A Quarterly Business Review (QBR) is an important tool for a business owner or sales consultant since it helps bridge the gap between your consumers, the product they purchased from you, and your organization. But what exactly does it do for you? How to employ QBRs to the maximum so that they support the needs of your business and employees? Let’s dig deeper and try to answer these questions together further in this post.
What Is a QBR and Why Is It Important?
Every quarter, a business engages in a customer meeting with the intention to review the impact of your product on the customer’s business as well as discuss future goals. QBR is an essential component of any Customer Success program since it ensures a regularly recurring discussion around the value the vendor is delivering. If implemented properly, it may guarantee a simple renewal process.
What’s included in a QBR? Well, the agenda of a Quarterly Business Review usually includes one or more of the following items:
- Assessment of implementation or product usage targets
- Evaluation of performance during the recent fiscal period, quantifying achieved value (whether for the quarter or other timeframes)
- Dialogue about strategic hurdles and difficulties
- Formulation of strategies for forthcoming actions or expansion
- Preview of forthcoming enhancements to the product
Quarterly Business Reviews must never prioritize marketing and self-serving. Their core focus should always revolve around the customer, gauging whether your products and services are effectively facilitating the realization of their objectives.
If your company already conducts weekly business reviews for clients, the QBR need not dwell extensively on the past quarter. Aspects like results, risks, and challenges have likely been discussed in previous reviews. Consequently, a maximum of 30% of the QBR should focus on historical performance, with a substantial 70% directed toward the future. This balance remains pertinent even if numerical targets weren’t met. While addressing the figures is essential, the primary emphasis should be on the modifications to be implemented to achieve those goals moving forward.
What Should You Include in a QBR?
A comprehensive Quarterly Business Review should encompass various essential elements to provide a thorough assessment of performance, align strategies, and foster collaboration. Here are the key questions to cover in your conversation:
- Evaluation of progress – This is where you talk about the successes and failures over the preceding three months. Focus on the objectives and KPIs of your clients, and use data reports to demonstrate the ROI that your clients receive from utilizing your product.
- Assessment of goals – Re-confirm your customer’s objectives and KPIs. Talk about any changes from the last QBR. Make sure you’re continually up to speed with the priorities of your customers because they may vary over time and may require quick replies in reaction to market disruptions.
- Analysis of product usage – Analyze how your product is being used by the customer and how it is assisting them in achieving their objectives. Use past statistics to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of your product, and support this with predictions outlining how much more they may earn by utilizing it more wisely.
- Unresolved issues – Discuss any difficulties the client has mentioned in the past that have not been resolved in the last quarter. Set expectations for the following quarter if you are unable to tackle each issue over the next 90 days.
- Customer feedback – Let your customer clarify what they feel is going well and what could improve. If they bring up any new difficulties, you may advise them on how to continue, such as reproducing the issue and offering technical details to aid in its solution.
- Roadmap review – QBR is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate to customers any upgrades or new features that are on your roadmap for the upcoming quarter.
- Objectives for the upcoming quarter – Your customers should get an idea of how your solution improved their company during the previous quarter. Data visualizations and reports linking software activities to ROI and other KPIs will help you demonstrate this to them.
By covering these topics in your quarterly touchpoint with your customers, you can conduct a comprehensive QBR that fosters alignment, assesses performance, improves sales experience, and charts a clear path toward achieving shared objectives.
Tips to Plan Your QBR
All successful Quarterly Business Reviews start weeks or even months ahead of the scheduled date as they require in-depth preparation. For you not to fail and cover the most important topics in your QBR conversations, here are some tips to follow:
- Set clear objectives – Define the purpose and goals of your QBR, whether it’s performance assessment, goal alignment, or strategic planning. Clear objectives guide the entire process.
- Ensure data-driven preparation – Use Revenue Grid tools to gather and analyze relevant data and metrics to present a comprehensive overview of performance, achievements, and challenges since the last review.
- Make a structured agenda – Develop a well-organized agenda that covers key topics such as progress review, goal alignment, actionable insights, and future strategies.
- Use visual aids – Enhance presentations with visuals like graphs and charts to illustrate data trends and insights more effectively, making complex information easier to comprehend.
- Ensure customer-centric approach – Ensure the QBR centers around the customer’s goals, challenges, and aspirations, reinforcing your commitment to their success.
- End with actionable takeaways – Define clear action items, responsibilities, and timelines, ensuring everyone leaves the QBR with a roadmap for execution.
- Do not forget about feedback – Establish a mechanism for follow-up, tracking progress on action items, and soliciting feedback on the QBR itself to continuously improve future sessions.
Develop a well-structured and impactful Quarterly Business Review that drives meaningful conversations, fosters alignment, and contributes to the success of your business and your customers.
Make the Max out of Your QBRs!
One of the most underrated tools in a services company’s arsenal is the business review. QBRs highlight new approaches to assist customers in meeting their objectives, uncover risks and opportunities, and ensure customer leadership sees you as an important part of their growth initiatives. If you already do yearly or quarterly business evaluations with clients, you understand how important they are. If not, the above tips and recommendations will help you start off on the right foot.
