Al Qusais Freight / BG-Demo – Discovery
Callcompleted
Al Qusais Freight · 12 Aug 2026 09:45
Discovery call on 12 Aug 2026. Rania Khalil described four systems searched by hand. Vikram Menon, the CFO, will not approve anything on a guess and wants the cost split in writing first.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Discovery call on 12 Aug 2026. Rania Khalil described four systems searched by hand. Vikram Menon, the CFO, will not approve anything on a guess and wants the cost split in writing first.
What happened: Sophie Ling ran discovery with Rania Khalil and Vikram Menon. Rania described a shared inbox, helpdesk, phones and CRM that her team searches by hand, with dispatch notes held in a separate tool.
Customer view: Vikram said he could not approve anything off a guess and needs a number before he takes it to the board. Rania asked where the data lives and said her IT lead will want evidence, not a brochure.
Commercial: Sophie quoted a deal value of £62k that may include the one-off implementation fee. She declined to split it on the call and promised a proposal showing implementation and subscription separately.
Watch: no tier is named and no timeline was given. The weekly dispatch enquiry count is still unknown, and Rania is to get it.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Sophie Ling to send both attendees a written summary and a proposal splitting implementation and subscription.
- Rania Khalil to get the weekly dispatch enquiry figure from her team for Vikram Menon.
- Hannah Lowe, solutions engineer, to run a demo on Al Qusais Freight data and share the security pack.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The CFO will not approve on a guess, and the first-year split between implementation and subscription has not been shown.
- The weekly dispatch enquiry figure that supports the cost case is not yet known.
- The IT lead has not been involved and wants security evidence.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A clear pain: customer service searches four systems and the CRM does not reflect held shipments.
- A new customer joining with an implementation fee and subscription, with security review support if Enterprise is chosen.
Transcript
Sophie LingGood morning, Rania, Vikram. Can you both hear me? I'm in a shared room, so forgive the echo.
Rania KhalilGood morning, Sophie. Yes, we can hear you. Vikram is just muting his phone.
Vikram MenonMorning. I'm here, sorry, I was on another call. Go ahead.- Sophie LingThanks. I'd like to start by understanding what you do today for customer service, and where the time goes. Then Vikram, I'll ask about the finance side.
- Rania KhalilRight. We have a shared inbox, the helpdesk, the phones, and our CRM. Customers ask where their shipment is, and my team searches all four.
- Sophie LingHow long does a typical enquiry take to answer?
- Rania KhalilIt depends. Simple ones, a few minutes. The complex ones, a day, because someone has to ask dispatch.
- Vikram MenonMm. That's the cost I care about. How many enquiries a week would you say go to dispatch?
- Rania KhalilI would have to check. I'm not sure of the number, so I don't want to guess.
- Vikram MenonRight. Find out. I can't approve anything off a guess.
- Sophie LingAgreed. Rania, could you get the figure from your team? Vikram, I'll make sure the numbers come to you in writing.
- Rania KhalilYes. And there is a bigger issue. Our dispatch notes sit in a separate tool, and nobody updates the CRM when a shipment is held.
- Sophie LingThat's a common gap. So a customer asks about a held shipment and the CRM says it's fine?
- Rania KhalilYes. And then the customer calls us back, not happy.
- Vikram MenonBefore we go further, what does this kind of tool cost? I need a number before I take it to the board.
- Sophie LingThe deal value we have discussed is £62,000. That may include the one-off implementation fee, so I'd rather show you the split properly in the proposal than give you a figure on a call.
- Vikram MenonSixty-two thousand, all in, for the first year?
- Sophie LingI'd rather not guess at the first-year split on the call. The proposal will show the implementation and the subscription separately.
- Vikram MenonFine, but I need to know it won't be a surprise.
- Sophie LingUnderstood. You'll have it in writing.
- Rania KhalilSophie, can I ask about security? Our data is customer shipments. We need to know where the data lives.
- Sophie LingIt stays inside your own Snowflake account. Our solutions engineer can go through the security pack with your IT lead when we have a proposal.
- Rania KhalilGood. Our IT lead will want evidence, not a brochure.
- Sophie LingUnderstood. We'll send evidence, not a brochure.
- Vikram MenonMm. Can you tell me what would make this a yes? What would I need to see?
- Sophie LingA proposal with the split, the security pack, and a clear view of how quickly the first team gets value from it.
- Rania KhalilAnd a demo on our own data before we sign anything.
- Sophie LingThat's reasonable. A demo on your own data is the next step, and our solutions engineer would run it.
- Vikram MenonOkay. And the timeline. When would we be live?
- Sophie LingI'd rather not give you a date until we have the proposal and the connector list.
- Rania KhalilI think we've covered it. We'll get the numbers.
- Vikram MenonYes. Sophie, send the summary to both of us. Rania, get me the number on enquiries.
- Sophie LingWill do. Thanks both.
- Rania KhalilThank you, Sophie. Bye.
- Vikram MenonThanks. Bye.