Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 16 Mar 2026 12:00
Neil Craven reported fast B-Viz answers for a housebuilder query and branch managers now relying on it. Daniel Okafor flagged the 28 Feb 2027 renewal. Neil is happy but will not discuss money without finance.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Neil Craven reported fast B-Viz answers for a housebuilder query and branch managers now relying on it. Daniel Okafor flagged the 28 Feb 2027 renewal. Neil is happy but will not discuss money without finance.
What happened: Daniel ran a routine check-in with Neil, the only customer attendee. Neil described resolving a housebuilder delivery query in ten minutes using B-Viz.
Customer view: Key accounts and credit both use it, and branch managers adopted it for the Monday trade review after a January push. Neil said he is happy and not looking to go anywhere.
Commercial: Enterprise is licensed for a hundred and sixty people with daily activity well under that, so there is headroom to bring more branches on, mainly the patchy Midlands ones. Daniel said the order form and invoices agree at £114k a year and nothing is overdue. The term runs to 27 Feb 2027, renewal on 28 Feb 2027, and Lewis Kerr should join that conversation.
Watch: Neil will not talk money without finance present. He asked for mobile access and a credit dashboard; Daniel owes answers on both.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Adoption and early renewal flag
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- Neil to send the Midlands branch list and the credit colleague's name this week.
- Daniel to propose a training session, answer on mobile access by the end of next week and agree a renewal conversation time with Lewis Kerr.
- Daniel to send usage by branch after the call.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Midlands branches are patchy adopters, so Enterprise headroom stays unused.
- Neil will not discuss price without finance, so the budget holder is not yet engaged.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A video training session for Midlands branch managers could deepen use within the licensed Enterprise users.
- A credit team dashboard on slowing payers who order more would show further value from the dashboards already included.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello Neil, can you hear me all right? I think I've just joined a few seconds ahead of you.
Neil CravenAye, loud and clear. Hello Daniel. Sorry, I'm in the office at York, so if you hear a forklift that's the yard, not me.- Daniel OkaforNo problem at all. Thank you for making the time, I know lunchtime is never quiet for you. It's just the two of us today, is that right? I wasn't sure if anyone from the credit team was joining.
- Neil CravenJust me. I did ask them, but they're stuck on month end stuff. They send their best, mind. They'd only tell you it's all brilliant anyway.
- Daniel OkaforWell, that's a nice way to start. How's the week been treating you?
- Neil CravenBusy. Honestly, I had a housebuilder ring me at half seven this morning. One of our big key accounts, they'd had a load of bricks turn up at the wrong site, or that's what they thought. Turned out it was the right site, wrong gate.
- Daniel OkaforOh dear. And did you manage to sort it?
- Neil CravenTen minutes, start to finish. That's what I wanted to tell you, actually. I pulled the account up in B-Viz, asked it for the last few orders and the delivery notes and what the branch had said on the phone, and it was all there in one go. Used to be I'd be ringing three branches and the credit lads and piecing it together. Which branch, which account, what's the builder actually seeing? Now I can see it.
- Daniel OkaforThat's lovely to hear, and it's exactly why you brought us in. Orders, deliveries, calls and credit all in the same place. I'll be honest, I enjoy hearing the stories more than the numbers, so thank you.
- Neil CravenWell, you'll get the numbers as well. Go on, what have you got?
- Daniel OkaforSo I've had a look at the usage ahead of today. The number of people active in a typical day is up by about a third compared with the previous quarter, which is a really healthy move. And that's across more than one team, not just a handful of keen people.
- Neil CravenThat'll be the branch managers. We did a push in January, got them all to use it for the Monday trade review instead of the spreadsheet. Some of them grumbled for about a fortnight and now they'd fight you for it.
- Daniel OkaforHa, that's the best sort of grumbling to get through. How is the team finding it day to day? Not just the managers, I mean the key account people and the credit team as well.
- Neil CravenKey accounts love it. They go in before they ring a customer, so they know what's been ordered, what's late and whether there's anything sat on credit hold. Credit is the surprise. They like seeing the calls next to the ledger. One of them said to me, it's the first time I've heard what the branch told the customer before I chased the invoice.
- Daniel OkaforMm. That's a good example of the point, isn't it? Sales and credit looking at the same picture. You were always keen on them agreeing about a customer.
- Neil CravenAlways. Nothing worse than a branch promising a builder something and credit stopping the account the next morning. Doesn't happen as much now. Not never, but a lot less.
- Daniel OkaforGood. Now, you're licensed for a hundred and sixty people on Enterprise, and at the moment the daily activity is a fair bit under that. I'm not raising it as a worry. It tells me there's plenty of room to bring more branches in without us changing anything on the contract.
- Neil CravenYeah, I know. We've got about ninety-odd branches and not all of them are on yet. The northern ones are in. The Midlands ones are patchy. Some of the managers there came over in the last takeover and they've got their own habits.
- Daniel OkaforRight. Do you know roughly which of the Midlands branches are furthest behind? I'd rather target the help than send a general reminder to everyone.
- Neil CravenI can get you a list. Not off the top of my head, I'd only get it wrong. And I'm not running anyone down, they've just not had the time to look at it.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, and no one will hear it as criticism. If you send the list, I can put together a short training session for those managers, maybe done over video so nobody has to travel. We could do it in the morning, before the branches get busy.
- Neil CravenMornings are good. Seven till nine they're all in the yard anyway, so after that. Let's sort it, not talk about it. I'll have a list for you by the end of the week.
- Daniel OkaforLovely. I'll note that down. Just to close the loop on it, you're sending me the Midlands branches that need help, and I'll come back to you with a proposed session after I've seen them.
- Neil CravenThat's it.
- Daniel OkaforOkay, a few other bits. Support first. Looking at the last month there were only two tickets from your side, and one of them came in as high priority. I wanted to check you were happy with how that went.
- Neil CravenYeah, that was the one about the delivery feed not showing up for a couple of branches. Somebody got back to us quick, and it was fixed the same day if I remember right. I wasn't chasing, which is the test, isn't it?
- Daniel OkaforIt is, and I'm glad to hear it. You're on the Enterprise response times, so that's what you should expect, but it's nice when the experience matches the paper. The other ticket was a how-to, I think, so nothing to worry about there.
- Neil CravenThat'll be one of my lot asking how to save a search. They'll learn.
- Daniel OkaforThey will. And that's another thing the training could cover, saved searches and sharing them between a branch and the key account team. People often don't realise they can do that.
- Neil CravenPut it in. If I can stop twenty managers each building the same search, I'll be a happy man.
- Daniel OkaforWill do. Now, on the more technical side, the single sign-on and the user provisioning are both running as they should, and as far as I can see the nightly refresh has been landing before the start of the working day. If you ever find the morning figures look old, tell me straight away. With Enterprise, freshness is something we're accountable for, not just the system being up.
- Neil CravenNot seen it. First thing, the branches have yesterday's deliveries and this morning's orders. If that stopped, I'd hear about it from the yard before I'd hear it from you.
- Daniel OkaforHa, fair. Then I'll hope the yard stays quiet on that front.
- Neil CravenCan I ask you something? You know the credit lot want to see more on the trade accounts. Like, which customers are slowing down on paying and then ordering more at the same time. Is that a thing B-Viz can do, or is that me asking for the moon?
- Daniel OkaforIt's not the moon. The orders and the credit data are both connected, so a question like that should be answerable in the chat already. Where it gets interesting is if you want it as a regular view the credit team opens each Monday. That's what the dashboards are for, and they're part of what you have.
- Neil CravenRight. Who builds those, though? Me? Because I'll be honest, I'd make a mess of it.
- Daniel OkaforNot necessarily. Somebody from your credit team who knows what they want to see could build the first one, and I'd sit with them for an hour. I wouldn't guess how long it'll take until I've seen what they need. The first one is usually the slowest, then they pick it up quickly.
- Neil CravenI'll ask them. There's one lass in credit who's mad about this sort of thing. She'd have it done by Friday.
- Daniel OkaforThen let's get her involved. If you can let me know who she is, I'll offer her a time. And I don't want to take over, so tell me if it's better to go through you first.
- Neil CravenGo through me for the first email, then it's hers. I don't want her thinking it's another job from head office. It's a job she'll like.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. So that's two things from you this week: the Midlands list and the name of the person in credit. And I'll come back to you on both.
- Neil CravenAye.
- Daniel OkaforNow, a bit further out, and I'm only flagging it so it doesn't surprise you later. You're a little over a year in, and the current term runs to 27 Feb 2027, with the renewal falling on 28 Feb 2027. Nothing needs deciding today. I just like to say it out loud early.
- Neil CravenRight. So when do we talk about that properly?
- Daniel OkaforI'd rather not guess a date at this stage, because Lewis Kerr, who looks after the commercial side of your account, would want to be in that conversation. I'll agree a time with him and come back to you with a proposal. It'll be well ahead of the deadline, I can promise that.
- Neil CravenFine. Look, I'll say now, I'm happy with it. I'm not going to talk money without finance in the room, that's how we do it here, but I'm not looking to go anywhere.
- Daniel OkaforThat's completely fair, and we'd want finance there anyway. For the record, on our side the order form and the invoices agree at £113,500 a year, nothing is overdue, and there's nothing for anyone to reconcile. I just like to say that so you know everything is tidy.
- Neil CravenGood. Our finance director likes tidy. I'll mention it to her.
- Daniel OkaforPlease do. And while we're on people, can I ask about the team on your side? Is everyone who was involved at the start still around? I remember you having a couple of people in credit and an IT contact who handled the single sign-on.
- Neil CravenMostly. The IT lad's the same, still grumbling about passwords. One of the credit team moved to another role in the group, but she's still using B-Viz, funnily enough. Took it with her.
- Daniel OkaforHa, that's the best kind of leaving present. If there's ever a change in who looks after it on your side, do let me know early, so I can make sure nothing falls between two chairs.
- Neil CravenWill do. Though I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me.
- Daniel OkaforI'm very glad to hear it. Is there anything you'd like us to do that we're not doing yet? Anything on the wish list, however small?
- Neil CravenOne thing. The branch managers keep asking if they can get it on their phones when they're out and about. They're not at a desk half the day. Is that a thing?
- Daniel OkaforI don't want to promise something I haven't checked. It works in a mobile browser, but I'll find out properly how it looks on a small screen and what the team has in mind, and I'll come back to you by the end of next week with a straight answer rather than a hopeful one.
- Neil CravenThat'll do. Straight answer, that's all I ask.
- Daniel OkaforThen I think we've covered it. Let me read back what I've got, just to close the loop. You're sending the list of Midlands branches that need help, and the name of your credit colleague who'd build the dashboard. I'm proposing the training session, finding out about phones, and talking to Lewis about a time for the renewal conversation. Have I missed anything?
- Neil CravenNo, that's the lot. And can you send me the usage by branch, so I can see who's flying and who isn't? I'll not name names, but I'll nudge.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, I'll send that over after this call, with a short note on what's driving the increase. Anything else?
- Neil CravenNope. Thanks, Daniel. It's a good tool, and you lot have been decent about it.
- Daniel OkaforThat means a lot, thank you Neil. Enjoy the rest of your week, and say hello to the yard for me. Best wishes.
- Neil CravenWill do. Cheers, Daniel. Speak soon.
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