Marlcliff Security Services / BG-Demo – QBR
Callcompleted
Marlcliff Security Services · 28 Oct 2025 11:45
At the QBR Nigel Fairbrother, Finance Director, challenged falling usage against the Growth fee and asked for a value case and renewal price before deciding anything. Questions asked are up, but nineteen users were active against 40 licensed.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026At the QBR Nigel Fairbrother, Finance Director, challenged falling usage against the Growth fee and asked for a value case and renewal price before deciding anything. Questions asked are up, but nineteen users were active against 40 licensed.
What happened: Nigel opened on usage: nineteen active users, down from twenty-nine last quarter, with forty licensed. Daniel Okafor agreed the figures and put the drop down to people set up at go-live who were never given a task that needs B-Viz.
Customer view: Lorraine Coombes said one question replaces three screens and saves about ten minutes on a bad call. Nigel wants it in numbers: he asked for the weekly base, the renewal price and a written value case.
Commercial: Lewis Kerr agreed usage does not support an upgrade and will confirm renewal terms in writing. The term runs to 4 Jun 2026, with renewal on 5 Jun 2026.
Watch: Nigel raised key-person concentration, as more questions from fewer people may mean it is one or two people's tool. Rhys Gulliver's connector fixes did not cause the decline, according to Daniel.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Usage decline, value case
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
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 sends the weekly usage split by team, the lapsed user list and two training session slots by the end of the week.
- Lewis Kerr sends the order form summary with renewal price terms confirmed in writing, on 28 Oct 2025.
- Daniel Okafor starts a one-page value case with credit control, to reach Nigel Fairbrother before the renewal conversation.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Fewer than half of the 40 licensed Growth users are active, and the finance director questions what the fee buys.
- Questions asked may be concentrated in one or two people, a key-person risk.
- Further connector moves to service accounts could cause stale data if not watched.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A shift handover session for control room supervisors was welcomed by Sharon Tilley as the best use case.
- Credit control and incident data side by side could give a written value case ahead of renewal.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello, can everyone hear me alright? Thank you all for making the time. Let me just check who has joined. Sharon, I can see you. Nigel, good. Lorraine, hello, and Rhys. And Lewis is on from our side as well.
Sharon TilleyMorning, Daniel. Yes, we can all hear you. Sorry, I've got about a minute of grace and then I'm back on the control room line. We had a gate alarm go off at a retail park overnight and the client heard it from their own staff before they heard it from us. Which is not how I like it.- Daniel OkaforThat's a frustrating start to the week. Did the account manager get to them in the end?
- Sharon TilleyLorraine did, first thing. It's fine now. Which site, which shift, we know all that. It's the telling them that matters. Anyway, carry on, I'll shout if I have to drop.
Lorraine CoombesYes, I rang them at about eight. They were fine about it, just wanted to know what happened. I could see the incident log in B-Viz while I was on the phone, which helped.- Daniel OkaforGood, that's exactly the sort of thing it should be doing for you. Nigel, you're quiet. Can you hear us alright?
Nigel FairbrotherI can hear you. I'm listening. I'd like to start with usage, if that's the plan, because I've seen a number and I'd rather talk about it than tiptoe round it.- Daniel OkaforThat's fair, and it's where I was going to start anyway. Let me share my screen. Can you see it? It's the quarterly summary page, the one we usually go through.
Lewis KerrDaniel, before you dive in, may I just say one thing. Lewis here. I'm on mostly to listen today, and to pick up anything on the commercial side that needs a follow-up. Renewal is next June, so there's time, but I don't like surprises, so I'd sooner hear it now.- Nigel FairbrotherGood. Then I'll be direct. Nineteen active users. It was twenty-nine last quarter. We have forty licensed users. So fewer than half the people we are paying for are opening it.
- Daniel OkaforYes. That's what I see too, Nigel, and I won't dress it up. Nineteen active in the last month, twenty-nine the quarter before. Just to close the loop on the number, that's people who actually logged in and did something, not just a session left open.
- Nigel FairbrotherRight. So who is actually using it?
- Daniel OkaforLet me show you. If I filter by team, the account managers are the biggest group. The control room supervisors come next, and credit control is a small but steady group. The drop is mostly in two places. One is the wider group of account managers who log in occasionally, and the other is some of the control room operators who were set up at the start.
- Sharon TilleyOperators, yes. I can tell you why, probably. When we went live I asked everyone on the desk to have a look. Some of them did, they didn't have a reason to go back, and I didn't push. That's on me, not on the tool.
- Nigel FairbrotherSharon, I'm not blaming you. I'm asking what we pay for. What's that per contract? We pay thirty-nine thousand six hundred pounds a year, that's the figure on the order form and the invoice, and I want to know what we get back from it.
- Lewis KerrTo put a number on it, Nigel, that is £39,600 a year, plus VAT, for the Growth tier, forty users and the connectors in the order form. Invoiced and contracted match, so there's no difference between what you signed and what you've been billed.
- Nigel FairbrotherI know it matches. Finance told me that. What I don't know is whether it's worth it. A percentage drop doesn't help me without the base, so give me the base. How many of the nineteen use it every week?
- Daniel OkaforFair question. I'd rather not guess in front of you. What I can see is that a handful are in every day, and then there's a longer tail who come in once or twice. I'll come back to you by the end of the week with the weekly split by team, so you're looking at the real base.
- Nigel FairbrotherFine. Show me before the renewal, not after.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. Let me add the other side of it, because the number isn't the whole picture. Questions asked are up on the quarter, even with fewer people. So the people who are using it are using it more.
- Nigel FairbrotherMore questions from fewer people. That could mean it's valuable to a few, or it could mean it's become one or two people's tool.
- Daniel OkaforIt could, and I think you're right to say that. It's a bit of both, honestly. Lorraine, would you mind saying how you use it day to day? Only if you're happy to.
- Lorraine CoombesNo, that's fine. I look after the retail clients. Before B-Viz, if a retail client rang about an incident, I'd be on three screens. The incident system, the call history, and finance in case they were disputing an invoice. Now I ask one question and I get the sites, the last few incidents and whether they've got anything overdue. It saves me, I'd say, a good ten minutes on a bad call. Sorry, I shouldn't put a number on it.
- Nigel FairbrotherTen minutes a call. How many bad calls?
- Lorraine CoombesA few a week. Not dozens. But those are the calls where the client decides whether they trust us.
- Sharon TilleyThat's the point, Nigel. What did the client hear from us, and how fast. It's not a saving you'll see as a line in the accounts. It's a client keeping their contract.
- Nigel FairbrotherI understand the argument. I'd like it in numbers some day. But go on, Daniel.
- Daniel OkaforLet me move to the connectors, because Rhys has done something there that I want to make sure everyone knows about. Rhys, do you want to say it in your own words?
Rhys GulliverYes. Hello. So, the incident connector. Originally it was authenticating with one of our staff logins, which isn't great practice and it's the kind of thing that breaks when somebody changes their password or leaves the team. I've moved it to a service account with read access only to what B-Viz needs. It's been running on that for a couple of weeks.- Daniel OkaforAnd that's why you'll have seen the sync pause for a short time, and why we had the two tickets this month. Just to close the loop, both were connected to that change, and Rhys and our support team worked through them together.
- Rhys GulliverRight. There was a permissions gap on the first one, my fault, I'd missed a table. The second was the connector needing a fresh authorisation. Both sorted. Records are loading again as they should.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, Rhys. And I think it's the right thing to have done. Can I check, is the same approach planned for the other connectors, or just this one?
- Rhys GulliverThe incident one was the worst offender. I'd like to do the call and finance ones the same way, but I want to do them one at a time, and not near month end. So not this week.
- Daniel OkaforThat sounds sensible. Tell me the date when you have one and I'll make sure someone from our side is watching the refresh the morning after. We don't want anyone to find stale data at the start of a shift.
- Sharon TilleyAnd that matters for us, because the whole reason the desk uses it is that it's current. If it's stale on a Monday, they stop trusting it and go back to the old screens.
- Nigel FairbrotherWhich might be part of why the numbers fell. Did the connector issue cost us users?
- Daniel OkaforI don't think I can say that honestly, Nigel. The decline started before the connector change. The change may have made it slightly worse for a few days, but I wouldn't put the drop down to it, and I don't want to give you a neat answer that isn't true.
- Nigel FairbrotherAppreciated. So what is the reason?
- Daniel OkaforMy honest view, and Sharon has just touched on it, is that a lot of people were set up at go-live and were never given a task that needs B-Viz. If the tool isn't part of a routine, it fades. The ones who kept using it are the ones where it sits in a process, like Lorraine's incident calls.
- Lewis KerrIf I can add from the commercial side. I'm not going to suggest anything today that the usage doesn't support. If anything, the usage says the opposite of an upgrade. What I'd want to understand is whether forty users is the right size, or whether the right answer is to get more of the forty working before anyone talks about the contract.
- Nigel FairbrotherThat's the first sensible thing anyone's said about the contract. I'm not going to decide anything on this call, for the record. I want to see what the next few months look like.
- Lewis KerrUnderstood, and that's reasonable. The term runs to 4 Jun 2026, with renewal on 5 Jun 2026. There's plenty of runway. I'll send over a one page summary of the current order form today, so you've got the users, connectors and dates in front of you.
- Nigel FairbrotherDo that. I also want to know what happens to the price at renewal.
- Lewis KerrI won't quote that from memory, Nigel. I'd rather confirm it against the order form and the price terms and put it in writing. I'll include it in the same note.
- Nigel FairbrotherFine.
- Sharon TilleyCan I ask what we can actually do about the usage, Daniel? Not talk about it, do something. Let's get the account manager on it, whoever it needs to be.
- Daniel OkaforYes, I have a few thoughts, and I'd like you to tell me which ones suit your teams. First, a short session for the account managers, built around their actual clients, so they leave with a question they can ask tomorrow. Second, something for the control room supervisors, centred on the handover between shifts, because that's where I think B-Viz could save you the most. Third, I can look at who has dropped off and give you a list by team, so you're not guessing.
- Sharon TilleyThe handover idea is good. The shift handover is where things get lost. An incident from the night shift, the day shift doesn't know the client was told. I'd put money on that being the best use case. Not literally, Nigel, I'm not committing anything.
- Nigel FairbrotherNoted. I'll hold you to the not committing.
- Lorraine CoombesFor the account managers, can the session be at a time that isn't a Monday? Mondays are chaos with the weekend incidents.
- Daniel OkaforOf course. Midweek, around lunchtime, perhaps? I'll propose a couple of slots and you can tell me which works. I want people to come because it's useful, not because they've been told to.
- Lorraine CoombesThat would work. And could you use a retail example? Something real, with an incident and an invoice query. They'll see the point quicker.
- Daniel OkaforYes, with your permission, we'll build it on your own data in your Snowflake account, so it's your clients and your sites. Nothing generic.
- Rhys GulliverFrom my side, if you do that, I'd want to know which tables are being queried. Just so nothing sensitive turns up in a training session by accident.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a good point and I'll make sure we agree it with you beforehand. Rhys, you'd tell us what's off limits and we'll stay clear of it.
- Rhys GulliverGood. I can do that.
- Nigel FairbrotherDaniel, a different question. If I looked at your other customers, would I see the same drift after go-live? Is this normal?
- Daniel OkaforI don't discuss other customers, Nigel, and I wouldn't want you to discuss yours either. What I can say in general is that the first few months after go-live often settle, and what decides whether it settles high or low is whether the tool has a place in somebody's routine. That's why I'm keen on the handover idea.
- Nigel FairbrotherA careful answer.
- Daniel OkaforIt's the honest one. I'd rather be careful than flattering.
- Sharon TilleyCan I raise credit control? They were part of the reason we bought it. Are they in the numbers?
- Daniel OkaforThey are, and they're steady rather than growing. A small group, but they come in regularly. I think there's more to gain there, because the overdue and the incident picture side by side is something you couldn't easily get before. Lorraine's retail calls use it that way already.
- Lorraine CoombesYes, if a client is chasing us about a missed patrol and they've also got an invoice outstanding, I want to know that before I answer. It changes the tone of the call.
- Nigel FairbrotherThat one I like. Cash collected on terms. If your tool helps credit control have a better conversation, I'd want to see that written down somewhere, not just said on a call.
- Daniel OkaforThen let's try to capture it. I can work with credit control to note a few real examples over the next couple of months, and we can put them next to what you pay. I'm not promising it will be a perfect case, but it would be a start.
- Nigel FairbrotherA start is fine. A value case, if you like. I'd rather read a page of that than watch a dashboard.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. A page, with real examples and the usage split, ahead of the renewal conversation. I'll come back to you with a draft well before then.
- Sharon TilleyRight, I have to go and sort the control room. Daniel, send me the list of who's dropped off, and I'll talk to the supervisors. Thanks, all.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, Sharon. I'll send that by the end of the week with the split Nigel asked for. Thank you for the time.
- Nigel FairbrotherI'll stay a few more minutes. Lewis, anything else on the contract I should know now?
- Lewis KerrOnly the shape of it. Growth, forty users, £39,600 a year plus VAT, term to 4 Jun 2026. Customer since 5 Jun 2025. Nothing overdue on the account, which is to your credit. I'll put it all in the note today, and then it's with you whenever you want to talk about it.
- Nigel FairbrotherGood. Then let's leave it there. Send me the note and the usage, and I'll look at them properly. I'm not saying it's a problem. I'm saying I need to see it.
- Daniel OkaforThat's completely reasonable. Just to close the loop on today: I'll send the weekly usage by team, the list of lapsed users, and slots for the two training sessions. Lewis sends the order form summary, with the renewal terms confirmed in writing. Rhys will let me know when the next connector move is planned. And I'll start the value case with credit control. Have I missed anything?
- Rhys GulliverNo, that's all I have. I'll message you with the date.
- Lorraine CoombesNothing from me. Thanks, Daniel, thanks Lewis.
- Nigel FairbrotherThat covers it. Thank you.
- Daniel OkaforThank you all. Best wishes, speak soon.
- Lewis KerrKind regards, all. Note coming today.
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