Harcastle Environmental / BB-Demo – Check In
Callcompleted
Harcastle Environmental · 2026-01-02 12:15
Nicola Brearley accepts usage is under five a day on 40 Growth seats and wants a value case for her budget holder. She asked whether 40 seats is right and about a possible connector change.
What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Nicola Brearley accepts usage is under five a day on 40 Growth seats and wants a value case for her budget holder. She asked whether 40 seats is right and about a possible connector change.
What happened: Marcus Bell walked Nicola through falling usage on the 2 Jan 2026 check-in. She blamed spreadsheet habit, doubts about data freshness and a dropped Monday catch-up.
Commercial: The contract is £40k a year and matches invoices. Nicola asked whether 40 seats is right, and Marcus passed pricing to Lewis, the account owner, asking him to contact her before the end of the month.
Customer view: She needs something better than liking it before going to whoever signs off the budget. She thanked Marcus for not pretending it was fine.
Watch: IT tidied the missed-collection categories in the autumn, and account managers said that view looked thin. Marcus saw no stalled connector, but a quiet failure is not ruled out.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Usage decline, value case
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
champion
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Marcus Bell to send the user list with last activity, and ask Lewis to contact Nicola before the end of the month.
- Nicola Brearley to ask IT what changed in the categories and reply to Marcus by the middle of next week.
- Marcus Bell to run two half-hour morning sessions with the account managers, split by team.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Under five daily users on 40 Growth seats leaves Nicola without a value case for the budget holder before the renewal.
- Daily activity is concentrated in a handful of people, which is a key-person risk.
- A change to missed-collection categories may be landing data where account managers do not look.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Bringing CRM contract end date and invoice data next to collections would answer a request from account managers.
- A user-list clean-up and a right-sized seat count could turn the renewal into a scoped conversation.
Transcript
Marcus Bell NoneHi Nicola, can you hear me alright?
Nicola Brearley NoneYes, loud and clear. Hi Marcus. Happy new year.- Marcus Bell NoneAnd to you. Did you get any time off, or did the lorries keep you going?
- Nicola Brearley NoneBoth, really. A couple of days off and then straight back into it. I'll be honest, the week's worst complaint landed before I'd even had a coffee. A hotel that had its bins missed over the bank holiday, rang three times, and by the time it got to me they were properly cross. So that's been my Friday so far.
- Marcus Bell NoneOh dear. Is that sorted?
- Nicola Brearley NoneIt's sorted. The round was rescheduled, the account manager rang them, and I made sure they heard it from us rather than finding out. Which depot, which round, what's the fix and who owns it. That's my whole job some weeks.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat sounds about right. Well, thanks for making time on a Friday lunchtime, I know it's a short one. I'm going to share my screen and just say what I wanted to cover, if that's okay.
- Nicola Brearley NoneGo for it.
- Marcus Bell NoneRight. Can you see it? It should be the usage summary for Harcastle.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI can see a graph. It's going the wrong way, isn't it.
- Marcus Bell NoneMm. Well, that's partly why I wanted the call. I've pulled the numbers for the last few months, and I'd rather walk you through them than send a report and leave you to make sense of it.
- Nicola Brearley NonePlease. Be straight with me.
- Marcus Bell NoneSo you're on Growth, forty licensed users. On a normal day, the number of people actually in the brain is under five. That's an average over the last month. And compared with the quarter before, it's down by about a third.
- Nicola Brearley NoneUnder five. Out of forty.
- Marcus Bell NoneYeah. I know. Now, December is always quiet, I'm not going to pretend otherwise, people are on leave and the offices are half empty. But the dip started before Christmas, so I don't think I can put it all down to the holidays.
- Nicola Brearley NoneNo, I wouldn't let you. Hang on, let me think. When did we last have everyone on it? When we launched, the account managers were in there every morning. They'd check the customer's collections, the missed-collection tickets, the last call, whether an invoice was outstanding. All of it on one page.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's exactly what you bought it for. And it's the bit I want to protect.
- Nicola Brearley NoneCan you see who's using it? Not as in policing them. I just need to know whether it's the whole team drifting or whether it's a few people.
- Marcus Bell NoneI can, yes. Give me a second, I'll flip to the user list. Right. So there's a small group who are still in most days, and then a big chunk of names where the last activity is weeks ago. Some of them, months.
- Nicola Brearley NoneIs that mine? I mean, am I in the active group?
- Marcus Bell NoneYou are, you're one of the regulars. And I'd say a fair share of the daily activity comes from just a handful of people, you included. Which is good for you, but it's thin if one of you is off or moves on.
- Nicola Brearley NoneYeah. Yeah, that's fair. That's not great, is it.
- Marcus Bell NoneI wouldn't put it that way. It just means the value is sitting with a few people rather than across the account managers, which is who you wanted it for.
- Nicola Brearley NoneRight. So what's actually going on? Because I'll tell you what I think and you tell me if the numbers agree.
- Marcus Bell NoneGo on.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI think three things. One, the account managers have so many calls to make that if something takes them two clicks more than their old spreadsheet, they go back to the spreadsheet. Two, they don't all trust the data first thing in the morning, because a couple of them got caught out once with something that looked a day old. And three, nobody has told them in a while why they should bother. I stopped doing the Monday catch-up where we went through a customer in the brain. That's on me.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's really useful, thank you. Can I pick up the second one? The data being a day old. Do you remember which customer, or which system?
- Nicola Brearley NoneIt was a missed collection that had been closed in the morning and still showed as open. Which depot it was, I couldn't tell you now. It might have been a one-off. But once someone's been caught out in front of a customer, they don't forget it.
- Marcus Bell NoneNo, they don't. I'll be careful here, because I don't want to guess. From what I can see, the nightly refresh has been completing, and there's nothing odd in the records indexed that I'd point at. But I can't see that individual case from here, so I'd rather look at it properly than reassure you.
- Nicola Brearley NoneThat's fine. I'd rather you looked.
- Marcus Bell NoneAlso, can I ask, we've had no tickets from you at all in the last month. Not even a how-to. Is that because everything's working, or because people have stopped bothering to ask?
- Nicola Brearley NoneHmm. Honestly? A bit of both. Nothing's been broken, so nothing's been raised. But I also think if someone gets stuck, they just don't use it, they don't write to you. I've not had anyone say a word to me about it, either way, which is probably worse than a complaint.
- Marcus Bell NoneYeah, I read it the same way. Quiet isn't always good news. I'd much rather get a grumpy ticket.
- Nicola Brearley NoneHa. I'll tell them to be grumpier.
- Marcus Bell NonePlease do. Right, so that's the picture. Let me tell you what I'd suggest, and you can tell me whether it's realistic. Three things, I think.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI like three.
- Marcus Bell NoneFirst, I send you the full list of users with their last activity, so you can see by name who's gone quiet. You'll know far better than I do who's on leave, who's changed role, who's left the team. Some of those forty seats might just be the wrong people, and that's worth knowing before the renewal.
- Nicola Brearley NoneRight. That's helpful. Yes. Because I suspect a few of them have moved on to different jobs inside the business, and nobody's told you.
- Marcus Bell NoneExactly the sort of thing. Second, a short session with the account managers. Half an hour, on a call, not a presentation. I'd do it on their own customers, so they see their own accounts in there. What's changed since launch, the things they might not know it can do now, and a proper look at where the data comes from and when it refreshes, so the trust question gets answered by someone who can show them.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI like that. Particularly the trust bit. If you can show them the refresh time and how a closed ticket flows through, that takes the argument away.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's the plan. And third, I'd want to sit down with you and look at what you're asking the brain, and what the account managers should be asking. Because I think there's a good set of three or four questions they ask every morning, and if we make those one click, they'll use it.
- Nicola Brearley NoneWhat would those be? Let me guess. Anything missed in the last week for this customer. What's open. Is there a complaint. Has the invoice been paid.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's it, that's four. And honestly that's better than anything I'd have come up with. Can I steal that?
- Nicola Brearley NoneBe my guest.
- Marcus Bell NoneBrilliant. Now, I want to be clear on one thing. I'm not here to say the product's the problem or that you are. You've been a good customer, the invoices are all paid, nothing's overdue, and there's been no friction. This is a usage conversation, and it's a good time to have it, because we've got a few months.
- Nicola Brearley NoneUntil April. Yes. I know. That's the thing I was going to ask you about.
- Marcus Bell NoneGo on.
- Nicola Brearley NoneWell, the contract runs out, what, the tenth, and then renews on the eleventh? I looked at the order form before Christmas. I need to take a case upstairs, and I'll be honest, I'm not sure I've got a good one right now. Under five people a day on forty licences. If the person who signs off the budget asks me what it's worth, I need to say something better than 'I like it'.
- Marcus Bell NoneYeah. That's fair, and it's the right way round to think about it. You've got the contract to the tenth of April, the renewal on the eleventh, and I'll be sending the formal notice in the next couple of weeks. That's from me, as your CSM. I'd rather you hear it from me now than see it land cold.
- Nicola Brearley NoneOkay. Good. And does the money stay the same? The thirty-nine six.
- Marcus Bell NoneSo that's what you're contracted at now, thirty-nine thousand six hundred a year, and it matches what's been invoiced. What it does at renewal, I'm going to hand to Lewis, he's your account owner, and he'll have the detail. I don't want to guess at it and get it wrong. Can I ask him to get in touch with you directly?
- Nicola Brearley NonePlease. Before the end of the month, if he can. I don't want to be going to anyone with half an answer.
- Marcus Bell NoneI'll pass that on today. Before the end of the month, I'll say that explicitly.
- Nicola Brearley NoneThank you. Because, look, I can't commit anything on budget without the person who signs it off. I'd be going to them, and I'd want to be able to say: here's what the team uses, here's what it's saved us, here's what it costs.
- Marcus Bell NoneOf course. And that's what I can help with. If we do the session and the clean-up of the user list, then in a few weeks I can put together a proper picture. Who's using it, what they ask, what's been done with it. Not a pile of numbers, something you could put in front of them.
- Nicola Brearley NoneThat would be really good. Can it show a real example? Like, a complaint that got dealt with faster because someone could see the collection history, the call and the invoice in one place?
- Marcus Bell NoneI'd love one. That's where you come in, though. I can see the activity, but I can't see the story behind it. If you or one of the account managers can tell me about a time it made a difference, I'll write it up properly.
- Nicola Brearley NoneHmm. Let me think. There was one. A large food customer, early last year, who said we'd missed three collections in a row. The account manager pulled it all up, showed they'd actually been missed because of a gate being locked, and had the photo from the driver and the call where we'd told them about it. It took ten minutes instead of the best part of a day.
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's exactly it. Do you remember who the account manager was? I don't need the customer's name, I'd keep it anonymous.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI do. I'll find the thread and send you the gist. I won't put it in a ticket, I'll just email.
- Marcus Bell NoneEmail's perfect. Thanks.
- Nicola Brearley NoneCan I ask something that might sound odd? Is forty the right number? If it turns out only fifteen or so of them are people who'd ever really use it, would we be better on something smaller?
- Marcus Bell NoneIt's not odd, it's a fair thing to ask. I'm not the right person to answer it on price, and I don't want to say something that Lewis then has to walk back. What I can tell you is what the usage says, and I'd rather we looked at the user list first. Because it might be that the answer is different seats, or different people, or that the same forty are right and they just haven't got going.
- Nicola Brearley NoneOkay. That's sensible. I'd rather know whose seats they are before I start arguing about the number.
- Marcus Bell NoneYeah. And I'd rather you didn't feel you had to defend it all in one go. We've got some time.
- Nicola Brearley NoneMm. Can I ask about the connectors as well? I want to check we've not broken something without realising. I know we changed a couple of things on our side in the autumn.
- Marcus Bell NoneGood question. Let me have a look. Hold on, I'll move to the sources page. Right. So everything you've got set up is still showing as connected, and records are still coming in. I don't see a connector that's stalled. But if you changed something on your side, I'd like to know what, so I can check it's pointing at the right place.
- Nicola Brearley NoneIt was the way the missed-collection forms get logged. Someone in our IT team tidied up the categories. They'd have told me if it was a big deal, but I'll ask.
- Marcus Bell NoneYes please. If the categories changed, it could be that something's coming through but landing in a place the account managers don't look. That would be a quiet failure, and it could explain why the page looks less useful than it did.
- Nicola Brearley NoneOh. That's a thought. That could be it, actually. A couple of them said the missed-collection view looked thin. I thought they were just being lazy.
- Marcus Bell NoneIt might not be that, I don't want to jump on it. But it's worth ruling out before we blame anyone. If you can find out what changed and roughly when, I'll look at what the brain is receiving around then.
- Nicola Brearley NoneI'll message our IT contact this afternoon. Could I get you the answer by the middle of next week?
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's plenty of time. And if it does turn out to need a change on our side, I'll tell you straight what I can and can't say about how long it would take. I'm not going to promise something for engineering that I don't know.
- Nicola Brearley NoneFair enough. I'd rather you were honest than quick.
- Marcus Bell NoneGood. So, let me say it back, so we're agreed. I send you the user list with last activity, today or Monday at the latest. You go through it and tell me who's moved on or who shouldn't have a seat.
- Nicola Brearley NoneYes. And I ask IT what they changed with the categories.
- Marcus Bell NoneAnd I check what the brain's been receiving since then. Then, I'd say, later this month, we do the half-hour session with the account managers. Would you be able to get them together?
- Nicola Brearley NoneI can. It'll be easier if it's at the start of the day, before the rounds get going and the phones start. Could you do a morning?
- Marcus Bell NoneMornings are fine. I'll send a few options. Do you want me to do it as one call, or split it by team?
- Nicola Brearley NoneSplit it. The Yorkshire teams and the North East teams don't deal with the same customers, and they'd rather see their own. And if I put them all in one room there'll be three people talking and thirty doing their email.
- Marcus Bell NoneHa, fair. Two sessions, then. I'll make it practical, their own customers on screen, not slides.
- Nicola Brearley NoneGood. And the freshness thing. Can you put that in? When the data loads, what time it's ready, what happens if it isn't. If you can tell them that, I think half the doubt goes away.
- Marcus Bell NoneI will. It's ready by seven in the morning on business days, that's what every tier gets, so if someone's looking at it at nine and it looks old, that's worth a ticket, and I'd want to see it. I'll make sure they know to tell us.
- Nicola Brearley NoneGood. Because I'd rather they raised it than quietly stopped using it.
- Marcus Bell NoneSame here. Is there anything else you'd want me to look at? Anything the account managers have said that I haven't picked up?
- Nicola Brearley NoneOne thing. And it's not a complaint. A couple of them asked whether they could see the customer's contract end date and what they pay us, next to the collections. Because when someone rings to complain, they want to know if it's a customer we're about to lose.
- Marcus Bell NoneRight. That's a good ask. Where does that live at the moment? Is it in the CRM?
- Nicola Brearley NoneThe CRM, mostly, and the invoices in the accounting system. It's all in there, they just can't see it in one place.
- Marcus Bell NoneThen it's likely we can bring it together, since you've already got both connected. I won't tell you it's a five-minute job until I've looked. Let me write it down and come back to you with what's involved, rather than give you an answer off the top of my head.
- Nicola Brearley NoneThat's all I ask.
- Marcus Bell NoneGood. Anything else on your side before we wrap up?
- Nicola Brearley NoneJust, thank you for not pretending it's fine. I've had suppliers who'd have sent me a chart with a nice arrow on it.
- Marcus Bell NoneNo, I'd rather tell you now than have you find out in April. And I do think it's fixable. The core of what you wanted it for is still there, and the people who use it clearly get something from it.
- Nicola Brearley NoneThey do. I do. Right. I'd better go and see whether the hotel's rung again.
- Marcus Bell NoneHa. Go. I'll send the user list, a note of what we agreed, and a message to Lewis about getting in touch with you before the end of the month.
- Nicola Brearley NoneLovely. And I'll come back to you on the IT question by the middle of next week.
- Marcus Bell NonePerfect. Have a good weekend, Nicola, and I hope the lorries behave.
- Nicola Brearley NoneFrom your lips. Thanks, Marcus. Speak soon.
- Marcus Bell NoneCheers. Bye.
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