Duddingston Payroll / BG-Demo – Kickoff
Callcompleted
Duddingston Payroll · 14 Feb 2025 14:30
Kickoff on 14 Feb 2025 for Duddingston Payroll's Growth subscription. Euan Drummond is the admin. Payroll system and helpdesk connect first; the fee data sits in a Finance spreadsheet. Lorna Cairns wants a small first user group.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Kickoff on 14 Feb 2025 for Duddingston Payroll's Growth subscription. Euan Drummond is the admin. Payroll system and helpdesk connect first; the fee data sits in a Finance spreadsheet. Lorna Cairns wants a small first user group.
What happened: Callie Brennan walked through the plan: access, connector order and dates. Daniel Okafor introduced himself as customer success manager.
Customer view: Lorna Cairns said her team is "bit of both" excited and wary, and will accept it if it saves time. She ended with "It feels well organised."
Commercial: The Growth contract started on 10 Feb 2025 and runs to 9 Feb 2026, with forty licensed users. Lorna wants to start with a smaller group, so early seat use will be low and adoption needs watching ahead of renewal.
Watch: Fees sit in a spreadsheet kept by Finance, with some employers on two rows, so that connector needs checking. Permissions per client manager must be set before wider logins. The evidence does not show the renewal outcome.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Growth kickoff, connector plan
Importance
neutral
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Callie Brennan to send the checklist of sources, approvers and access after the call.
- Euan Drummond to send the spreadsheet sample with employer names blanked, and the pay calendar.
- Daniel Okafor to check on access progress by the end of the following week.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Client managers are wary of anything that adds to their day, so adoption depends on early time savings.
- The Finance fee spreadsheet may map badly where employers have two rows.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A staged rollout from a small group could extend to the full forty licensed users once the data looks right.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello, can you all hear me alright? Thank you for making the time this afternoon. Let me just check who's joined. Lorna, lovely to see you. And Euan, I don't think we've met properly yet.
Euan DrummondNo, not properly. Euan Drummond, I run payroll systems here. Lorna's asked me to be the admin on this.
Lorna CairnsAfternoon, Daniel. Aye, Euan's the one who knows where everything lives. Fair warning, it's a pay-run week, so I might disappear for a minute if the phone goes.- Daniel OkaforCompletely understood. Whenever you need to go, go. And I'm Daniel, your customer success manager. I'll be the person you ring after today. Callie is with me, and she's going to run the plan for the hour.
Callie BrennanHello, both. Thanks, Daniel. So the plan for the next hour: first, a quick look at what you've bought and what we're aiming for. Second, the list of sources you want connected, in the order we'll do them. Third, what I need from your side, which is mostly access, and who owns each piece. And last, dates, so everyone leaves knowing what happens next week. Does that sound alright?- Lorna CairnsThat sounds good. Short sentences from me, I'm afraid, I'm a plain talker.
- Callie BrennanPerfect, that's the best kind. So, to set the scene. You started on Monday 10 February 2025, you're on Growth, forty licensed users, and the contract runs to 9 Feb 2026. The point of it, as I understood from the sales conversations, is that your client managers see each employer's payroll queries, deadlines, calls and fees together. Is that still the goal, Lorna?
- Lorna CairnsIt is. Right now a client manager has to open the helpdesk, then the shared drive, then the call recorder, then the billing system. By the time they've done that the employer's been on hold. I want them to ask one question and get the picture. When's their pay date, has the client been told.
- Daniel OkaforAnd how is the team feeling about it, Lorna? Are they excited or a bit wary?
- Lorna CairnsBit of both. They like the idea. They're wary of anything that adds to the day. If it saves time they'll be fine.
- Daniel OkaforThat's fair, and I'll come back to that when we plan the training. Please go on, Callie.
- Callie BrennanSo, sources. Euan, I've got your list from the scoping notes, but I want to read it back and check it with you. Payroll processing system first, because that carries the pay dates. Then the helpdesk for the employer queries. Then the call recorder. Then the shared drive for letters and contracts. Then the CRM or wherever you hold the fee schedules. Have I missed anything?
- Euan DrummondFees aren't in a CRM, actually. They're in a spreadsheet that Finance keeps. Morag's team. It's tidy enough, but it's a spreadsheet.
- Callie BrennanRight, good to know, thank you. That's the sort of thing I'd rather learn today. A spreadsheet can map cleanly if the columns are consistent. Is there one row per employer?
- Euan DrummondMostly. A few employers have two rows because they have two payroll schemes. I'd need to check how many, I couldn't say off the top of my head.
- Callie BrennanThat's fine. I'll note it as a thing to check before we switch on the refresh. Could you send me a sample, with employer names blanked if you prefer?
- Euan DrummondI can do that. I'd rather blank the names, aye.
- Lorna CairnsYes, blank them. We don't send employer details outside the building if we can help it.
- Callie BrennanCompletely agree, and I'd not ask for them. Now, the access piece. What I need from your side is written access for each source, a service account where the system allows it, and the name of the person who can approve it. I never start a connector without that in writing, so no offence if I'm a bit fussy about it.
- Euan DrummondNo offence taken. For the payroll system it'll be me. For the helpdesk it's one of my colleagues in IT. For the call recorder I think it's Lorna's office.
- Lorna CairnsIt's mine. I'll sort it. Let me write that down.
- Daniel OkaforJust to close the loop on that, Lorna. Callie will send a short list after the call with each source, who approves it and what access we need. You can then forward it on. Would that help?
- Lorna CairnsIt would. Makes it easy for me to chase people.
- Callie BrennanDone. I'll put it in a checklist, one line per source, with a date against each. Now, ordering. I'd suggest the payroll system and the helpdesk first, because that's where the pay dates and queries are, and the client managers will see value straight away. Call recorder next, then the shared drive, then the fee spreadsheet last, since that needs the most checking.
- Euan DrummondThat order makes sense to me. The payroll data is the sensitive bit, though. How does it get from our system into yours?
- Callie BrennanInto your own Snowflake account, not ours. Everything is built and run inside your environment. So the data stays with you, and you control who can see what.
- Euan DrummondGood. Then I'd want to set the permissions myself. By client manager, so each one only sees their own employers.
- Lorna CairnsThat's essential, Euan. One employer's data must never turn up in front of someone looking after a different one.
- Callie BrennanUnderstood, and we'll make it a step in the plan, with you doing it and me checking. I'll put it before anyone outside the admin group gets a login. Does that sound right?
- Euan DrummondYes. That'd do it.
- Daniel OkaforWhile we're on people, Lorna, how many of your client managers will be using it from the start? You've got forty licences, and I don't want you paying for seats that sit idle.
- Lorna CairnsIt will be my client managers and a few from the payroll team. I'd say we start with a smaller group, learn from them, and then roll out. I'd rather get it right first time than have forty people confused.
- Daniel OkaforThat's wise. The licences are there when you want them. We can do a small first group, and I'll check in with them after a couple of weeks. How does that feel?
- Lorna CairnsGood. Thank you.
- Callie BrennanRight. Dates. This is the part I like. Next week I want the written access for the payroll system and the helpdesk. The week after, I'll connect those two and run a first test refresh, and Euan, I'd like you to look at it with me before anyone else sees it.
- Euan DrummondThat works. Can I ask what a test refresh actually shows me? I'd like to know what to look for.
- Callie BrennanGood question. You'd be checking that the records match what you expect: the right employers, the right pay dates, nothing missing. I'll show you how to compare a handful by hand against the source. If it maps cleanly, we move on. If not, we fix it before it touches anything live.
- Euan DrummondRight, that's sensible. I'll pick employers I know well, so I can spot a mistake.
- Callie BrennanExactly the right approach. And I'll leave you a setup note after each stage, so you can run things alone later. That matters to me. I don't want you needing to ring us for everything.
- Lorna CairnsThat's what I like to hear. We'd rather not depend on anyone.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is fair. And of course you can ring us any time. It's just that we want you to feel in control.
- Lorna CairnsUnderstood, Daniel.
- Callie BrennanLet me take a moment and read the plan back. Access next week from Euan and Lorna. First two sources connected the week after, test refresh reviewed with Euan. Then call recorder and shared drive. Fee spreadsheet last, after Euan sends the sample. Training for the first group once the data looks right. Any of that wrong?
- Euan DrummondNo, that's what I've got.
- Lorna CairnsSame. One thing. Pay-run weeks. Could we avoid anything that touches the live systems in the last two days before a pay date? I'd not want anything to slow the payroll system down.
- Callie BrennanAbsolutely, that's a sensible rule. Euan, could you send me the pay dates for the next couple of months, and I'll plan around them?
- Euan DrummondI'll send the calendar.
- Daniel OkaforThank you, both. Just to close the loop on next steps. Callie sends the checklist after the call. Euan sends the spreadsheet sample and the pay calendar. Lorna arranges the call recorder access. I'll come back to you by the end of next week to see how access is going. Lorna, is there anything else on your mind?
- Lorna CairnsNo, I think that's us. Thank you both. It feels well organised.
- Callie BrennanThanks, Lorna. That's the kindest thing you could say before a project starts. Speak soon, everyone.
- Euan DrummondThanks. Cheers.
- Daniel OkaforBest wishes, all. Goodbye for now.
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