What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Joanna Platt reports rising use and the clearest value in onboarding new consultants. All four Starter connectors are used and she wants the helpdesk added, which points to a connector add-on or Growth at renewal.
What happened: Marcus Bell reviewed usage, one how-to ticket and billing with Joanna Platt, then gave a first look at the renewal and discussed a partner playbook.
Customer view: Joanna said new consultants ask questions in week two that she would expect after three months, and called it the clearest value yet. She calls the partnership the best part of what they do.
Commercial: All four Starter connectors, a hard limit, are in use. Joanna wants the helpdesk first, then the call recorder. Marcus raised Growth, and Sophie is to send the connector add-on note and renewal pricing.
Watch: The contract ran to 28 Aug 2026, so the renewal was ahead of this call. Joanna asked not to be surprised on price, and the evidence does not show what was quoted.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Sophie to send Joanna the renewal pricing and the connector add-on note.
- Marcus Bell to send a short partner playbook draft within a couple of weeks and book a follow-up session.
- Joanna to send names and dates for a short team training session.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The renewal price change was not detailed on the call and Joanna does not want to be surprised.
- Every Starter connector is in use, so wanting a new source means choosing what to drop.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A connector add-on pack, or Growth, to bring in the helpdesk and call recorder.
- Referral clients would each get their own B-Viz and order form, a possible next engagement.
Transcript
- Marcus BellHello, Joanna. Can you hear me all right?
- Joanna PlattLoud and clear. Morning, Marcus. Sorry, I'm just getting my camera to behave. There we go.
- Marcus BellNo problem. How's the week been? Manchester's been properly grey from what I can see out of my window.
- Joanna PlattGrey and wet, yeah. But busy, which I'll take. We've had a lot of movement on the client side since the new year, so I'd actually like to start there if that's okay. It's what I always do, I know.
- Marcus BellPlease, go for it. I was going to share my screen and run through usage after, so that works nicely.
- Joanna PlattRight. So the pipeline. We've got a handful of clients who've finished their warehouse builds and are now asking the question we always get at the end: okay, it's built, how do my people actually ask it things? That's the B-Viz conversation. Three of them are properly warm, and two of those I'd put in front of you in the next few weeks.
- Marcus BellThat's good to hear. When you say warm, have they seen it, or is it still at the 'Joanna mentioned something' stage?
- Joanna PlattOne has seen it. I ran it on our own data in a client review, quick and dirty, and they went quiet, which with this particular finance director is a good sign. The others have only heard me talk about it. So I'd want a proper demo for them, on their own data, not mine.
- Marcus BellYeah, definitely. That's what lands. I'd loop in Sophie for anything commercial, she's still the one who owns terms on the referral side, but I'm happy to help with the demo prep.
- Joanna PlattGood. Who owns this, us or you? Because last time I think we both thought the other was sending the follow-up note.
- Marcus BellHa, fair. Let's write that down. For anything where you've made the introduction, you send the intro email and I pick up scheduling from there. Sophie joins once there's a proposal in play.
- Joanna PlattYes. Let's write that down. I'll put it in our partner notes so my team sees it as well.
- Marcus BellPerfect. Okay, I'll share my screen now. Can you see the usage page?
- Joanna PlattI can, yes. It's a bit small. Oh, that's better.
- Marcus BellGood. So I've pulled the numbers for the last few months. What I wanted to cover today is three things: how your own team is using it, the one support ticket you raised, and a first look ahead to the renewal in the summer. Nothing scary, just so it's not a surprise later.
- Joanna PlattGo on then. I'm quite curious, I haven't looked at it properly since the autumn.
- Marcus BellSo the headline is that the number of people actually logging in and asking questions is up quite a bit on the previous quarter. Roughly a third more. It's still a small group, a few people on average on any given day, but the trend is the right way.
- Joanna PlattThat'll be the delivery team. We started using it for onboarding new consultants onto a client's estate. Instead of a week of reading handover docs, they ask B-Viz what the client's systems look like and where the numbers come from.
- Marcus BellRight, that's interesting. I wouldn't have guessed that was the use. So it's less about your clients' questions and more about your own people getting up to speed?
- Joanna PlattBoth, really. But yes, that's the bit that surprised me. A new starter in the second week was asking questions I'd normally expect from someone three months in. I'd say that's the clearest value we've had.
- Marcus BellThat's a great story. Would you mind if I used that, in general terms, with other partners? No names, obviously.
- Joanna PlattFine by me, as long as you run the wording past me first. I don't want it to sound like we've outsourced training to a chatbot.
- Marcus BellUnderstood. I'll send you a draft. Back to the page. The other thing I look at is how much data's being indexed, and that's been steady and moving along, so nothing has gone stale. Nightly refresh has been landing before the start of the working day, which is what we commit to.
- Joanna PlattYeah, nobody's complained about stale answers. Which in this business means it's working, because people complain loudly otherwise.
- Marcus BellHa, true. Now, connectors. You're on Starter, so there's a ceiling of four connectors, and that one's a hard limit. I can see you're using all of them. I just wanted to flag that so it doesn't catch you out if you want to add a source.
- Joanna PlattMm. That's actually a live question. We'd love to connect our helpdesk properly, and the call recorder, because a lot of what our consultants learn is in the client calls. Right now we're having to choose.
- Marcus BellOkay. So options there. You can swap one of the existing four, which is free but obviously means losing something. Or there's an add-on for extra connectors, in packs. I'm not the right person to talk price on that, that's Sophie, but I can get her to send you a note.
- Joanna PlattPlease do. What does the client need on day one is my usual test. For our own use, honestly, the helpdesk is the one I'd add first. The call recorder is nice to have.
- Marcus BellHelpdesk first, then. I'll note that. And on users, you've got fifteen licensed, and you're well inside that, so no pressure there.
- Joanna PlattRight. Though if two of these clients come through the referral route, would they sit under our account or have their own?
- Marcus BellTheir own. Each client would have their own B-Viz in their own Snowflake account, with their own order form. Yours stays your internal use. That keeps who is responsible for what really clean.
- Joanna PlattGood, because I did get asked that by one of my directors and I said I thought so but wasn't certain. I'll tell him it's confirmed.
- Marcus BellYes, confirmed. Okay, tickets. You raised one in the last month. It was a how-to about scheduling a page refresh, from what I can see. Does that match your memory?
- Joanna PlattYes, that was one of the team. It was answered quickly, I think the same day. There wasn't a problem, we just hadn't found the setting.
- Marcus BellRight, and it was well within the response time for your tier. Nothing urgent, nothing high priority. Honestly I'd love every account to look like this. One ticket and it's a how-to.
- Joanna PlattI'll take that as a compliment to my team.
- Marcus BellIt is, definitely. And billing is clean too. Nothing overdue, invoices match the order form at nineteen and a half thousand a year, so £19,500, and that's what's on the account.
- Joanna PlattYes, finance would say the same. They like you, by the way. Easy supplier.
- Marcus BellGood to know! Okay, so, the renewal. The contract runs to 28 Aug 2026 and the renewal date is 29 Aug 2026. That feels a long way off but it comes round fast, and I'd rather we talked about it early than in a rush in July.
- Joanna PlattSure. What should I be thinking about? Is it just a signature or is there something to decide?
- Marcus BellA bit of both. The renewal conversation is mine, and I'll send the formal notice in good time. The thing to decide is whether Starter still fits. If you want more connectors and more users, that might point to Growth, which also brings the dashboards builder and a quarterly review rather than six-monthly.
- Joanna PlattMm. And the price on renewal? I'm not asking you to argue it, I just don't want to be surprised.
- Marcus BellNo, fair. I'm not going to guess at numbers, because pricing's Sophie's side and there's a price list change that affects renewals. I'd rather she walks you through it properly than I get it half right. I'll ask her to do that well before the date.
- Joanna PlattThat's fine. Honest answer's better than a rough one. Let's write that down: Sophie to send renewal pricing and the connector add-on note.
- Marcus BellYep, I'll pick that up with her today. Can I ask you something a bit different? How do you see the partnership itself going this year?
- Joanna PlattCandidly? I think it's the best bit of what we do at the moment. We were the first implementation you did with a partner, and it's gone well enough that I'm comfortable putting my name behind it. The thing I'd like is a clearer playbook. Right now every introduction is slightly improvised.
- Marcus BellThat's useful to hear. What would a playbook have in it, to you?
- Joanna PlattThree things. One, which clients are a fit: they're on Snowflake, they've got messy reporting, and there's a sponsor who actually wants it. Two, what we say on the first call and what we leave for yours. Three, who does the implementation work, us or you. Because some clients would love us to do the build with your team, and I need to know where the line is.
- Marcus BellYeah. I think that's right, and I don't want to promise the answer on the delivery split because that's a bigger conversation than mine. But I can take it to the right people and come back with a proposed way of working. Would a short document be enough to start?
- Joanna PlattA page or two is perfect. I'd rather have something short we both actually use than a big document nobody reads.
- Marcus BellAgreed. I'll aim to have a first version to you in the next couple of weeks. And if it's easier, shall we book thirty minutes once you've seen it, to go through it together?
- Joanna PlattYes, do. Put it in the diary and I'll defend the time.
- Marcus BellWill do. Just checking I've not missed anything on your side. Anything frustrating about the product at the moment? Anything you'd change?
- Joanna PlattSmall things. The search results sometimes put an older page above a newer one, and my team notices. It's not wrong, just a bit odd. And I'd like an easier way to share a saved question with someone who doesn't have a login.
- Marcus BellOkay. I'll log both with the product team. I can't tell you when or whether either gets done, I don't want to promise something I can't deliver, but they'll hear it from a real user.
- Joanna PlattThat's all I'm asking. Honestly, I'd rather you didn't promise.
- Marcus BellHa, good. One last thing from me: training. Some of your newer people only use it a little. If it would help, I'm happy to jump on a call with the delivery team and show them a few tricks. Twenty minutes, nothing formal.
- Joanna PlattThat would be great, actually. Particularly the people who joined recently. I'll find a slot in the next week or two and send you a few names.
- Marcus BellBrilliant. Right, let me read back what we've got so we're both clear. Me: send you the draft wording on your onboarding story, a short partner playbook, and book the follow-up session. Sophie: renewal pricing and the connector add-on note. You: send the intro emails for the warm clients, and some dates for the team session.
- Joanna PlattThat's it, I think. And I'll let you know straight away if the finance director comes back about the demo.
- Marcus BellPerfect. Thanks, Joanna, this has been really useful. Speak soon.
- Joanna PlattThanks, Marcus. Speak soon, cheers.