Strensall Merchants / BG-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Strensall Merchants · 1 Oct 2026 10:00
Neil Craven reports B-Viz working, with no tickets and no stale data. He wants branches using it before widening. A finance board pack is a possible dashboards use. He will hold BG-Demo to the value case in February.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Neil Craven reports B-Viz working, with no tickets and no stale data. He wants branches using it before widening. A finance board pack is a possible dashboards use. He will hold BG-Demo to the value case in February.
What happened: Daniel Okafor reviewed usage, connectors and the contract with Neil on 1 Oct 2026. Usage is steady and a touch up, with high-fifties daily users against a hundred and sixty licensed. No tickets in the last month and no flat connectors.
Customer view: Neil does not want to widen the licence while Midlands branches still ring the York trade desk. He wants short branch sessions on real accounts, starting with the biggest housebuilder accounts.
Commercial: The contract runs to 27 Feb 2027, with renewal on 28 Feb 2027 on BG-Demo's side. Neil will not discuss money without Fiona. A board view in the dashboards builder, now built by hand in finance from about four spreadsheets, is a modest opportunity.
Watch: An order system change would be the likeliest way a feed breaks, and the IT lead is to copy Daniel in. Neil said he would hold BG-Demo to the value claim in February.
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 to send Neil a three-line note for the IT lead and the branch session options.
- Daniel to reply on mobile access by the end of the following week.
- Daniel to confirm in writing who handles the commercial side.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Many branch managers still use the York trade desk, so adoption stays thin.
- A future order system change could silently stop a connector.
- Neil will test whether the single-view value is still true in February.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Branch sessions on real accounts could raise daily use above a third of licensed users.
- A board key-account view in the dashboards builder could save finance days each month.
- A one-page plain-English year summary could support the renewal conversation with Fiona.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforMorning, Neil. Thanks very much for making the time. I think it's just the two of us today, is that right, or is anyone else from your side joining?
Neil CravenMorning, Daniel. Just me. Sorry, I'm a minute behind, I've had a housebuilder on the phone since half past seven. One of the big site managers, wanting to know why a delivery note didn't match what the branch had on screen.- Daniel OkaforAh, that's never a gentle start to the day. Did you get it sorted?
- Neil CravenAye, in the end. Which branch, which account, what's the builder actually seeing? That's what I asked. Turned out the order had been split over two branches and nobody had told him. I pulled it up in B-Viz, saw the lot in one place, rang him back inside ten minutes. Let's sort it, not talk about it.
- Daniel OkaforWell, that's rather the point of the thing, isn't it. I'm glad it earned its keep before ten o'clock. How's the weather up there? It's gone properly grey down here.
- Neil CravenSame. Drizzle since Monday. Good for nobody except the roofing sales lads, they do all right when it's wet. Anyway, you've got an agenda, I expect.
- Daniel OkaforOnly a loose one, and happy to go where you want. I thought we'd look at how usage has been over the last few months, check how the team is finding it, see if anything is rubbing at the branches, and then touch briefly on the contract coming round next year, just to close the loop on how we handle that. Does that work?
- Neil CravenFine by me. Though I'll say now, I'm not talking money without Fiona in the room. That's not me being awkward, it's how we do it.
- Daniel OkaforCompletely understood, and I wouldn't ask you to. Nothing about price today. It's really about the shape of the year and making sure there are no surprises when we get there.
- Neil CravenGood. Go on then.
- Daniel OkaforRight. So I'll share my screen, bear with me, I always manage to share the wrong window. Can you see the usage page?
- Neil CravenNot yet. I can see your email. Something about a invoice query.
- Daniel OkaforOh, apologies, that's nothing to do with you. Let me swap. There. Better?
- Neil CravenAye, that's it. Line going across.
- Daniel OkaforSo this is daily active people across the last quarter and the one before. You've got a hundred and sixty licensed users, and on an average day we're seeing somewhere in the high fifties using it. That's up a touch on the previous quarter, a couple of percent, so steady rather than dramatic.
- Neil CravenHigh fifties out of a hundred and sixty. That's, what, just over a third.
- Daniel OkaforJust over a third, yes. And I'd say that's a healthy place for a company your size at this stage, but it also tells me there's room. Plenty of people hold a seat and don't open it on a given day. I'd be curious which branches those are.
- Neil CravenI can tell you without looking. The ones furthest from head office. The Midlands branches came on later and a few of the managers still ring the trade desk in York rather than look it up themselves. Old habits.
- Daniel OkaforThat matches what I'd guess from the numbers. Is that a training thing, do you think, or more that they don't yet trust what they see?
- Neil CravenBit of both. Mostly trust. A branch manager's been burnt once by a system showing the wrong stock, he never goes back. Once he sees the credit position and the delivery history sitting next to each other, and it's right, he'll come round. I did. Fifteen years running a branch, I didn't believe a screen about anything.
- Daniel OkaforHa, I do remember you saying that on the first call. And it's a fair instinct. Can I ask, when you say it's right, are people finding the morning data fresh enough? The nightly refresh should be finished before seven, every business day.
- Neil CravenNever an issue that I've heard. Branches open at seven, half of them earlier, and nobody's said it's stale. If they had, I'd have heard, believe me.
- Daniel OkaforI'm sure you would. And it matches what I see on the support side, actually. There haven't been any tickets from your team in the last month, none at all, urgent or otherwise. Which is lovely, but I never take silence for granted, so I'm asking: is it quiet because it's working, or because people have given up asking us?
- Neil CravenWorking. If they'd given up, they'd be moaning to me and they're not. Well. They're moaning about everything else, but not that.
- Daniel OkaforFair enough, I'll take that. Mm. Let me scroll down. This is the questions page, which is the measure I care about most. Who's asking, and what about.
- Neil CravenGo on, who's top?
- Daniel OkaforIt's spread out, which is what I like to see. The trade-credit team are the heaviest group. Then the key-account managers. Branch staff are a long tail. No one person is carrying a big share of it, so you're not leaning on a single enthusiast.
- Neil CravenCredit are keen because it saves them chasing the branches for order history. Before, they'd ring three places to find out if a builder was good for another load. Now they look it up and say yes or no.
- Daniel OkaforThat's exactly the sort of story I'd love to be able to tell someone else. Do you remember roughly how long that used to take them?
- Neil CravenDepends. Quick one, a few minutes. A tricky account, half a morning. I'd not put a number on it, I'd be making it up.
- Daniel OkaforNo, don't, that's perfectly fine. Even in your own words it's useful. I'd like to write it down, if I may, because when we do a proper review it helps to have what the team would say rather than what a chart says.
- Neil CravenWrite what you like, just keep it straight.
- Daniel OkaforAlways. Right, connectors next. Everything you connected at the start is still loading properly. Orders, deliveries, the call recorder, credit. Nothing has gone flat, which is what I look for if a source has quietly broken after a system change at your end.
- Neil CravenWe've not changed owt on the order system this year. There's talk of it. Not yet.
- Daniel OkaforRight, and that's the thing I'd ask. If there is talk, could you make sure someone tells me before it happens rather than after? A change to the order system is the single most likely way for a feed to stop, and I'd far rather we planned it than found out from a stale page.
- Neil CravenFair point. I'll tell the IT lead to copy you in. Might take him a while to remember, mind.
- Daniel OkaforI'll send you a short note afterwards that you can forward him, so it's not on your memory. Would that help?
- Neil CravenAye, do that. Make it short, he doesn't read long ones.
- Daniel OkaforThree lines, promise. Now, the other thing I wanted to ask. You've got room on the licence, and a good number of branches not really using it yet. How are you thinking about the next stretch? Is it more of the same, or is there a team you'd like to bring in?
- Neil CravenHmm. Honestly, I'd like the branches to get proper use out of what we've got before I go asking for anything else. I'm not going to widen it while half the Midlands are still ringing York.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a sensible order of things, and I'd not push you against it. What would help most there? I could do a couple of short sessions for branch managers, in groups, using a real account of theirs. We've done it for other customers and it tends to land better than a generic walkthrough.
- Neil CravenUsing a real account, that's the bit. If they see their own biggest builder on the screen they'll sit up. If it's some made-up customer they'll look at their phones.
- Daniel OkaforAgreed. Then let's do that. If you can tell me which branches you'd start with, I'll come back to you with a couple of options for the format. I won't pin a date today, I'd like to check diaries on my side first.
- Neil CravenStart with the ones with the biggest housebuilder accounts. They're the ones where a mix-up costs us. I'll get you a list. Few names, not all of them.
- Daniel OkaforPerfect. A few names is exactly right.
- Neil CravenCan I ask something different? It's been in my head.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, please.
- Neil CravenOur chief exec's been on about getting the same view in front of the board. Not the branch detail, just how the key accounts are doing, who's slipping, who's growing. Is that a thing B-Viz does, or am I asking for the moon?
- Daniel OkaforIt's not the moon. There's a dashboards builder in your tier, and your own people can put together a view of key accounts without anyone from us. I'd want to understand what the board actually asks before I show you, mind. Is it a monthly pack, or more of an ad hoc question?
- Neil CravenMonthly pack, mostly. Then every so often someone asks a one-off and we all scramble.
- Daniel OkaforMm. So that's two different things, really. The monthly view you'd build once and leave, the one-off questions people could ask directly in chat. I could sit with whoever prepares the pack and build the first one together. How is that handled at the moment?
- Neil CravenA lass in finance pulls it together from about four spreadsheets. Takes her a couple of days every month. She'd bite your hand off.
- Daniel OkaforThen she's the person I'd like to meet. Would you be happy to introduce us? Then it's something your side owns, not something I've bolted on.
- Neil CravenAye. I'll email you both. Let me check with her boss first, I don't want to land extra work on her without him knowing.
- Daniel OkaforVery sensible. No rush on it from my end at all.
- Neil CravenRight, what else have you got on that screen?
- Daniel OkaforA bit on records indexed, which has grown steadily as you'd expect, no flat patches. And the admin picture. You've got more than one admin, so if someone moves on, you're not stranded. Who are the admins on your side at the moment? I like to keep my own list right.
- Neil CravenThere's me, and two from IT. And one of the credit team, she's got rights for the permissions side. That's it, I think.
- Daniel OkaforThat's more or less what I have. I'll double check the names against the system and come back to you if there's a difference. Just to close the loop on that one.
- Neil CravenFine.
- Daniel OkaforNow, how is the team finding it, day to day? Not the headline, the grumbles. What do people say when you're not in the room?
- Neil CravenHmm. Search is the thing they like. Type a builder's name, up it comes, orders, calls, what credit said. The grumble is they want it on their phones when they're out in the yard. They don't want to go back to a desk.
- Daniel OkaforRight, I understand. Is that on a phone browser at the moment, or are they not trying at all?
- Neil CravenSome try. It works, it's just fiddly. I don't know that it's a fault, more that nobody's shown them a quick way in.
- Daniel OkaforThen that might simply fold into the branch sessions. A quick way in, on the phone, on a real account. I'll make a note, and I'll check with our product people whether there's anything on the way that helps, rather than guess at it. I'll come back to you by the end of next week on that.
- Neil CravenDo that. Don't promise me owt that isn't coming, mind.
- Daniel OkaforI won't. If it's not coming, I'll say so.
- Neil CravenThat's all I ask. Right, you said something about the contract.
- Daniel OkaforYes. And this is purely housekeeping. Your contract runs to 27 Feb 2027, and the renewal date on our side is 28 Feb 2027. That sounds a long way off, but with the notice period and with people's diaries, I'd rather we began the conversation in good time than rushed it in the new year.
- Neil CravenFebruary. Aye. That's after year end for us, so everyone'll be up to their eyes.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is exactly why I'm mentioning it now. What I'd suggest, and tell me if it doesn't suit, is that around the turn of the year I send you a short summary of how the year has gone, usage, what's been built, what your team have told us. Something you and Fiona can look at together before anyone talks numbers.
- Neil CravenThat's sensible. Fiona'll want it in plain English. Not a wall of charts.
- Daniel OkaforPlain English, a page or two. I'll aim to have a draft with you well ahead of the notice point, and I'll tell you the exact date when I've confirmed it rather than guess it now.
- Neil CravenGood. And who do I speak to on your side about the commercial bit, when it comes to it? Lewis, is it?
- Daniel OkaforI'll find out precisely who's looking after the commercial side and confirm to you in writing, so you've got the right name and not my best recollection. In the meantime, anything day to day, come straight to me.
- Neil CravenFair enough. Straight to you, then.
- Daniel OkaforAlways. Now, is there anything on your mind about the service itself? Speed, reliability, anything the branches have raised that wouldn't reach a ticket?
- Neil CravenNot really. One of the key account lads said a question took a bit long last week, but I couldn't tell you which, and he didn't raise it. So I'm not counting it.
- Daniel OkaforI'd still take it. If he can remember roughly what he asked and when, I can look at it from our end. Sometimes a long question is just a very broad one, and a better way of phrasing helps. But I'd like to know it's not something else.
- Neil CravenI'll ask him. He's in Leeds, I'll see him Tuesday.
- Daniel OkaforLovely. No urgency, but thank you.
- Neil CravenHow's things your end, anyway? You still the one looking after everyone? You must have a stack of customers by now.
- Daniel OkaforA fair few, yes. It keeps me busy, but I like it. The ones I've been with from early on I tend to keep a soft spot for. You were one of the first customers I was properly involved with after the early design work, so I'd feel it if this went wrong for you.
- Neil CravenHa. Don't get soppy. But aye, you've been decent. Always picked up.
- Daniel OkaforThat's kind of you. Right, while I've got the screen up, shall I show you the page the credit team use, so you can see what they're seeing? Because I'd like to be sure it matches how you picture it.
- Neil CravenGo on then.
- Daniel OkaforGive me a moment. I'll pick one of the larger trade accounts, nothing sensitive. There. You've got the orders down the left, deliveries in the middle, and credit position and recent calls on the right.
- Neil CravenMm. That's the one. That's what I wanted when we started. One account, one picture.
- Daniel OkaforAnd the thing I'd point to is the calls. Those are being picked up and attached to the account, so if a branch manager had a conversation last month with a builder about a late delivery, a colleague in credit sees it before they make a decision.
- Neil CravenThat's where it earns it. Credit sees what the branch promised. Branch sees what credit said. Nobody's saying the opposite to the builder, which is what used to happen.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is, I'd imagine, the most expensive kind of misunderstanding there is.
- Neil CravenIt is. Costs us goodwill, and goodwill's the only thing a builder's merchant really sells. The timber's the same everywhere.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a good line. May I use it, with credit to you?
- Neil CravenPinch it. Everyone else does.
- Daniel OkaforThank you. So, if I summarise where we've got to. Usage is steady and a touch up. Nothing is broken and nothing has needed support. The opportunity is the branches who haven't taken to it yet, which we'll tackle with short sessions on real accounts. And there's a possible board view that your finance colleague builds with a bit of help from me. Have I missed anything?
- Neil CravenThe phone thing. And the list of branches.
- Daniel OkaforYes, thank you. The phone question, which I'll come back to you on by the end of next week, and the list of branches, which you'll send me.
- Neil CravenI'll get it to you tomorrow. Might be Monday, depends on the week.
- Daniel OkaforWhenever suits. And the renewal, I'll send you the short summary near the turn of the year, and I'll confirm who on our side handles the commercial conversation.
- Neil CravenAye. And I'll have a word with Fiona so she's not surprised.
- Daniel OkaforThat would be ideal. Can I ask one more thing, just so I understand how your world looks? When this renews, if you had to say in a sentence to your chief exec why it's worth keeping, what would you say?
- Neil CravenHmm. I'd say we've stopped arguing about whose numbers are right. Branches, credit and key accounts look at the same account and agree on it. That was the whole reason we bought it.
- Daniel OkaforThat's very clear, and I think it's probably a better sentence than anything in our own material. I'll keep it.
- Neil CravenYou do that. Just make sure it's still true in February. I'll be holding you to it.
- Daniel OkaforI'd expect nothing less. And if it isn't true by then, I'd far rather hear it from you in November than find out later.
- Neil CravenYou'll hear. I'm not shy.
- Daniel OkaforNo, that's one of the things I like about working with you.
- Neil CravenRight. Is that us? I've got a branch manager waiting outside my door, I can see his shadow.
- Daniel OkaforThat's us. Thank you so much for your time, Neil. I'll send the follow-up note this afternoon, with the three lines for your IT lead, the actions as I've got them, and the small bits I owe you.
- Neil CravenGrand. Speak soon, Daniel.
- Daniel OkaforSpeak soon. Mind how you go, and good luck with the housebuilder.
- Neil CravenCheers. Bye now.
- Daniel OkaforBye, Neil.
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