Mossbrook Data Partners / BG-Demo – Negotiation
Callcompleted
Mossbrook Data Partners · 7 Aug 2025 14:00
Owen Tallis, Sophie Ling and three Mossbrook people closed out the Starter terms: £26k deal value, a possible first-term discount, 30-day payment and a separate partner paper. Signing is aimed for Fri 15 Aug 2025.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Owen Tallis, Sophie Ling and three Mossbrook people closed out the Starter terms: £26k deal value, a possible first-term discount, 30-day payment and a separate partner paper. Signing is aimed for Fri 15 Aug 2025.
What happened: Femi Adeyemi, the signatory, said only two things could stop signing: reading the full pack and his solicitor being content. Owen Tallis set Friday 15 August 2025 as the target.
Customer view: Femi said the commercial shape is fine. Mark Heywood wanted the £26k confirmed as the whole deal value and asked for data access boundaries in writing.
Commercial: Owen offered a little room on the first term only, on the subscription and not the implementation. The next year is at the standard price, and no figure was given.
Watch: The partner arrangement stays a separate document, with heads of terms due from Sophie. Femi would not promise to sign early.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Starter terms and signing
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- Owen confirms the first-term position that night and in writing before the date.
- Sophie sends the order form, master agreement, service schedule and implementation plan the next day.
- Mark sends the shared finance mailbox and the purchase order answer, and Sophie sends the partner heads of terms the following week.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Signing depends on Femi and the solicitor reading the full pack in time, and legal comments late in the week could push the close back.
- The partner arrangement could distract from the customer order form if it is not kept separate.
- The first-term discount figure is not yet confirmed, and Mossbrook has been told the ongoing price returns to standard.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Two Mossbrook consultants will shadow the implementation, which deepens adoption.
- Mossbrook as implementation and referral partner could bring in referred clients.
- Limits on users and connectors leave room for add-ons or Growth later.
Transcript
Sophie LingHello, hello. Can everyone hear me all right? I've got Owen on from our side as well, he's just coming off mute.
Owen TallisAfternoon all. Yes, I'm here. Sorry, was finishing another call.
Joanna PlattAfternoon. We can hear you fine. Femi's just sorting out his headphones, one second.
Femi AdeyemiSorry, sorry. Laptop decided to update itself right as I joined. Good afternoon, everyone. Is that better? Can you hear me?- Sophie LingPerfectly. Mark, are you with us as well?
Mark HeywoodYes, I'm here. Camera's off because the connection in this room is a bit temperamental, but I can hear you all.- Sophie LingNo problem at all. Has the week been kind to everyone? It's been properly muggy down here.
- Joanna PlattManchester has done its usual thing. Sun for ten minutes, then rain, then sun again. Busy though. I've got a few client conversations going at the moment, mostly warehouse clients who keep asking what comes after the build.
- Femi AdeyemiWhich is partly why we're here, to be fair. Before we start, I did want to ask how the partner side of things is looking on your end, Sophie. Last time we spoke it was still a bit loose.
- Sophie LingYes, fair. I'll come to that, I've got it on the list. Owen, do you want to kick us off? I think you wanted to frame where we are.
- Owen TallisSure. So, where we stand against the date. We're aiming to have this signed by Friday 15 August 2025. That's the date in our system and I'd like it to be a real date, not a hopeful one. Which means I'd like to leave this call knowing what's still open, who owns each thing, and who signs.
- Femi AdeyemiThat's a reasonable way to put it. I'm the signatory on the order form. Joanna and Mark have been doing most of the detailed work, so I'll lean on them.
- Owen TallisGood. Sophie, can you recap the shape of what's on the table so we're all reading from the same page?
- Sophie LingOf course. So, what we've put together is the Starter tier for Mossbrook's own use. One team, pages, chat and search over your connected systems, up to four connectors, and fifteen users as a soft limit. Alongside that is the fixed-fee implementation, which on Starter runs to about four weeks. The deal value on the proposal is £25,500, and that's the all-in figure, implementation included.
- Mark HeywoodRight. And just so I'm clear for the books, that twenty-five and a half is the whole deal value, not the yearly subscription on its own?
- Sophie LingCorrect. It's the total, so it includes the one-off implementation fee. The subscription is annual and billed in advance, and the implementation is a separate fixed fee. The order form splits the two out line by line so your finance side can see exactly what's what.
- Mark HeywoodGood, that's what I wanted to hear. I've seen it written the other way round in other proposals and it causes grief at year end.
- Owen TallisAgreed, and we'd rather it was clean. Same view on our side.
- Joanna PlattCan I add a couple of bullet points from our side, so we know what's still open? One, we're comfortable with the scope for our own use. Two, we need the connector list written down in the order form. Three, the partner arrangement. And four, payment mechanics. Mark has questions on that.
- Sophie LingThat matches my list almost exactly, which is reassuring. Let's take them in that order.
- Femi AdeyemiCan I just say something on scope first? What I keep coming back to is, what's in it for the client? We're using Starter on our own data first because I won't put our name behind something I haven't lived with. So the scope has to be one we can honestly describe to a client later.
- Owen TallisThat's a sensible position, and it's exactly why I'd keep the first term simple. One team, a defined set of connectors, a clear go-live. Nothing fancy.
- Joanna PlattRight. So connectors. Who owns this, us or you? When we say the connectors are in the order form, is it you committing to have them live by a point, or is it us committing to give you access?
- Sophie LingBoth, honestly, and that's the right way to write it. For the connectors named in the order form, there's a commitment from us that they go live within a stated number of days of the project starting. That clock depends on you giving us the access and credentials we need. If access is late, the clock moves.
- Joanna PlattFine. Let's write that down. What does the client need on day one? Sorry, I mean what do we need on day one. Old habits.
- Femi AdeyemiIt's the same question, to be fair, it's just us being the client this time.
- Sophie LingHa, yes. On day one we'd want a named admin from your side, access to the Snowflake account where this will run, and a first pass on which systems matter most. Your CRM, your helpdesk, the call recorder, the accounting system, that sort of thing.
- Mark HeywoodAccounting system is the one I care about. I'd like finance data in there, but I don't want anyone browsing payroll or partner drawings by accident.
- Owen TallisFair point, and worth saying plainly. Access sits inside your own Snowflake account, so you control what's exposed. B-Viz only sees what you connect and what you permit. Sophie can walk Mark through that in the kickoff.
- Mark HeywoodOkay. I'd like to see that written down as well, not just said on a call.
- Sophie LingNoted. I'll put a short paragraph in the implementation plan that spells out who decides what is connected and who can see it.
- Femi AdeyemiGood. Now, the bit I was asking about earlier. The partner side. Where are we on that?
- Sophie LingSo the way I'd like to handle it, and Owen, jump in, is that it stays a separate document from the order form. The order form is for Mossbrook as a customer. The partner arrangement covers you delivering implementations and referring clients. If we mix them, a change to one muddies the other.
- Owen TallisYes. And I'd go further. I don't want the partner terms to be a reason for the customer deal to slip. Let's get the order form signed on its date and keep the partner paper moving in parallel, with its own owner and its own date.
- Femi AdeyemiI can live with that, provided the partner arrangement is actually written. I won't treat a handshake as a contract. Put it in the agreement.
- Owen TallisUnderstood. Nobody's suggesting otherwise.
- Joanna PlattCan I be candid about one thing? We will only refer clients we'd stake our name on. So I'd want the arrangement to say what happens if a referred client isn't a good fit, or if a project goes badly. Who picks up the phone? Who owns the fix?
- Sophie LingThat's a good thing to define, and honestly better to define it now than after the first referral. I'll suggest we split it by responsibility. You own the client relationship and the consulting. We own the product, the platform and the support. And where a problem sits across both, there's a named contact on each side.
- Joanna PlattThat works. Named contacts. Let's write that down.
- Femi AdeyemiAnd on the money side of the partner arrangement, I'll be direct. I never refer a client for a fee alone. If there's a referral fee, fine, but it can't be the reason. How do we both know it's working?
- Owen TallisI'd measure it simply. Are referred clients live, are they asking questions in the product, and are they renewing. If they are, it's working for everyone. If they aren't, no fee fixes that.
- Femi AdeyemiThat's the answer I was hoping for, actually.
- Owen TallisWe'd want a check-in on that after the first few clients. Marcus, our customer success manager, would be the person there. He isn't on the call today, but he's across the account.
- Joanna PlattGood, I know Marcus has been in some of the earlier conversations. I'd like him on the kickoff.
- Sophie LingDone. I'll make sure he's on the invite.
- Mark HeywoodCan I move on to payment, then? Since I've been sat quietly.
- Sophie LingPlease. Go on.
- Mark HeywoodSo, standard terms, I think you said thirty days. Is that thirty days from the invoice date, or from when we receive it? That matters to me because of how our approvals run.
- Sophie LingThirty days from the invoice date, and the invoice goes to whoever you name in the order form. If it's a shared finance mailbox rather than you personally, give me that address and we'll use it.
- Mark HeywoodA shared mailbox would be better. I'll send it over. And is the implementation invoiced up front or in stages?
- Sophie LingLet me check I get this right rather than guess. Owen?
- Owen TallisThe implementation is a fixed fee. How we invoice it is written in the order form, and I'd keep it exactly as drafted. The subscription is annual in advance. We can do quarterly on request, but I'll say now, that's a request, not a given, and it's worth asking for only if cash flow genuinely needs it.
- Mark HeywoodAnnual is fine for us. We'd prefer fewer invoices, honestly. I mainly wanted to be sure there's nothing hidden in the schedule.
- Owen TallisNothing hidden. The order form is the contract, and if it's in there it's binding both ways.
- Femi AdeyemiWhich brings me to price, Owen, and I'll say it plainly. Is there room on the number?
- Owen TallisI'll be straight with you. There's a little room on the first term, and only the first term. We don't discount twice, so whatever we agree now, the next year is at the standard price for the tier. I'd rather you knew that today than found it at renewal.
- Femi AdeyemiI appreciate you saying that. It's cleaner. What does a first-term movement look like, roughly? Not a number, just the shape.
- Owen TallisThe shape is a modest reduction on the subscription, tied to signing by the date we've discussed. Not on the implementation fee, which is fixed. And it has to be written into the order form as a first-term discount, so nobody's confused later about what the ongoing price is.
- Mark HeywoodThat's useful. So the deal value would come down, but the ongoing price stays at standard.
- Owen TallisExactly. I won't put a figure on it until I've talked to Sophie, but I'll confirm in writing before the date.
- Joanna PlattBefore you do, can I ask the question I'd ask if I were the client? If we outgrow fifteen users, or we want more than four connectors, what happens?
- Sophie LingGood question. The user number is a soft limit, so you won't be cut off, we'd simply have a conversation about adding users in blocks. The connector limit is firmer. If you want more, there's an add-on for extra connectors, or at some point it might make sense to look at the next tier.
- Joanna PlattThat's what I thought. For now Starter fits. I just don't want to be surprised in six months.
- Sophie LingYou won't be. Part of Marcus's job is to flag when you're approaching a limit, well before it bites.
- Femi AdeyemiRight. I want to go back to one thing, if I may. The service side. If it goes wrong on a Monday morning and one of our consultants is waiting on an answer from the brain, what can we expect?
- Sophie LingOn Starter, the standard support terms apply. There's a first-response time for serious issues, availability is a committed level, and the nightly refresh should complete before the working day starts on business days. If those are missed in the way the terms describe, the service credit mechanism applies. It's all in the schedule attached to the order form.
- Femi AdeyemiAnd I'll read it. I never sign something I haven't read, so I'll want the schedule and the master agreement in front of me properly, not a summary.
- Owen TallisThat's how it should be. Sophie will send the full pack, order form, master agreement and the service schedule, so you've got everything together.
- Mark HeywoodCould I get a copy for our solicitor as well? She'll want a look at the liability clause.
- Sophie LingOf course. Send me her details, or just forward the pack on. If she comes back with comments, route them through me and I'll keep Owen in the loop.
- Owen TallisAnd the sooner she sees it, the better. If legal comments land the day before the date, that's how a Friday close becomes a following Friday.
- Mark HeywoodUnderstood. I'll get it to her as soon as it lands.
- Joanna PlattCan I raise one more practical thing? Delivery. Our consultants will want to be involved in the implementation, partly to learn the product properly, partly because they know our systems. How do we split that?
- Sophie LingI'd love that. For your own implementation, our team leads, but there's no reason your people can't sit alongside. They'd see how the connectors are set up and how the data is modelled. That's exactly what you'd want before delivering it for a client.
- Joanna PlattPerfect. That's the real value for us. Two of our people shadowing would be ideal. Let's write that into the plan.
- Sophie LingI'll add it as a line in the implementation plan, with the roles named.
- Femi AdeyemiAnd the time those consultants spend on this, it has to be time well spent. If they're sat watching for days, I'd rather they didn't. So the plan should say when they're needed.
- Sophie LingYes, I'll mark the sessions where it's genuinely useful to have them in the room and leave the rest.
- Owen TallisRight. Shall I try to pull together where we've landed? Because I think we've covered most of it.
- Femi AdeyemiPlease do.
- Owen TallisOne. Scope is Starter for Mossbrook's own use, with the connectors named in the order form and the go-live commitment tied to timely access. Two. The deal value is £25,500, implementation included, with the subscription and implementation shown separately. Three. A possible first-term reduction on the subscription only, which I confirm in writing, and which doesn't carry into the following year. Four. Payment is thirty days from invoice date, annual in advance, to a shared finance mailbox that Mark sends us. Five. The partner arrangement is a separate document with its own owner. Six. Full contract pack goes to Femi and to your solicitor.
- Joanna PlattThat's all my bullets. Nothing missing from where I sit.
- Mark HeywoodNothing from me either, other than the mailbox, which I'll send today.
- Femi AdeyemiI think I'd add one. A review point on the partner side. I'd like us to agree now when we sit down and look at whether it's working, so it doesn't drift.
- Owen TallisFair. What's the next dated step on that? Let's not leave it vague.
- Sophie LingSuggestion. I draft the partner heads of terms next week and send them to Femi and Joanna. We then agree a review date in the document itself, rather than on a call.
- Femi AdeyemiYes. Put it in the agreement. That works for me.
- Joanna PlattAnd who owns the first draft, us or you?
- Sophie LingWe do. I'll write it, and you mark it up. That's quicker than starting from two blank pages.
- Joanna PlattGood. Then I'll review it with Femi and come back with changes.
- Owen TallisLast thing from me. Femi, is there anything that would stop you signing by the fifteenth? I'd rather hear it now.
- Femi AdeyemiHonestly, only two things. That I've read the pack properly, and that our solicitor is content. Neither is a problem if the documents reach me early. The commercial shape is fine.
- Owen TallisThen the pack goes out tomorrow. Sophie, can you do that?
- Sophie LingYes, tomorrow. Order form, master agreement, service schedule and the implementation plan with the paragraphs we've talked about. I'll confirm the first-term position with Owen first, so the order form is right the first time.
- Owen TallisI'll give you my answer on that tonight, so you aren't waiting on me.
- Sophie LingBrilliant. Thank you.
- Mark HeywoodOne small thing before we wrap. The invoice, will it carry a purchase order number, or does that come from us?
- Sophie LingIf you use purchase orders, send the reference and we'll put it on the invoice. If you don't, we'll leave it off. Either is fine, I just need to know before the invoice is raised.
- Mark HeywoodWe don't usually for a subscription, but I'll confirm internally and tell you in the same email as the mailbox.
- Sophie LingPerfect.
- Femi AdeyemiCan I ask something slightly off topic? How have the other early customers found the first month? Not names, just the general experience.
- Owen TallisIn general terms, the ones who do well name an owner early and ask real questions in the first few weeks. The ones who struggle treat it as a project that finishes rather than something the team uses every day. That's why I like that your consultants will be shadowing. You'll use it as a tool, not just look at it.
- Femi AdeyemiThat's the right way round. Thank you.
- Joanna PlattI'd add that we'd want to run it on our own pipeline first. That's the thing I open every call with, so if it can answer questions about our own clients, I'll believe it.
- Sophie LingThat's a great test, and it's what we'd do in the first couple of weeks. Real questions on your real data.
- Joanna PlattGood. Let's write that down as the acceptance test, informally at least.
- Owen TallisI'd rather it were formal. Put it in the implementation plan as the first thing you check, and then nobody argues later about what good looks like.
- Joanna PlattAgreed. Formal it is.
- Femi AdeyemiThen I think we're in decent shape. I'll read the pack when it arrives and come back to Sophie with any questions, copying Owen.
- Owen TallisPlease do. And if you're minded to sign before the fifteenth, even better.
- Femi AdeyemiLet's see what the reading brings. I won't promise early.
- Owen TallisFair enough. Friday 15 August 2025 stands, then.
- Sophie LingQuick recap on who sends what. I send the pack tomorrow and the partner heads of terms next week. Mark sends the finance mailbox and the purchase order answer. Femi and the solicitor read. Owen confirms the first-term position tonight.
- Mark HeywoodGot it. Mailbox today.
- Joanna PlattAnd I'll send Sophie the two names for shadowing and a short list of the systems in priority order.
- Sophie LingLovely. That'll let me draft the connector list properly.
- Femi AdeyemiThank you all. This has been more productive than I expected, and I say that as a compliment.
- Owen TallisHa. Taken as one. Thanks everyone. Speak soon.
- Joanna PlattThanks, all. Speak soon.
- Mark HeywoodCheers, bye.
- Sophie LingBye all, enjoy the rest of the afternoon.
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