Hepscott Recruitment / BG-Demo – Discovery
Callcompleted
Hepscott Recruitment · 20 Jul 2023 12:45
Nichola Hogg and Geoff Lamb described candidate and client data spread across CRM, email, phone recordings and a spreadsheet, with margin reports weeks late. Tom Ashdown pointed to Starter. No price was given.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Nichola Hogg and Geoff Lamb described candidate and client data spread across CRM, email, phone recordings and a spreadsheet, with margin reports weeks late. Tom Ashdown pointed to Starter. No price was given.
What happened: Tom Ashdown ran a 40 minute discovery with Nichola Hogg, Operations Manager, and Geoff Lamb, Managing Director. Geoff had about half an hour, and the call ended with a request for a short board summary and a demo.
Customer view: Finding one thing takes ages across the CRM, email and a spreadsheet. Geoff gets margin figures at month end, a few weeks too late, and wants to see where a client sits without phoning around.
Commercial: Tom floated a Starter set-up for one team, the ops side, and declined to give a number before confirming in writing. Geoff asked for the ballpark to judge whether the spend is sensible. User numbers were left open, and Geoff wants margin visibility, which sits with dashboards in a larger tier.
Watch: Nichola is the one person who knows when a client is unhappy, so there is key-person dependence. She also fears slow IT will hold up data access, which could delay a few-weeks Starter timeline.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Tom Ashdown to send Geoff a short plain summary to forward to the board.
- Tom to arrange a demo after checking timing with the CTO.
- Tom to confirm Starter figures and implementation timing in writing and set up the security and access conversation.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Slow customer IT could delay data access and the Starter timeline.
- Nichola is the single person who handles unhappy clients, a key-person dependence.
- No price was given, and Geoff wants to know if the spend is sensible before taking it further.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A Starter subscription and implementation for the ops team.
- Geoff's wish to see margin points to the Growth tier with the dashboards builder later.
- Geoff will take a short summary to the board.
Transcript
Tom AshdownAfternoon Nichola, afternoon Geoff. Hope you're both doing alright. How's the week been?
Nichola HoggHiya Tom. Mad, to be honest. We've had a few starters and leavers, and nobody knows who's on which client.
Geoff LambHiya Tom. Sorry, I've got about half an hour, not the full hour, so let's crack on.- Tom AshdownNo drama, Geoff, I'll keep it tight. Let's get something in the diary after, if you're happy. So, what's been keeping you up?
- Nichola HoggHonestly, it's the bits of information we have on candidates and clients. The consultants have notes in the CRM, notes in email, and then a spreadsheet for the placements. Finding one thing takes ages.
- Geoff LambAnd the margin side. I get the figures at month end, and by then it's too late to do anything about a client who's slipped.
- Tom AshdownRight. That's a good thing to pin down. When you say too late, how late are we talking?
- Geoff LambA few weeks, usually. By the time I've got the report, the placement's already gone quiet.
- Nichola HoggIt's worse in finance and HR roles, because the clients ask for updates and we're chasing consultants who've moved on.
- Tom AshdownOkay. And what do you use now, apart from the spreadsheet?
- Nichola HoggThe CRM, mainly. Email, the calls the consultants record on their phones, and a shared drive that nobody tidies.
- Tom AshdownHa, shared drives. I'll not criticise, I've got a few of those myself. Who's the one person who'd know if something's wrong?
- Nichola HoggThat's me, unfortunately. I'm the one who gets the calls when a client's not happy.
- Geoff LambWhich is why I'd like it sorted. I'm not paying someone to find things. I want to see where a client sits without phoning around.
- Tom AshdownThat's a fair ask. So the aim is that you can see, in one place, where a client and its placements stand, without going into each system.
- Geoff LambYes. And I'd want to see the margin on it, not just the placements.
- Tom AshdownGot it. You'd be asking B-Viz in plain English, something like which finance placements have gone quiet this month, rather than building a report each time. Does that sound like the thing?
- Nichola HoggYes, that would save me a lot of grief.
- Geoff LambWhat's the ballpark? I need to know if this is a sensible size of spend before I take it further.
- Tom AshdownI'll be honest, I'd rather not throw a number at you without the detail. What I can say is we'd talk about a Starter set-up first, because that's one team, and I'd confirm the exact figures in writing.
- Geoff LambStarter. So one team. Who's the team?
- Nichola HoggUs, the ops side. The consultants would use it through us, really.
- Tom AshdownOkay. So it's your ops team having the view, and the consultants getting answers through them. Is that going to be enough users?
- Nichola HoggI'd guess so, but I don't know how many people would want a login.
- Geoff LambFewer than you'd think. Most of them would just ask Nichola.
- Tom AshdownHa. Then let's not overthink it. We can check the user numbers later.
- Tom AshdownJust to check the picture. Which systems hold the candidate and client details? I'd like to know before the next call.
- Nichola HoggThe CRM, the email, the phone recordings and the spreadsheet. That's about it.
- Tom AshdownGreat. B-Viz connects to those, so that's a good start.
- Geoff LambHow long does it take? We can't have a months-long project.
- Tom AshdownHonestly, a Starter set-up is a few weeks, not months, once we have the data access sorted. I'll confirm the exact timing with our implementation side.
- Nichola HoggGood. The data access is the bit I'm worried about. Our IT lot are slow.
- Tom AshdownUnderstood. Let's get the security and access questions in the diary with the right people, and then we'll know where we stand.
- Tom AshdownSorry, I was checking my notes. Go on, Nichola.
- Nichola HoggNo worries. I was going to say, the placement notes are the first thing I'd want, before any margin figures.
- Geoff LambAgreed. The margin's useless if nobody trusts the notes behind it.
- Geoff LambRight, I've got to go. Send me something short I can forward to the board.
- Tom AshdownI will. Something plain, what we heard and what happens next. Leave that with me.
- Nichola HoggThanks Tom. Can we get a demo set up for next week?
- Tom AshdownLet's get something in the diary. I'll check with our CTO on the timing.
- Geoff LambGood. Speak soon, Tom.
- Nichola HoggCheers Tom. Bye.
- Tom AshdownCheers, bye both.