Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Check In
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Strensall Merchants · 21 Jul 2026 12:30
Neil Craven says B-Viz is saving time and aligning credit and sales. Usage is steady with headroom on 160 Enterprise seats. Daniel Okafor flagged key-person risk and the 28 Feb 2027 renewal; Neil will not discuss money without Fiona.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Neil Craven says B-Viz is saving time and aligning credit and sales. Usage is steady with headroom on 160 Enterprise seats. Daniel Okafor flagged key-person risk and the 28 Feb 2027 renewal; Neil will not discuss money without Fiona.
What happened: Daniel Okafor and Neil Craven reviewed usage, two routine tickets and the months ahead. Daniel agreed short sessions for quieter branches and key accounts, plus a one page starter guide.
Customer view: Neil values credit and sales looking at the same page. He says smaller yards still ring head office and some key accounts staff prefer spreadsheets.
Commercial: Daniel flagged the term end on 27 Feb 2027 and renewal on 28 Feb 2027. Neil will not talk money without Fiona present, so the renewal conversation needs her in the room.
Watch: Two or three key accounts people do most of the asking, a key-person risk. Daniel also owes a check on Monday refreshes and the wording of the two tickets.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Adoption and renewal groundwork
Importance
renewal
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 Okafor to offer two session options once Neil sends a credit contact, avoiding holiday weeks.
- Daniel to draft the four item starter guide and check Monday refreshes and the two tickets.
- Neil to send a few short stories on where B-Viz has helped.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Key accounts value rests on two or three heavy askers, so one departure would remove much of it.
- Smaller yards and newer branch starters have access but do not use B-Viz, leaving Enterprise seats idle.
- Neil will not discuss money without Fiona, so the renewal needs her involved early.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Short live sessions and a four item starter guide could lift branch usage across the 160 Enterprise seats.
- Neil's stories on credit and sales alignment can build a value case ahead of the renewal.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello Neil, good afternoon. Can you hear me alright?
Neil CravenLoud and clear, Daniel. Afternoon. Sorry, I've only just got off the phone, so give me a second to shut a few things down.- Daniel OkaforNo rush 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 whether anyone from the key accounts side was joining.
- Neil CravenJust me. I'll pass on whatever's useful. It was one of the big housebuilders that rang me this morning, if you're wondering why I sound like I've been running. Load went to the wrong site and they'd already sent a lad to stand there waiting.
- Daniel OkaforOh dear. Was it a branch slip, or did something not line up between the order and the delivery?
- Neil CravenBit of both, if I'm honest. Which branch, which account, that's what I always ask. The branch had the right order, the yard had an older site address on the delivery note. We found it in about ten minutes because we could see the order, the delivery and the last call all on one screen. Two years ago that would have been an afternoon of phoning round.
- Daniel OkaforThat's good to hear, and it's exactly the sort of thing you brought us in for. Mm. Well, let me just set out what I'd like to cover, and you tell me if it's the wrong list. I thought we'd look at how usage has been going, the couple of tickets you've had, a quick word on where the next few months are heading, and anything you want from us.
- Neil CravenThat'll do me. Go on then, how are we looking?
- Daniel OkaforOverall, steady and a bit better than steady. Active users are up a little on the previous quarter, just a few percent, so it's not a jump, but it's the right direction. On an average day, just under sixty people are in there.
- Neil CravenJust under sixty. Right. And we've got how many seats?
- Daniel OkaforYou're licensed for 160 users on Enterprise, so there's a lot of headroom. I'd not read that as a problem, to be clear. Daily active is always lower than the people who dip in each month. But it does tell us there are branches and teams who have the access and aren't yet using it.
- Neil CravenAye. That's no surprise. I know where they are, to be fair. The bigger branches took to it straight away, the trade counter lads especially, because they're the ones with a builder stood in front of them asking where his materials are. The smaller yards still ring head office.
- Daniel OkaforYes, that matches what I see. Can I ask, how is the team finding it, when you talk to the branch managers? Not the tidy version, the one you get over a brew.
- Neil CravenOver a brew? Mixed. The ones who use it say they can't go back. The ones who don't, it's mostly that nobody's shown them a reason. They've got their own routine, they've done it fifteen years the same way. I was one of them, I was a branch manager before this job, so I'm not having a go.
- Daniel OkaforI remember you saying. And that's helpful, because it tells me it's about showing people one useful thing for their own day, not about the product being hard.
- Neil CravenExactly that. What's the builder actually seeing? If I can show a branch manager that when a builder rings, he can see the credit position, the last three deliveries and what was said on the last call, without putting anybody on hold, that sells itself.
- Daniel OkaforRight. So one thing I could do is run a short session for the branches who aren't on it much, built around that exact moment. A builder rings, here's what you can see in half a minute. Not a feature tour.
- Neil CravenI like that. Would it need to be live? My branch managers won't sit through an hour of anything.
- Daniel OkaforShort and live, I think, with a recording after for anyone who can't get off the counter. Twenty minutes would be plenty. And if it's useful, I can ask the recorder to pull some real examples from your own data, so it's not a made-up demo.
- Neil CravenReal examples, yes. Take out anything sensitive on credit, mind. I'd run that past our credit people first.
- Daniel OkaforOf course. You tell me who in credit should see it and I'll send it to them before it goes anywhere near a branch. Let me note that down. Just to close the loop, that's a short live session for the quieter branches, examples from your own data, credit reviews them first.
- Neil CravenThat's it. I'll get you a name for credit by the end of the week.
- Daniel OkaforLovely, thank you. Now, tickets. You've had two in the last month, neither of them marked high priority, and both are answered. I wanted to check with you rather than just read the list, because sometimes the ticket looks small and the annoyance behind it is not.
- Neil CravenTwo, was it? I'd have said one. Remind me.
- Daniel OkaforBoth were routine questions rather than faults, as far as I can tell. I don't want to guess at the detail from memory, so I'll look at the wording again after this call and come back to you if there's anything you'd want to know about. What I can say is that nothing was urgent and nothing is waiting on you.
- Neil CravenFair enough. Nothing's been bothering me on that front. If the systems were broken I'd have heard about it before you did, believe me.
- Daniel OkaforI believe it. Ha. And the nightly refresh has been landing on time, so the branches should be opening up to current figures each morning. If you ever see something that looks a day behind, tell me straight away rather than waiting for a ticket.
- Neil CravenWill do. Honestly, the one thing that does get said is that on Monday mornings people want everything right up to date after the weekend. But that's the branches being impatient, not a fault.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. Though it's worth me checking, because Monday is when people look hardest. I'll come back to you by next week on whether Monday looks any different from the other mornings.
- Neil CravenGrand.
- Daniel OkaforCan I ask about the key accounts team? When we first set this up, you said the housebuilder accounts were the ones you most wanted to see in one place. Are those teams using it the way you hoped?
- Neil CravenSome of them. Two or three people on the key accounts side live in it. They'll ask it things like which of our big accounts has gone quiet, or who's rung in twice this week with a complaint. The rest, they still like their spreadsheets. Old habits.
- Daniel OkaforMm. That's worth a thought, actually. When a few people do most of the asking, I get a little cautious. It's brilliant while they're there, but if one of them moves on, a lot of the value goes with them.
- Neil CravenAye, I take the point. We had that with the old reporting. One lass built everything, she left, and nobody dared touch it for a year.
- Daniel OkaforExactly the pattern I'd like to avoid. So maybe the session I mentioned could have a second version, for key accounts, where we show a few of those questions that your keener people ask and let the others borrow them. Nothing complicated.
- Neil CravenBorrow them. I like that. Let's sort it, not talk about it. Can you do both sessions in the same week?
- Daniel OkaforI'd want to look at my diary before I promise a week, and I'd rather not guess at it on a call. Let me come back to you by the end of the week, with a couple of options, once I've got your credit contact.
- Neil CravenThat's fine. No point dropping it in the middle of the summer holidays either, half my lot are off.
- Daniel OkaforGood point, thank you. We'll aim for a slot when the branches are properly staffed. Now, a quick word on where things stand with the contract, because it's the sort of thing I like to mention early rather than late.
- Neil CravenGo on.
- Daniel OkaforYour current term runs to 27 Feb 2027, and the renewal falls on 28 Feb 2027. That's a good way off, and I'm not here to raise it as a worry. But I will be in touch in the autumn with the formal notice, as I always do, and I'd like us to have a proper conversation before then about what the year has given you.
- Neil CravenRight. Now, you know I don't talk money without Fiona in the room, so I'll stop you there if you're heading that way.
- Daniel OkaforNot at all, and I wouldn't. Today is purely about how it's going. When we do get to the renewal, we'll set up a proper session with Fiona there. I'd just like you to know it's coming, and I'd like to arrive with a clear picture of what's been worth having.
- Neil CravenThat I can help with. What would you need from me?
- Daniel OkaforHonestly, stories. The housebuilder delivery this morning is a good example. Where did you find something faster, or avoid a mistake, or settle an argument between credit and sales? Those are worth more to me than any chart.
- Neil CravenCredit and sales agreeing on a customer, that's the big one for me. It used to be that sales would say a builder was a good lad and credit would have him on stop, and neither knew what the other was looking at. Now they're looking at the same page. That's changed more arguments than I can count.
- Daniel OkaforThat's lovely, and it's very much your phrase, so I'll keep it in your words if that's alright. Could you jot down two or three of those over the next few weeks? Even a couple of lines in an email.
- Neil CravenI can do that. Short ones. I'm not writing essays.
- Daniel OkaforShort is perfect. Thank you. Anything else on your side before I check a few housekeeping items?
- Neil CravenOne thing. The newer starters at the branches. We've taken on a good few this year and they get a login but nobody really tells them what it's for. Is there anything I can give them on day one?
- Daniel OkaforThere is. I can put together a one page starter guide in your language, not ours. Where to look for a trade account, how to read the credit position, how to see the last call. If you tell me which of those matter on a first day, I'll build around them.
- Neil CravenTrade account, credit position, last call, and deliveries. Four things. Stick to those.
- Daniel OkaforFour things, noted. Thank you. And on housekeeping: Lewis remains your account owner on our side, and I'm still your point of contact for day to day, so you've got the two of us if anything needs escalating. Is that still working for you?
- Neil CravenYes, no complaints. Lewis rings when he needs something, and you ring when I need something. Suits me.
- Daniel OkaforGood. Then I think we've got a decent list. Let me read it back, just to close the loop. You'll send me a name in credit by the end of the week. I'll come back to you with options for two short sessions, one for the quieter branches and one for key accounts, avoiding the holiday weeks. I'll draft the four item starter guide. I'll check Monday mornings on the refresh, and look again at the two tickets. And you'll send me a few short stories about where it's helped.
- Neil CravenThat's the lot. You've got a better memory than me, mind.
- Daniel OkaforI've written it down, that's the secret. Thank you, Neil, really, and good luck with the housebuilder for the rest of the day.
- Neil CravenAye, I'll need it. Cheers, Daniel. Speak soon.
- Daniel OkaforBest wishes, Neil. Bye for now.
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