Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – QBR
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 5 Mar 2026 15:15
The QBR showed active users up by close to half on the quarter before, with plenty of licence headroom. Fiona Metcalfe, Group Finance Director, wants a measured usage case before she will renew.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026The QBR showed active users up by close to half on the quarter before, with plenty of licence headroom. Fiona Metcalfe, Group Finance Director, wants a measured usage case before she will renew.
What happened: Daniel Okafor said active users averaged in the high fifties over thirty days, against one hundred and sixty licensed. Questions asked were up month on month and spread across people.
Support: Two tickets in thirty days. The high priority sync problem was answered within the Enterprise thirty minutes and was caused by Ashok Patel's untested source change, with no data loss.
Commercial: Lewis Kerr stated the Enterprise subscription at £114k a year, matching invoices, with renewal on 28 Feb 2027. Fiona would not discuss price, and Lewis said usage does not support more licences.
Watch: Fiona said she will not renew on enthusiasm. The Midlands branches are patchier, so Daniel owes a value summary and a branch session once Ashok has tested the account mapping.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
QBR usage and renewal
Importance
renewal
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- Daniel Okafor to draft a value summary, separating measured facts from opinion, and send it to Neil and Ashok first.
- Ashok Patel to test the account mapping on the Midlands branches and tell Daniel when he is ready.
- Lewis Kerr to send any renewal paperwork in writing, with the VAT position stated, ahead of 28 Feb 2027.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Fiona will judge the renewal on a measured usage case, and BG-Demo has not yet supplied one.
- The Midlands branches are patchier, with some managers logging in once and not returning.
- A source change by the customer caused a sync stoppage, which shows how fragile connectors can be.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Usage has risen close to half on the quarter before, with a good spread across branch managers, key accounts and credit.
- A walkthrough session for Midlands branch managers could bring the remaining users in.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello, can everyone hear me alright? I can see Neil and Ashok. Fiona, are you joining us as well?
Fiona MetcalfeI'm here. Sorry, I was on mute. Good afternoon. What decision do you need from me today?- Daniel OkaforGood afternoon, Fiona, and thank you all for your time. Honestly, no decision today. This is the quarterly review, so it's usage, how the support side has gone, and a first look at what the next year might want from us. Lewis is here for the commercial side, but he's only listening for most of it.
Lewis KerrAfternoon, all. Yes, I'll mostly be quiet. I'll come in towards the end on the renewal timeline, just so nobody is surprised by it.- Fiona MetcalfeGood. Then I'll stay as long as the numbers are in pounds.
Neil CravenAfternoon. Sorry if I'm distracted. I had one of the big housebuilder accounts on the phone first thing this morning, and for once the call was good news. Their branch contact and our credit team were looking at the same picture. That's the whole point of this, isn't it?- Daniel OkaforIt is, Neil, and that's a nice way to start. How is the team finding it day to day? Is that kind of story becoming normal, or is it still the exception?
- Neil CravenGetting more normal. Six months ago I'd have to ask Ashok's team to pull something together. Now branch managers just ask it themselves. Which branch, which account, what's been ordered, what's been delivered, what credit says. Straight away.
Ashok PatelCan I add what I changed since last time? Then it gives context for the usage numbers.- Daniel OkaforPlease do.
- Ashok PatelTwo things. The delivery system source, I tested it on one branch first, as I always do, and left it a fortnight before I switched it on for the rest. And I cleaned up the account number mapping between the branch system and the credit ledger. There were a handful of trade accounts that appeared twice, with a slightly different number in each place. That's tidied now.
- Daniel OkaforThat's useful, and it's probably behind part of what I'm about to show. Let me share my screen. Can you see the usage page?
- Neil CravenYes, I can see it.
- Ashok PatelYes, fine on mine.
- Daniel OkaforLovely. So, the headline. Over the last thirty days the average number of active users has been in the high fifties. Against the quarter before, that is close to half as many again. That is a big step, and it's not one person: I can see branch managers, key account people and a good spread from the credit team.
- Fiona MetcalfeAgainst what licence? Remind me.
- Daniel OkaforOne hundred and sixty licensed users, under the Enterprise agreement. So you're using well under half of what you have. I want to be honest about that, because it means there is plenty of headroom. There is no case for buying more users. The question is more how you bring the rest of the branches along.
- Fiona MetcalfeRight. So the gap is adoption, not capacity.
- Daniel OkaforExactly that. And I'd rather say it now than have you find it at renewal.
- Neil CravenFair. We rolled out to the northern branches first. The Midlands branches are patchier. Some managers have logged in once and never come back.
- Daniel OkaforThat fits what I'm seeing. Let me scroll to questions asked. This is the measure I watch most, because it shows people are getting an answer they want, not just opening a page. It's up month on month, and it's spread out. No single person is asking a disproportionate share, which is healthy. Neil, you're in the top few, but you're not alone at the top.
- Neil CravenI'd hope not. I ask less than I did. I used to ask everything myself. Now my area managers do it.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is the best sign you could give me. Ashok, anything on the data side before I move on? Records indexed, connectors?
- Ashok PatelRecords are moving every day, which is what I check first. If that went flat I'd know something upstream had broken. The nightly refresh has finished before the morning start each business day, as far as I can see. I'd say so if it hadn't. The data says it's been steady.
- Daniel OkaforI agree with that. I looked at the refresh history before the call and I can't see a morning where it slipped. Just to close the loop on that, because freshness is something the Enterprise terms cover specifically, and I wanted you to know I'd looked.
- Fiona MetcalfeThank you. That's the kind of thing I want written down. Now, tickets.
- Daniel OkaforYes. Two tickets in the last thirty days, which is quiet for an account of your size. One was a how-to question, answered the same day. The other was marked high priority, a sync problem on one source. Our support team came back inside the thirty minutes that Enterprise promises, and it was resolved without any data loss. Ashok, you were on that one.
- Ashok PatelI was. It was my change, if I'm honest. I altered a field in the source system and didn't test it before it went through. Support spotted it straight away. I now test any schema change on one branch first, which I should have done then.
- Neil CravenNo harm done, though? Nobody saw wrong numbers?
- Ashok PatelNo. It stopped loading, it didn't load wrongly. I'd be more worried about the other way round.
- Daniel OkaforAnd that's the right instinct. Mm. Few tickets here is a good sign because usage is rising at the same time. If usage were falling and the tickets had gone quiet, I'd be calling you to ask why. This is the healthy version.
- Fiona MetcalfeUnderstood. Neil, can I ask you something I'd rather you answered plainly. Is this changing how credit and sales talk to each other? Not the dashboards. The conversations.
- Neil CravenPlainly? Yes. Before, a key account manager would ring credit and they'd each be working off their own list. Now they open the same account and argue about the same facts. Fewer arguments, to be honest. Quicker ones, anyway. Let's sort it, not talk about it.
- Fiona MetcalfeWhat's our exposure on a late-paying account now, compared with before? Can someone see that quickly?
- Ashok PatelWhich account number is that? Sorry, I mean as an example. For any account I can show the credit position next to open orders and deliveries. Whether it changes the exposure itself, that's your team's decision, not the tool's. But they see it earlier.
- Fiona MetcalfeEarlier is what I want. Credit limits are set by credit, never by sales, and I want that to stay true even when everyone can see everything.
- Neil CravenAgreed. Sales see it. Credit decides. That's how it works now.
- Daniel OkaforThat's useful for me to hear, because it's what I'd want to describe back to others as the value. Fiona, can I check something? When the board asks what this is worth, what do you want to be able to say?
- Fiona MetcalfeI want a usage case. Who uses it, for what, and what changed. Not adjectives. We'll look at it at renewal, and I won't renew on enthusiasm.
- Daniel OkaforThat's fair, and it's reasonable to ask now rather than in February. What I can do is put together a short value summary before the renewal conversation: usage by area, questions asked, tickets, refresh record. Facts in pounds where there are pounds, and plain words where there aren't.
- Fiona MetcalfePlease. And be clear which parts are measured and which are opinion.
- Daniel OkaforI will. I'll come back to you by the end of next month with a draft, and Neil and Ashok can mark it up before it reaches you.
- Neil CravenI can give you real examples from the branches. Housebuilder accounts mainly. What's the builder actually seeing, that's what I'd put in.
- Daniel OkaforThat would be ideal. Ashok, on the Midlands side, would it help if we ran a short session for the branch managers? A walkthrough on their own accounts, nothing generic.
- Ashok PatelIt would. I'd want to test the account mapping on those branches first so nobody sees a duplicate and loses faith. Give me a couple of weeks.
- Daniel OkaforA couple of weeks is fine. I won't set a date until you say you're ready.
- Neil CravenI'll get the managers' diaries sorted. Mornings are better, before they're on the counter.
- Daniel OkaforMornings, noted. Lewis, anything from your side before we wrap? I know you wanted to cover the dates.
- Lewis KerrYes, briefly. For the record, the Enterprise subscription is contracted at £113,500 a year, and that matches what has been invoiced, so there is nothing to reconcile on our side. The contract runs from the start on 28 Feb 2025 to 27 Feb 2027, and the renewal date is 28 Feb 2027. Plenty of time, but I'd rather you had it in your diaries now.
- Fiona MetcalfeUnderstood. I'm not agreeing anything on a call, Lewis, and I'm not discussing price today.
- Lewis KerrOf course, and I wasn't going to. When the time comes I'll send anything over in writing, with the VAT position stated, and nothing from memory. I'm not recommending changes to the licence either, given the headroom Daniel showed. To put a number on it, the usage doesn't support more.
- Fiona MetcalfeGood. I appreciate you saying that.
- Daniel OkaforLet me close the loop on actions, then. I'll draft the value summary and send it to Neil and Ashok first. Ashok will test the account mapping on the Midlands branches and tell me when he's ready for a session. Neil will sort the diaries once we have a date. And Lewis will keep the renewal dates in view without any pressure.
- Ashok PatelThat's right. I'll message you once the test is done, with a screenshot.
- Neil CravenSound. Thanks, Daniel. Thanks, Lewis.
- Fiona MetcalfeThank you all. That was useful, and shorter than I expected.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, everyone, for your time. Speak soon. Best wishes.
- Lewis KerrKind regards, all. Bye for now.
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