted?
- Neil CravenIn the end, yes. And here's the funny thing, that's partly why I'm glad to speak to you. I pulled the account up in B-Viz while he was still on the line. Orders, the delivery notes, what credit had said last week, the call from the branch. All in one place. Five years ago I'd have been ringing three people and calling him back.
- Daniel OkaforThat's lovely to hear. And that's exactly the picture you described to us at the start, isn't it? Everybody looking at the same trade account, whichever door they come in through.
- Neil CravenThat's it. What's the builder actually seeing? That's what I keep asking. If the branch says one thing and credit says another, he doesn't care whose fault it is.
- Daniel OkaforQuite right. Well, I thought we'd use the twenty-five minutes to do a proper check-in, just to close the loop on how things have gone since the early weeks. I've got the usage numbers in front of me, and honestly, Neil, I think you'll like them. Is that all right as a plan?
- Neil CravenGo on then. Let's hear it.
- Daniel OkaforSo the headline is that the number of people using B-Viz on a typical day has gone up sharply compared with the quarter before. It's well over three times what it was. I've been doing this a while and that's one of the steepest curves I've seen on an Enterprise account.
- Neil CravenWell over three times. Right. I'd say that feels about right, to be fair. It's been spreading branch by branch. Somebody in one place tells the lad next door, and he's on it a week later.
- Daniel OkaforHow is the team finding it? Is it the branch managers, or is it more the counter staff?
- Neil CravenBit of both. The branch managers started it because I leaned on them, I'll admit that. But now it's the trade counter people who ask for it. They want to know if a customer's on stop before they promise anything. Saves them an awkward phone call.
- Daniel OkaforMm. That's a good use. And that's the trade credit data coming through alongside the orders?
- Neil CravenYeah, that's the bit that made the difference. Before, credit had their view and sales had theirs, and the two never quite agreed. Now when somebody asks a question, they get the one answer.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is the point of it. Can I ask, who are the people asking the most questions? Because I can see it in the activity, but I'd rather hear it from you than guess.
- Neil CravenMe, for one. I'll own that. I'm in it every morning. Then there's a couple of the key account managers, they're on it all day. And the credit controllers have started, they were slower to come round. One of them told me last week she'd stopped keeping her own spreadsheet. I nearly framed it.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a proper milestone, a spreadsheet retired. I'll take that as a win for the whole thing. And I'm glad it isn't only you, to be honest. When one person asks a big share of the questions, it makes us a bit nervous, not because of anything you're doing, just because if that person is away, the habit can drop.
- Neil CravenAye, I get that. I'm not the only one now. Not by a long way. But fair point. I do get a bit evangelical.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is no bad thing in a champion! Well, the spread is encouraging. Now, on the technical side. I want to run through the health of the connections, because that's the other thing I look at every time.
- Neil CravenGo on. Is that the bit where you tell me something's gone wrong?
- Daniel OkaforNo, quite the opposite. Everything you've got connected is loading, and the amount of data being indexed has kept growing steadily. There's no flat line anywhere, which is what I'd worry about. When a source goes quiet it's usually because somebody has changed a system at your end and not told us. Nothing like that at the moment.
- Neil CravenGood. Nobody's changed anything on my side. Mind you, I'd be the last to know, IT don't tell me anything. If they did, I'd tell you.
- Daniel OkaforHa, well, if you could have a word with them anyway. A quick heads-up if they're planning to move any of the systems, that would save us both a bad afternoon.
- Neil CravenI'll do that. Let's sort it, not talk about it. I'll mention it to them this week.
- Daniel OkaforThank you. Now tickets. You've raised two in the last month, and neither was urgent. I'm just closing the loop on those, in case there's anything that felt unresolved on your side?
- Neil CravenTwo? I thought it was one. Was one of them mine?
- Daniel OkaforI'd have to check who raised which, to be fair, and I don't want to guess. Neither was high priority, and the support team dealt with both within the service levels you have. If either one is still bugging you, tell me and I'll chase it.
- Neil CravenNo, nothing's bugging me. Honestly it's been quiet. Which I take as a good sign. When something's wrong in this job I hear about it very loudly.
- Daniel OkaforThat's fair. And the nightly refresh, has anyone said that the morning data wasn't there when they started work?
- Neil CravenNot that I've heard. And the branches open early, so they'd shout. The lads at the yards are in before seven some days.
- Daniel OkaforRight, that's reassuring, because it's one of the things you're covered on at Enterprise, both availability and how fresh the data is by the morning. If a branch ever does find stale figures, please tell us the same day, even if it seems minor.
- Neil CravenWill do. Though I'd say that the worst I get is people asking for things it can't do yet.
- Daniel OkaforAh, now that's interesting. Such as?
- Neil CravenMostly it's the key account lot. They want to ask it about a builder's whole history and get a sort of summary they can take into a meeting. They're doing it by hand from what it gives them. Works fine, but they reckon it could be tidier.
- Daniel OkaforMm. Can I suggest something? That sounds like something we could show them rather than build. There are ways to ask the questions that give a tidy account summary, and the pages feature can hold a standard layout for a meeting. I'd like to walk your key account managers through it. Perhaps a short session, just them.
- Neil CravenI'd welcome that. They'd lap it up. How long are we talking?
- Daniel OkaforUnder an hour, I'd have thought, and I'd keep it practical, using their own accounts. I'll come back to you by the end of next week with a couple of options for times. Would that work?
- Neil CravenAye, that works. Send them to me and I'll round the lot up.
- Daniel OkaforLovely. Now, you've got a hundred and sixty seats licensed under Enterprise, and with the daily usage where it is, you're nowhere near the ceiling. But I'd like to be upfront that if the curve carries on like this, you'll be using a much bigger share of them by the autumn. I'm not selling anything, I just don't want it to creep up on you.
- Neil CravenA hundred and sixty. And we've got nearly ninety-five branches. So if every branch had just a couple on it, we'd be there.
- Daniel OkaforRoughly, yes. Though I'd say licensed users and daily users are different things. Not everyone logs in every day, so you've got more room than the sum suggests. But it's worth you thinking about who needs it and who doesn't, so you give it to the right people first.
- Neil CravenI've been wondering about that. Do I give it to everybody, or just the ones who'll use it? I don't want to hand out logins for the sake of it.
- Daniel OkaforI'd go with the people who'll use it. Start with trade counters, key accounts and credit in the branches that haven't come on yet, and let the demand pull it. That way when the numbers show up, you can say who's asking and why.
- Neil CravenMakes sense. Practical. I like that.
- Daniel OkaforGood. Another thing on the Enterprise side. How are you getting on with single sign-on? Has anyone had trouble getting in?
- Neil CravenNot a word. People just click and they're in. I'd have heard if it was a pain, believe me.
- Daniel OkaforExcellent. And it's the same for adding and removing people when staff change? That's the part which tends to catch folk out in a business with a lot of branches and a lot of movement.
- Neil CravenThat's with IT. They handle the joiners and leavers. As far as I know it's tied to the same thing they use for everything else. I'll check, though, because I wouldn't want a lad who's left still having a login.
- Daniel OkaforI think that's wise, and I'll mention it to our team too so we can confirm it from our side. It's the sort of thing worth a quick look every few months. Nothing's wrong, it's just good housekeeping.
- Neil CravenFair enough. Add it to the list.
- Daniel OkaforWill do. Now, you also have an executive sponsor on our side as part of Enterprise. Has that felt useful, or has it been a bit invisible?
- Neil CravenBit invisible, if I'm honest. Not in a bad way. I know who they are and I know I could ring. I just haven't needed to.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a fair answer. Might be worth a conversation at some point anyway, not because anything's wrong, but so they hear directly what you're getting out of it. I'll look at setting something up for after the summer.
- Neil CravenFine by me. Only if it's useful, mind. I don't want meetings for the sake of it.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. Never meetings for the sake of it. Right, can I ask you something a bit bigger? How would you describe what B-Viz has changed for the business? If your boss asked you tomorrow, what would you say?
- Neil CravenHmm. Good question. I'd say we stopped arguing about the facts. Before, a meeting about a big trade account would start with ten minutes of who's right about what they owe us and what we've delivered. Now someone just looks it up and we get on with deciding what to do.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a really clear way to put it. Would you mind if I wrote that down, more or less in those words? It's the sort of thing that's useful when we look at the value side of things.
- Neil CravenGo ahead. It's true, so I've no worry about it.
- Daniel OkaforThank you. And are there specific moments you'd point to? Like the housebuilder this morning?
- Neil CravenThat one, yes. He was cross about a drop that went to the wrong site, and I could see within a minute what the branch had logged and what had been promised. Didn't need to put him on hold. He calmed down because I knew what I was talking about. That's worth something, that is. Those big housebuilders, you lose one and it hurts.
- Daniel OkaforI can imagine. That's the kind of story that stays with you more than any dashboard, to be honest. If you can think of two or three more like it over the summer, jot them down. They'll help when the time comes to look at the whole picture.
- Neil CravenWhen the time comes. You mean the renewal.
- Daniel OkaforWell, yes, that's coming round next February, so it's a way off. But I'd rather we talk about it early, in a relaxed way, than have it land on you. I'm not raising anything difficult, I promise. The contract is in good order and everything's been paid on time, so there's nothing to untangle.
- Neil CravenGood. I'd hate for anything to get in the way. Mind, I'll tell you now, anything about price, I'd want our finance lead in the room. That's not my side of it.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, and I'd expect that. Lewis looks after the commercial side for us, so when the time comes it'll be the two of us with your finance lead. I won't go near numbers today. For what it's worth, the contracted figure and what we've invoiced match exactly, at one hundred and thirteen thousand five hundred pounds a year, so there's no mismatch to worry about.
- Neil CravenRight. Well, that's helpful to hear. I'll mention to the finance lead that you've said it's all lined up. Save him ringing you.
- Daniel OkaforPlease do, and he's very welcome to get in touch. Let me just note that down. Now, is there anything coming up in the business that might change how you use B-Viz over the next few months? New branches, new systems, a change in how credit works?
- Neil CravenNothing firm. There's talk, there's always talk. But nothing I'd put money on. If it happens, you'll hear from me.
- Daniel OkaforThat's all I ask. And if anyone senior joins who'll want to understand what it does, bring them along to one of our sessions. People who arrive later and haven't seen the early days are the ones who sometimes ask what it's for.
- Neil CravenHa, I've had that. A new fella started in the spring and asked me why we were paying for it. I showed him the housebuilder thing and he went quiet.
- Daniel OkaforHa, there you go. A good demonstration beats a long explanation every time.
- Neil CravenAye. Right. Anything else on your list? I've got to be back on the phones soon.
- Daniel OkaforOnly a couple of things. First, I'd like to send you a short note after this, summing up what we said, just so we both have it. Second, the training session for the key account managers that we spoke about. Third, the headsup from your IT team about any system changes, and the check on leavers. Have I got that right?
- Neil CravenSpot on. I'll talk to IT about both and get back to you. And I'll round up the key account lot once you've got dates.
- Daniel OkaforPerfect. Anything that you'd like to change about how we work together? Frequency of calls, who's on them, that sort of thing?
- Neil CravenNot really. This is fine. Maybe next time bring one of your technical people, if there's something new to show. I'm happy to hear what's coming.
- Daniel OkaforI'll do that. I'll see what's worth showing and let you know, and I won't promise a date I don't own. I'll come back to you on that when I know more.
- Neil CravenFair enough. You've always been straight with me, Daniel, I'll say that.
- Daniel OkaforThat's kind of you, Neil, thank you. It's a pleasure working with a team who actually use it. Not every customer does, and you can tell the difference.
- Neil CravenWell, they use it because it helps. If it didn't, they'd have stopped. Folk in this trade don't hang about with things that don't work.
- Daniel OkaforNo, I can believe that. Right, I think we're in good shape. Is there anything at all that you wanted to raise that we haven't covered?
- Neil CravenNo, I think that's the lot. Oh, actually. One thing. The lad in the Midlands who asked about the call recordings. He wanted to know if he could search what was said on a call with a customer. Is that possible with what we've got?
- Daniel OkaforPossibly, depending on what's connected from your side. I don't want to guess, so let me check exactly what's set up for you and come back to you by the end of next week, alongside the training times. Is that all right?
- Neil CravenThat's grand. Thanks. I'll tell him it's coming.
- Daniel OkaforMaybe tell him it's being looked at, and I'll confirm. Just so we don't promise before we've checked.
- Neil CravenHa, aye, you're right. Being looked at. I never promise a delivery I've not checked either.
- Daniel OkaforExactly the same principle! Well, thank you again for your time, Neil, and for being so open about how it's going. I'll send that note over this afternoon, or first thing tomorrow at the latest.
- Neil CravenChampion. Appreciate it. Speak soon, then. Enjoy what's left of the day.
- Daniel OkaforAnd you, and good luck with the housebuilder. Best wishes, Neil. Bye for now.
- Neil CravenCheers, Daniel. Bye.
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