Marlcliff Security Services / BG-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Marlcliff Security Services · 24 Mar 2026 11:45
Finance Director Nigel Fairbrother, who decides after the call, says he is not unhappy but wants proof of value. Lewis Kerr put £40k now against £44k at renewal, with eight daily users on a 40-user Growth plan.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Finance Director Nigel Fairbrother, who decides after the call, says he is not unhappy but wants proof of value. Lewis Kerr put £40k now against £44k at renewal, with eight daily users on a 40-user Growth plan.
What happened: Renewal call on 24 Mar 2026 for the Growth subscription, which ends on 4 Jun 2026. Nigel Fairbrother, Finance Director, said he never decides on the call and will go back to colleagues.
Customer view: Michelle Pomeroy said credit control now checks client history before ringing about overdue invoices. Nigel called that anecdote and wants it measured, not trend.
Commercial: Lewis Kerr set £40k a year now against £44k at renewal, both excluding VAT, as the first-term discount ends. Eight active users a day against forty licensed is the pressure point, and Starter was judged not to fit three teams.
Watch: Control room adoption and a possible split payment are open. The 26 May 2026 date is BG-Demo's planning marker, and the call does not show the outcome.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Growth renewal, value proof
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- Lewis Kerr to send the renewal quote the same day, laid out line by line against the signed order form with a single co-termed renewal date, and confirm any split payment in writing.
- Daniel Okafor to send Nigel a one-page usage note by team, with the numbers underneath, by the end of that week.
- Michelle Pomeroy to arrange a dashboard walk-through for Nigel and introduce Daniel to the control room shift manager.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The first-term discount ends, taking the Growth price from £39,600 to £44,000, while only about eight of forty licensed users are active on a typical day.
- Nigel sees trend rather than proof of value at the full price and has not committed to a decision or to the 26 May 2026 planning marker.
- Control room adoption is thin and two of the three teams are only now settling in.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Credit control is building dashboards and uses B-Viz before overdue-invoice calls, which supports a value case under Growth.
- A control room session built around a real shift could widen the question-asking base and make forty users look right.
- Invoices are paid on terms and no tickets were raised in the last month, so the money and service picture is clean.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello, can you hear me all right? Thank you all for making the time. Just checking who has joined: Nigel, Michelle, and Lewis is on as well, I think.
Lewis KerrI am, yes. Morning, everyone.
Nigel FairbrotherMorning. Can't see Michelle yet.
Michelle PomeroySorry, sorry. My camera's being slow, and I had to find the right link. Morning. Can you hear me?- Daniel OkaforLoud and clear. No rush at all. How has your week been so far? Bristol looks very grey on my forecast.
- Michelle PomeroyIt's been raining since Sunday. Honestly, it's fine, I'm mostly indoors chasing invoices anyway.
- Nigel FairbrotherBefore we start, can I ask the obvious one? Who is actually using it at the moment? That's what I want out of this call.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, and I'm glad you asked it first. I'll come to the detail, but the short version is that usage is up a good deal on the previous quarter. It's a healthier picture than when we last spoke.
- Nigel FairbrotherUp from what, though? A percentage on its own doesn't tell me anything. What's the base?
- Daniel OkaforFair challenge. Let me put it in people. On a typical day about eight people are active, and that is averaged across the last month. A quarter ago it was a lot fewer than that, a handful really, mostly in the account management team.
- Nigel FairbrotherEight. And we pay for forty.
- Daniel OkaforYou're licensed for forty users on Growth, yes. I won't dress that up. Eight a day is not forty, and I'd rather we talk about it straight.
- Nigel FairbrotherGood. Go on.
- Lewis KerrIf I can add one thing, Nigel, just so we all start from the same page. My understanding is you want to talk about renewing the Growth subscription, and that the contract ends on 4 Jun 2026, with the renewal date being 5 Jun 2026. Is that how you see it as well?
- Nigel FairbrotherThat's the date I have. I'm not promising anything today, mind. I never decide on the call. I want to see the numbers first, then I'll go back to my colleagues.
- Lewis KerrUnderstood, and that's perfectly reasonable. I'd rather you decided with the facts in front of you.
- Michelle PomeroyCan I jump in on the usage point? Because some of that is us. Credit control has only really picked it up properly in the last few months.
- Daniel OkaforPlease do, Michelle. That's what I was hoping you'd say. How is the team finding it?
- Michelle PomeroyBetter than I expected, to be honest. At the start I thought it would be another screen to look at. But when I'm about to ring a client about an overdue invoice, I can ask it what's been going on with that client first. Have they had incidents, have they been on to the control room, has the account manager spoken to them. Before, that was three different systems and a couple of emails.
- Nigel FairbrotherWhat does that save you? In time.
- Michelle PomeroyI haven't timed it, Nigel, so I'm not going to give you a figure I've made up. But I'd say I don't go into those calls blind any more. And the awkward conversations are shorter, because I'm not asking the client to explain what already happened.
- Nigel FairbrotherHm. That's anecdote. I'd like it measured. What's that per contract?
- Daniel OkaforI think that's the right instinct, and I'd be careful not to claim more than we can show. What I can show you today is who is asking questions and how often. What I can't honestly give you is a saving per contract, because that depends on measuring things on your side that we don't hold.
- Nigel FairbrotherAt least that's honest.
- Daniel OkaforWell, it's the only way I know to do it. So, if it's all right, I'll share my screen. Give me a second. Can you see it?
- Michelle PomeroyNot yet. Just a blank window. There, now I can.
- Daniel OkaforGood. This is the usage view for the account. The line you want is the questions asked. You can see it climbing from the start of the year, and the steepest part is where credit control came on board.
- Nigel FairbrotherWho's asking? Is it one person?
- Daniel OkaforIt's a good thing to check, because one person asking most of the questions would worry me. It isn't one person here. The account managers are the biggest group, then Michelle's team, then a few from the control room. The control room is the group I'd like to see more of.
- Michelle PomeroyThey're busy. They live in their own tools all shift, so it's a habit thing. Someone would need to sit with them.
- Daniel OkaforI think that's right. And that's something I could help with. We could run a short session with the control room, built around what they actually do in a shift, rather than a general tour of the product.
- Nigel FairbrotherWould that cost me?
- Daniel OkaforA session like that I'd treat as part of looking after the account, so no. If you wanted a full training day on site, that is a separate add-on, and Lewis would quote it. But I don't think you need that to start with.
- Lewis KerrCorrect. If it ever came to the on-site day, I'd send a clean quote, with the VAT position on it. But Daniel's right, I wouldn't push it at this stage. The usage doesn't call for it yet.
- Nigel FairbrotherFine. Tickets. Have we had problems? I haven't heard any complaints, but that doesn't mean much.
- Daniel OkaforNothing at all in the last month. No tickets, and nothing urgent. I'll be straight with you that quiet isn't always a good sign, because sometimes people go silent when they've stopped using something. But here the usage is rising as well, so I read the silence as things simply working.
- Michelle PomeroyThat matches what I see. If something had gone wrong with the data I'd have noticed straight away, because I'm in there when the morning refresh has run.
- Nigel FairbrotherAnd invoices. Anything outstanding from our side? Michelle, you'd know.
- Michelle PomeroyNothing overdue. We pay on terms, and I check that myself, because I'd be embarrassed otherwise, given what I do all day.
- Lewis KerrThat matches our records too. Which does make my part of this easier.
- Nigel FairbrotherRight. Then the number. What am I being asked to pay?
- Lewis KerrYes. So, to put a number on it. Today you're paying £39,600 a year for Growth, excluding VAT. That is the contracted figure on the order form, and it's what we've invoiced. When you joined on 5 Jun 2025 you had an introductory discount for the first term, and that discount applies to the first term only.
- Nigel FairbrotherSo it goes up.
- Lewis KerrAt renewal the discount falls away, yes. The renewal is open in our system at £44,000, again excluding VAT, which is the Growth list price you signed up under. I want to be clear that I'm not moving you onto the newer price list. Your renewal falls before that applies, so you stay on the list you originally signed under.
- Nigel FairbrotherSay that again, slowly. I don't like surprises.
- Lewis KerrOf course. Now it's £39,600 a year with the first-term discount. At renewal the discount ends, and the figure on the renewal is £44,000. Same tier, same forty users, same connectors. The only thing that changes is the discount going.
- Nigel FairbrotherHow much is that as a percentage?
- Lewis KerrI could give you one, but you told me earlier you don't take a percentage without the base, so I'd rather give you the two pounds figures and let you do the sum. It's £39,600 now and £44,000 at renewal. I'll put both in writing.
- Nigel FairbrotherHm. Fair. You've listened.
- Michelle PomeroyWill the invoice come in one go, like last year? Or can we split it? I'm thinking about cash timing.
- Lewis KerrThe standard is annual in advance, on thirty-day terms. Quarterly is possible on request. I'd need to confirm exactly how that sits against the quote before promising anything, so let me check and come back to you in writing rather than answer from memory.
- Michelle PomeroyThat's fine. I'd just rather know early.
- Daniel OkaforCan I just come in, Nigel? I don't want the price to be the only thing we talk about. Because I suspect the real question in your head is whether forty users is the right number.
- Nigel FairbrotherIt is. I'm paying for forty seats and eight people are in there. Why wouldn't I drop down?
- Daniel OkaforIt's a reasonable thing to ask. A few thoughts, and then I'd like Lewis to react. First, Growth is built for several teams, and you've got account managers, the control room and credit control, which is exactly three groups. Second, the trend is going the right way. Third, and this is just my view, two of those three groups are only now settling in.
- Nigel FairbrotherSo you're saying wait and see.
- Daniel OkaforI'm saying that if the control room session works, the number of people asking questions should go up, and then forty will look about right. If it doesn't, we'd have the conversation honestly, with real data in front of us.
- Lewis KerrAnd from my side, I'd say this. I'm not going to suggest you buy more than you use. There's no upgrade or extra users on the table here. What I'd want to understand is whether a smaller tier would give you what you need. Starter is for one team, with a lower user limit and fewer connectors. You've three teams using this, so I'm not convinced it fits.
- Nigel FairbrotherStarter wouldn't cover credit control and the control room, then.
- Lewis KerrNot comfortably, no. And the dashboards builder is part of Growth, as are the quarterly reviews with Daniel. I would not want to quote you something that leaves a gap and then have you ring me in the summer.
- Michelle PomeroyDashboards. We have started building a couple, haven't we? I think one of my team made a view of overdue accounts by client type.
- Daniel OkaforYou have, yes, and it's a good one. I looked at it last week. That's the sort of thing I take as a sign of investment from your side, because someone has chosen to build it rather than being asked to.
- Nigel FairbrotherI'd like to see that one. Show me before the renewal.
- Michelle PomeroyI can walk you through it. Next week maybe? Thirty minutes would do.
- Nigel FairbrotherFine. Put it in the diary.
- Daniel OkaforAnd I'll happily join that, if it's useful, just to answer any questions about where the data is coming from. Just to close the loop on that, Michelle, I'll send you a couple of times, and you pick whichever suits Nigel.
- Michelle PomeroyPerfect.
- Nigel FairbrotherNext. Contract terms. Anything else changing apart from the price? I don't want to find something in the small print.
- Lewis KerrGood question. As far as I'm aware, the service levels, the connectors and the user count stay as they are on the executed order form. The renewal paperwork will be based on that signed document, not on any draft. I'll make sure it's laid out so you can compare line by line.
- Nigel FairbrotherDo that. And co-termed, whatever you call it. I don't want two renewal dates.
- Lewis KerrThere'll be one. Co-termed to your renewal, so everything runs from 5 Jun 2026. I'll send that over today, actually, with the two figures and the terms side by side.
- Nigel FairbrotherToday's fine. I won't read it until later in the week.
- Lewis KerrThat's absolutely fine. What I'd ask is a rough idea of when you might come back to me. We have 26 May 2026 pencilled as when we'd expect to have this closed, so that gives us a good amount of room.
- Nigel FairbrotherPlenty. I'll tell you if I need more. But I'm not committing to that date, it's your date, not mine.
- Lewis KerrUnderstood, it's only a planning marker for us. Nothing is fixed by it.
- Daniel OkaforCan I come back to something, Nigel? You asked at the start who's using it. I'd like to give you a better answer than eight people a day before you decide.
- Nigel FairbrotherI'm listening.
- Daniel OkaforWhat I'd suggest is that I send you a short note, one page, showing questions asked month by month, who's asking by team, and the dashboards built. No percentages without the numbers underneath. Then you can judge it with your own eyes.
- Nigel FairbrotherYes. That's what I want. Names or teams?
- Daniel OkaforTeams, mostly. If you want it by person, I'm happy to, but I'd rather check with Michelle first how comfortable people are with that.
- Michelle PomeroyTeams is fine by me. Nobody likes being singled out.
- Nigel FairbrotherTeams, then.
- Daniel OkaforLovely. I'll come back to you by the end of the week with that.
- Michelle PomeroyCan I ask something more practical? The connectors. When we started, one of our systems was a bit awkward to connect. Is that all sorted now?
- Daniel OkaforAs far as I can see, yes. The connectors you have are all loading, and there's been no ticket about them, which is what I'd expect if they're healthy. Records indexed are moving too, so the data isn't going stale. I'll double-check it before I send the note, just so I'm not telling you something from memory.
- Michelle PomeroyGreat. Because if we changed any of the systems later in the year, I'd want to know who to tell.
- Daniel OkaforTell me, and tell me early. When a customer changes a system, that's the most common reason a connector stops loading. A quick message beforehand saves a lot of head-scratching afterwards.
- Nigel FairbrotherAre we planning to change anything, Michelle?
- Michelle PomeroyNothing that I know of. I'm only saying, in case.
- Nigel FairbrotherGood. Nothing moves without telling Daniel.
- Lewis KerrCan I also ask, Nigel, whether anyone else on your side needs to see the renewal paperwork? Procurement, or a colleague who signs? I'd rather address it correctly first time.
- Nigel FairbrotherI signed the original, so it comes to me. If it needs anyone else, I'll bring them in.
- Lewis KerrPerfect. I'll address it to you and copy Michelle.
- Michelle PomeroyThat's fine.
- Nigel FairbrotherLet me say where I am, so there's no confusion. I'm not unhappy. I expected to be, to be honest. The usage is better than I thought, the invoices are clean, and nothing has broken. But I haven't seen enough yet to say it's worth the full price, because a lot of what you've told me is trend, not proof.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a fair summary, and I'd rather you said it than kept it to yourself. Our job between now and the renewal is to get you proof rather than trend. The note, the dashboard walk-through, and the session with the control room.
- Nigel FairbrotherAnd if the control room doesn't take to it?
- Daniel OkaforThen we'll know that, and you'll have it in front of you before you decide, not after. I won't hide it from you.
- Lewis KerrAnd I'd say the same from the commercial side. If the picture at the end of April looks like it's not there, tell me, and we'll talk honestly about what makes sense. I'm not going to pretend there's an infinite amount of flexibility, but I'd rather have that conversation early than at the last minute.
- Nigel FairbrotherNoted. I'll hold you to that.
- Michelle PomeroyDaniel, for the control room session, who do I need to organise? Their manager?
- Daniel OkaforYes, if you could introduce me to whoever runs the shifts, I'll work around them. I'd keep it short, maybe half an hour, ideally at a quieter point in the day. They'll know better than I do when that is.
- Michelle PomeroyI'll have a word this week and let you know.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, that would be a great help.
- Nigel FairbrotherAnything else I need to know? Any other change coming from your end that affects us?
- Lewis KerrNothing that I'm aware of. If that changes I'll tell you before it reaches the paperwork. And as I say, I wouldn't quote anything from memory, so what you get from me will be checked against the signed order form.
- Nigel FairbrotherGood.
- Daniel OkaforShall I recap, so we all leave with the same list? Stop me if I get it wrong.
- Michelle PomeroyPlease.
- Daniel OkaforLewis sends the renewal quote today: £39,600 now, £44,000 at renewal, both excluding VAT, laid out against the signed order form, with the single renewal date. Michelle, I send you some times for the dashboard walk-through for Nigel, and you come back to me on the control room introduction. I send Nigel the one-page usage note by the end of the week, by team, with the numbers underneath. And Lewis comes back to Michelle about whether the payment can be split.
- Lewis KerrThat's all of it. I'd add only that I'll confirm the split in writing, rather than promise it here.
- Nigel FairbrotherAnd I decide after I've seen it. Not today.
- Daniel OkaforEntirely agreed. Nobody's asking for a decision today.
- Michelle PomeroyJust one tiny thing. Is this recording going to be shared? I'd like to send the summary to my team.
- Daniel OkaforI'll send you a short written summary afterwards, which is easier to forward than a recording. Would that do?
- Michelle PomeroyThat's perfect, thank you.
- Nigel FairbrotherRight. If that's everything, I have another meeting in a few minutes.
- Daniel OkaforOf course. Thank you all for your time, and Nigel, thank you for being so direct. It helps.
- Nigel FairbrotherAlways am. Speak soon.
- Lewis KerrThanks, everyone. Quote coming your way this afternoon.
- Michelle PomeroyThanks both. Bye for now.
- Daniel OkaforTake care. Bye.
Callsmade from