Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Exec Sponsor
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 10 Feb 2026 10:15
On 10 Feb 2026 Strensall's chief executive offered to act as a reference, with a check each time. Neil Craven reported good adoption and one how-to ticket. Renewal was kept separate and runs through finance.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026On 10 Feb 2026 Strensall's chief executive offered to act as a reference, with a check each time. Neil Craven reported good adoption and one how-to ticket. Renewal was kept separate and runs through finance.
What happened: Richard Lazenby, Strensall's chief executive, said he already speaks well of B-Viz at trade dinners and offered to be a formal reference. He wants BG-Demo to check with him before passing on any contact.
Customer view: Neil said the key accounts team uses it daily and credit are warming up. He reported one how-to ticket and said some branches still ring credit out of habit.
Commercial: Richard said the renewal is at the end of the month and left contract detail to finance. Nell Ashcombe said the order form and invoices agree and payments are on time.
Watch: Neil said connectors, the order system especially, took longer than expected. Credit want quicker answers on older orders, which Daniel Okafor will check. Usage was put at around fifty a month against a hundred and sixty licensed.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Reference offer and renewal
Importance
praise
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- Daniel to send Richard a one page note on how reference requests would work by the end of that week.
- Daniel to find out what older order data has been loaded and report back to Neil's team.
- Daniel and Lewis Kerr to run the renewal with Strensall's finance team, separate from the reference.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Credit want quicker answers on older orders, which may reflect data not yet loaded.
- Some branches still ring credit rather than ask B-Viz, and usage is well below the licensed number.
- The renewal is close and the finance side has not yet been engaged.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Strensall as a named reference, with Richard and Neil speaking to other merchants.
- More branch managers using B-Viz, which Richard wants, would deepen adoption ahead of renewal.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforMorning, everyone. Thank you all for making the time. Let me just check who's here. Nell, I can see you. Richard, Neil, are you both with us?
Richard LazenbyI'm here. Can you hear me all right? Neil's got me on his screen share, so I'm in his office, bear with the echo.
Neil CravenAye, I'm here. Sorry, I've had a builder on the phone since half eight. Big housebuilder, one of our key accounts. Anyway, I'm all yours now.
Nell AshcombeGood morning, both. Thanks for doing this. Before we start, can I ask what you each want to leave with? I've got a couple of things, but I'd rather start with yours.- Richard LazenbyWell, can I start with where I was on Thursday? I was at a trade dinner, one of those long tables in a hotel up the road, forty or fifty merchants and suppliers, and half the talk was who's doing what with their data. And I'll be honest with you, Nell, I found myself talking about you lot for a good ten minutes.
- Nell AshcombeAh. Should I be worried?
- Richard LazenbyNo, no, the opposite. A chap from another merchant, not a competitor of ours in the strict sense, different patch, asked me how we keep branches, credit and the sales team looking at the same customer. And I said, let me tell you what my lads found.
- Neil CravenHere we go.
- Richard LazenbyHush, Neil. I said, a trade account used to look different depending on who you rang. Branch knew the orders, credit knew the balance, the rep knew the relationship, and nobody had the lot. Now they ask the question once and they get the whole picture. Good merchants know their customers, and that's how we do it.
- Nell AshcombeThat's lovely to hear. Say what happened, say how you know: is that something you've seen yourself, or what Neil's team tells you?
- Richard LazenbyFair question, and I'd not vouch for what I haven't seen. I sat in on one of Neil's Monday sessions a few weeks back. They had a housebuilder account up on the screen, deliveries, a couple of calls, the credit position, all in one go. Ten minutes. It would have taken someone half a morning before.
- Neil CravenThat was the one that rang me. Which branch, which account, that's what I always say. The manager at the branch could see what credit had said to them last week without having to ring anybody.
- Daniel OkaforI remember that account. You mentioned it when we last spoke, Neil, that the builder had been getting different answers depending on who picked up.
- Neil CravenAye. What's the builder actually seeing? That's what matters. And lately they're seeing the same story from every branch. It's not perfect, mind.
- Nell AshcombeTell me where it isn't perfect. I'd rather hear it.
- Neil CravenIt's small stuff. A couple of branches were slow to get going, they're still ringing credit instead of asking the system. That's training and habit, not the product. We've had one ticket this last month, and it was a how-to, nothing worse.
- Daniel OkaforYes, I saw that one. It was closed quickly, and I checked with the branch afterwards to make sure they were happy. Just to close the loop, they were.
- Neil CravenThey were. Fine.
- Nell AshcombeGood. Daniel's been telling me the number of people using it each month has crept up a little too. Around fifty on a typical month, a few more than the quarter before. Out of a hundred and sixty licensed. So there's room.
- Richard LazenbyRoom is right. I'd like to see more of the branch managers in it. Neil knows I say this.
- Neil CravenHe does. Every month.
- Richard LazenbyAnyway. Where was I? Right. At the dinner, this fellow says, would you let me talk to someone at your place about it? And I said, I'll put you in touch. Then I thought, hang on, I've not asked Nell. So that's the other reason I wanted this call.
- Nell AshcombeGo on.
- Richard LazenbyStrensall will be a reference for you. Properly. If another merchant wants to hear it from somebody who runs one, they can ring me or they can ring Neil. I already do it at the dinners, so I might as well do it with your blessing and make it tidy.
- Nell AshcombeRichard, thank you. I didn't ask you to say that, and I'm glad you did. I'll be straight with you: references are the thing that moves our business more than anything we write ourselves.
- Richard LazenbyWell, it works for me too. I like talking to peers who run good businesses. It's half the point of those dinners. And if they come away asking better questions about their own customers, that's good for the whole trade.
- Daniel OkaforMay I ask how you'd like it to work in practice? Some customers are happy to take a call now and then, others prefer we only pass on a name when they've had a chance to check the fit.
- Richard LazenbyCheck with us first, every time. I'll talk to anyone, but I won't have you handing my number to just anybody. And I'll only say what I've seen. I'm not going to describe features I couldn't tell you about.
- Nell AshcombeThat's exactly how I'd want it. Daniel will be the single point for requests. He'll send you a short note saying who they are and what they want to know, and you say yes or no.
- Daniel OkaforYes, I'll come back to you by the end of the week with a one page version of how that would look, so you can see it before anyone is actually asked.
- Richard LazenbyGrand. Keep it short, mind. I'll read a page, I won't read four.
- Nell AshcombeOne page. Promise.
- Neil CravenCan I add something from the branch side? If someone rings me, I'd want to tell them the honest bit about getting the branches on board. It took us longer than we thought to get the connectors lined up, the order system especially. I'd not want anybody walking in expecting it all to be live in a fortnight.
- Nell AshcombePlease do tell them. That one's on us as much as on anyone, the early weeks were slower than they should have been. A reference who says that is worth more than one who doesn't.
- Daniel OkaforAnd it helps us, honestly. If a new customer hears from Neil what the first couple of months look like, we can plan around it.
- Neil CravenLet's sort it, not talk about it. I'll do it.
- Richard LazenbyNow, one more thing, and then I'll stop. The renewal. I know it's coming up at the end of the month, the twenty-eighth. I'm not getting into contract detail, that's for our finance side, and they'll be in touch with Lewis. I just want you to know where I'm coming from before the paperwork starts.
- Nell AshcombeI appreciate that. And I won't turn a reference call into a negotiation, I'd rather keep them apart. Can I just say where we are, so there's nothing hanging?
- Richard LazenbyPlease.
- Nell AshcombeOn our records, you're on Enterprise, the order form and the invoices agree at one hundred and thirteen thousand five hundred a year, and everything's paid on time. So from our side it's a clean position. Daniel and Lewis will pick up the renewal conversation with your finance team in the usual way.
- Daniel OkaforAnd I'll make sure they have the usage picture in front of them, so it isn't just a number on a form. How is the team finding it, Neil? Genuinely, beyond the one ticket.
- Neil CravenMostly good. The key accounts team loves it, they were the first to use it daily. Credit are warming up. The thing they keep asking for is quicker answers on older orders, but that's more about what's loaded than how it works.
- Daniel OkaforThat sounds like something I can look at with your team. I won't guess at a date, but I'll find out what's been loaded and what hasn't and come back to you.
- Neil CravenTa. That'd help.
- Nell AshcombeRichard, since you brought up the dinners, what do people ask you most? I'm curious what the questions actually sound like. It helps me understand what to tell the next person.
- Richard LazenbyFunny, it's never about the technology. It's, did your people actually use it? Did it take a year? Did you have to hire anyone? And I say, no, my lads use it because it answers questions they already had on a Monday morning. That's the whole trick. If it answers a real question, they'll use it.
- Nell AshcombeThat's a better pitch than ours, to be honest. May I borrow it?
- Richard LazenbyBorrow it. Just don't put it on a poster.
- Nell AshcombeNo posters. Right, so to pull it together. Strensall is happy to act as a reference, with a check each time. Daniel sends Richard a page on how it would work by the end of the week. Neil is happy to speak candidly about the early weeks. Daniel looks at the older orders question with Neil's team. And the renewal runs separately through the usual route. Did I miss anything?
- Richard LazenbyNo, that's the lot. Good call. Short and useful.
- Neil CravenNothing from me. Thanks, Nell. Thanks, Daniel.
- Daniel OkaforThank you both. It's really kind of you, Richard. I'll be in touch shortly.
- Richard LazenbyRight, I've a meeting about a depot roof. Not glamorous. Speak soon.
- Nell AshcombeSpeak soon. Cheers, both.
Callsmade from