Tag: QBR

QBR Playbook for Sales and Account Management Leaders

Introduction to the QBR Playbook  The QBR (Quarterly Business Review) Playbook for Sales and Account Management Leaders is a comprehensive guide. It can be used to conduct regular performance interviews and analyze results to drive sales and account management success.  The QBR process is designed to provide a structured approach to evaluate and improve the performance of sales and account management teams on a regular basis. By conducting regular reviews, leaders can stay abreast of industry trends, customer feedback and other relevant data that impacts the performance of their teams.  The QBR process helps leaders identify areas of improvement, set measurable goals and create action plans to achieve them. This then helps teams improve their performance continuously and ensure that the whole organization is moving towards achieving its sales and revenue targets. The QBR process is an opportunity for leaders to gain insight into the effectiveness of their sales and account management strategies and make necessary adjustments. It involves: Preparation Review and Analysis Communication and Presentation Action Planning Follow Up and Tracking Preparation: As with all other successful processes, preparation is an important part of the QBR process. It sets the foundation for a successful review. To prepare for a QBR, leaders should consider a systematic approach that includes several key areas.  The first step at this stage is goal-setting. These goals must align with the overall objectives of the organization and the sales and account management teams. Setting clear goals will help leaders focus their efforts and determine the key areas to be reviewed during the business review. Leaders should then identify key stakeholders to be included in the QBR process. This could include senior management, sales and account management teams, and other relevant departments. Identifying key stakeholders allows leaders to tailor the review process to the specific needs and expectations of each group. There is awareness among those involved in the review process and they can prepare accordingly.  The next step is to gather the data and information to be reviewed – including sales data, industry trends and customer feedback. Collecting and analyzing data is a crucial step in the preparation process because it helps identify the issues and areas to be addressed. It also helps leaders track progress and evaluate the effectiveness of sales and account management strategies. Care must be taken that the data gathered is accurate and as up-to-date as possible. The relevance of the data will affect the effectiveness of the review.  Finally, an agenda must be created including specific topics and questions to be addressed. The agenda must be shared with all key stakeholders invited to attend the QBR to allow them to prepare accordingly. The agenda should cover all the key areas of the review process. A review of the goals and progress, data and information analysis, discussions around any issues or areas that need to be addressed – are all key areas to be addressed.  Review and Analysis:  At this stage of the QBR process leaders evaluate the performance of their sales and account management teams, identify areas of improvement and develop strategies for improvement. At this stage, leaders gain insight into the effectiveness of their sales and account management strategies and make necessary adjustments. To start, leaders should focus on key metrics and KPIs that are relevant to the performance of their sales and account management teams. These metrics and KPIs should align with the goals of the organization and the sales and account management teams. Some metrics and KPIs that need focus are revenue, customer acquisition and retention, sales pipeline metrics, and performance evaluations of team members. Analysis of the quantitative data can give leaders a better picture of the performance of their teams. When qualitative data is analyzed it allows insight into areas like customer experience and the performance of individuals in the team. This allows leaders to plan how customer experience can be improved and what training and development support can be offered to teams.  When the review and analysis stage is complete, it’s time to develop strategies for improvement. These should always be based on the data and information collected. While ensuring that these are aligned with organizational goals and the goals of the sales and account management teams, they must also take into account any industry trends, customer feedback, and other relevant data that may impact the performance of the sales and account management teams. Read More: Essential QBR Metrics to Track For Account Growth Communication and Presentation: At this stage, leaders share the results of the review and analysis stage with key stakeholders. Effective communication and presentation of QBR results are key to gaining buy-in and support from key stakeholders. When the findings are presented, successes and opportunities for improvement can be identified, and specific recommendations for addressing any issues can be provided.  Leaders must take care to avoid jargon and use clear, concise language that is easy to understand. Using visual aids such as charts and graphs can also help leaders effectively communicate and present data and analysis. Visual aids provide a clear and concise representation of data making it easier for stakeholders to visualise, understand and interpret.  It is important, at this stage to highlight successes and opportunities. These are the positive aspects derived from the previous stage and add an optimistic outlook to the business review. A thorough review and analysis stage will also highlight areas to be addressed. This could involve current concerns or future challenges. Addressing these proactively indicates a willingness to work on possible solutions that may even circumvent the anticipated problems.  Another aspect, that leaders may want to consider is delivery. Irrespective of the duration of the meeting, you will need it to be engaging. One way of doing this is to solicit participation through questions and conversation. Asking open-ended questions could throw up suggestions, opinions and feedback that you have otherwise not received. Another way to increase participation is to listen attentively. The feedback and opinions may not always be what you’re expecting. But being

The Do’s and Don’ts of Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs)

Before the do’s and don’ts, let us be clear – Quarterly business reviews are not for every client that an organization has. QBRs require effort from multiple members of the sales team to get a clear understanding of how the service helps customers take their business strategy forward. Quarterly business reviews show what can be acted upon based on this understanding, and can be fine-tuned with help from customers. They are a useful tool for B2B product companies to evaluate their performance and make strategic decisions. Company leaders can review key metrics such as revenue, customer retention, and product usage, and identify areas for improvement. They also allow for open communication between different departments and can help to identify any bottlenecks or roadblocks that may be affecting the company’s overall performance. For companies to stay on track with their goals and objectives, QBRs provide insights to make any necessary adjustments to their strategy in a timely manner and ensure the continued growth and success of the product. Read More: Essential QBR Metrics to Track For Account Growth What are Quarterly business reviews? Quarterly business reviews (QBRs) for key accounts are regular meetings between a company and its important customers to review the status of their relationship and identify opportunities for growth and improvement. During these meetings, the company typically presents data on key performance indicators, such as sales and revenue, and discusses any issues or concerns that have arisen. The customer also has the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience and suggest areas for improvement. QBRs are an important tool for maintaining and strengthening key business relationships. Learn more: QBR Playbook for Sales and Account Management Leaders Why are QBRs important? Quarterly business reviews provide a regular opportunity to review and assess the performance of the business and identify areas for improvement. QBRs can also help product organizations to better understand their customers’ needs and preferences, and make necessary adjustments to their products and services. QBRs can help product organizations to: Monitor progress regularly. The process of QBR helps product organizations identify any areas that are underperforming or not meeting their expectations. Inputs allow product organizations to make necessary adjustments to their products and services to better meet the needs of their customers. Identify opportunities for growth and expansion, like new markets, product lines, or services that the product organization can explore to increase revenue and profitability. Improve customer satisfaction by regularly checking in with their customers to understand their needs and preferences. Product organizations can better meet the needs of their customers and increase customer satisfaction. Increase efficiency by conducting regular QBRs, and identify areas where they can improve their internal processes. This can help product organizations to increase efficiency and productivity, ultimately leading to increased profitability. Quarterly business reviews are important for product organizations as they provide a regular opportunity to review and assess the performance of the business, identify areas for improvement, and make necessary adjustments to better meet the needs of their customers. How to gauge an effective QBR? Apart from measuring customer satisfaction through surveys and feedback forms, progress can be tracked against agreed-upon goals and other methods. The service provider and customer organization should have agreed-upon ways to track and report that can be examined during the quarterly review. Evaluate communication and collaboration: The effectiveness of the quarterly business review should be evaluated based on the level of communication and collaboration between the Sales teams and customer organization. Track incident and problem resolution: Taking into account the number and severity of incidents and problems that have been resolved during the quarter, gives an indication of how the product is developing. Monitor service level agreements (SLAs): Performance against agreed-upon SLAs need to be reviewed as market circumstances change, to highlight if any changes are necessary. Review financial metrics: Cost savings, revenue, profitability and other financial metrics show if there are any avenues that can be leveraged. Assess the use of technology: Using tools that simplify business reviews can give sales teams more time to actually engage with the client meaningfully. Seek feedback: The customer organization should be given the opportunity to provide feedback on the effectiveness of the quarterly business review and the Sales team’s overall performance. businesses often use tools like survey platforms, embedded forms, or QR codes to collect post-meeting feedback quickly and efficiently. Solutions such as the QR Code generator make it easy to create custom codes that link directly to feedback forms. 4 Common mistakes to avoid while doing a QBR Business reviews should always be conducted in a strategic mode, not a tactical one. That rules out support requests and other business-as-usual practices to save time. A clear agenda keeps the discussion pointed, and keeping the discussion time-bound creates necessary urgency. Here are some common follies that can derail quarterly business reviews: 1. Not setting effective goals Quarterly business reviews are meant to foster growth, and the goals should reflect this. The meeting should be about both parties (the customer and the vendor sales team) deciding on the steps to achieve their most important goals. Starting with what both teams want to achieve in the next few quarters can give a definitive direction. The goals can be as simple as presenting actionable ideas to clients and get their buy-in, to the complex facets involving finance and production. Usage statistics and event summaries should reflect this aim so that the topics are kept in the conversation for the entire quarter. 2. Assuming customer needs Customer input on the agenda is a crucial part of a quarterly business review. Once the agenda is set, sharing it with the customer team and asking if there’s anything else they want in the business review keeps them involved. This skin in the game leads to productive discussions, and reduces efforts of sales teams too – as they don’t have to pull stats for something that the customer is not interested in looking at, right now.  3. Treating all customers the same Customers can

10 Best Practices to Run Highly Productive Quarterly Business Reviews

Quarterly business reviews (QBRs) are an essential tool for driving success in any organization. These regular meetings provide a platform for you and your customer to review progress, assess the performance of your product or service, identify areas for improvement and discover growth opportunities.  By conducting QBRs, your company can stay on track to achieve your goals, stay competitive in the market and ensure you’re meeting your customers’ needs. You can use this platform to listen to feedback from your customers and then use this information to make improvements to your offerings. You can thus remain relevant to your customers and build closer ties with them.  One of the key benefits of QBRs is that they provide an opportunity to quickly identify and address problems or challenges that may have arisen. You can promptly address these, thus avoiding bigger problems and a negative impact on your business. It also helps with retaining your best customers.  QBRs are a great tool for communication. By inviting and encouraging open and honest feedback and allowing your customers time to address concerns and challenges you build trust and foster collaboration. Through these sessions, your customer can share their ideas and concerns and you can work with them to develop workable and relevant solutions.  They are a great way to compare progress against the goals and objectives set. You’re able to demonstrate how your product or service has helped your customer achieve success in their goals. By understanding their future plans, you can tailor your product so it continues to be a part of their triumph.   Quarterly business reviews when done right are time-consuming and need a lot of planning and preparation. After all, you want to make the most of this one-on-one time with the key stakeholders of your customer’s business. If their only interaction has been with your product, you will want to establish a connection and develop a long-term relationship with them. So, make sure you are prepared to impress them at that meeting.  Read More: Essential QBR Metrics to Track For Account Growth Here are 10 best practices that will help you make your quarterly business reviews effective, impressive and productive. Choosing Your Customers Defining Objectives And Goals Inviting Participation From Key Customer Stakeholders Creating and Circulating An Agenda Effectively Using Data and Metrics  Encouraging Active Participation Reviewing Progress Against Previous Goals And Objectives Sharing Updates From The QBR Session Leveraging Technology and Data-Analytics Planning For The Next Quarter Learn more: QBR Playbook for Sales and Account Management Leaders 1. Choosing Your Customers Since you need to invest time, energy and resources in planning and conducting quarterly business reviews, you need to make a wise investment. Choosing the right customers is an important step in ensuring the success of these meetings because they can provide valuable feedback and help you identify areas for improvement.  When choosing who you want to conduct quarterly business reviews for, you can consider the following: Your most valuable customers. These can be your oldest customers, those that generate the highest volume or those who have a high lifetime customer value. These key accounts can provide valuable feedback and insights, and their opinions are important to the success of the company. Highly engaged customers. Choose customers that have recently been in contact with your company, those that have heavy engagement on your social media or have a history of providing relevant and helpful feedback. Engaged customers are more likely to actively participate in the QBR process. Customers with diverse perspectives. Look for customers across industries, geographies and company sizes. Getting feedback from different perspectives will give you a more comprehensive view of your product and will help identify areas for improvement.  Make sure to get permission from your customers before inviting them to participate in a QBR. Emphasize that the session presents an opportunity for them to be heard and to influence product upgrades and improvements.   2. Defining Objectives And Goals You need to clearly define the objectives and goals of your quarterly business review in advance and share them with all those you expect to attend.  Having clear objectives and goals helps to ensure that the QBR is focused and productive. It provides structure and direction to the discussion. All attendees understand the expected outcomes and this ensures the review stays on track and doesn’t veer off into tangents or unproductive discussions. Clear goals and objectives also provide a framework for evaluating the success of your QBR.  Sharing the goals and objectives with all attendees in advance helps them come prepared for the meeting. Thus resulting in more targeted and efficient discussions during the meeting.  It’s important to set specific and measurable objectives and goals. For example, the goal of ‘increasing customer satisfaction’ is too broad and generic. It can be better defined as ‘increasing customer satisfaction by 10% within the next quarter’. This makes the goal easier to measure and progress easier to track. 3. Inviting Participation From Key Customer Stakeholders Inviting key customer stakeholders to participate in QBRs is an excellent way to ensure the success of these meetings. Stakeholders can include decision-makers, key influencers, product users and other individuals who play an important role in the relationship between you and your customer. Don’t be afraid to invite people across the company. If they can provide relevant and helpful feedback on your product and service, invite them! Different perspectives only mean more robust feedback.  Key stakeholders can provide valuable information about the usage and perceived value of your product. You can gain insight into your customer’s experience, their priorities and needs, their future goals and plans. This allows you to better shape your strategy and plans and tailor your products to meet the needs of the market.  The QBR helps foster better relationships with your customers. Highlighting the role your product played in achieving success for your customer will help them better appreciate your alliance and product. Seeing their opinions and feedback given due attention and incorporated makes them feel valued. This leads

The 2025 Essential Guide to Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs)

It’s 2024! The memories of the midnight revelry have probably faded. The resolutions you made when the clocks ushered in the New Year are now looking less appealing. But what you can’t afford to ignore are processes and strategies that will help your business stay competitive and grow in the year ahead.  One such essential, and probably highly underrated tool, is the Quarterly Business Review (QBR). This 2024 Essential Guide to QBRs will provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to conduct effective and efficient QBRs, and help you unlock the full potential of your business.  Read More: Essential QBR Metrics to Track For Account Growth What is a Quarterly Business Review (QBR)? As the name suggests, QBRs are business reviews conducted with your customers every quarter. The main purpose of this exercise is to review the impact your products or services are having on your customer’s company, how you are facilitating their progress and discuss future plans and upcoming targets. By regularly reviewing and assessing key performance indicators (KPIs), businesses can identify areas of strength and weakness, set measurable goals, and make informed decisions to drive success.  A QBR ensures regular communication about the value you provide and can facilitate a seamless renewal process.  Learn more: QBR Playbook for Sales and Account Management Leaders QBRs – Purpose and Objectives To implement effective QBRs, it is first important to understand their purpose and objectives. These business reviews should be used to assess the performance of the business as a whole, as well as the performance of departments and teams. They should also be used to identify and prioritize opportunities for improvement, and to set measurable goals for the next quarter.  A QBR has to include and involve key stakeholders from your customer’s business. It’s important to involve stakeholders from various levels of your customer’s organization because of the valuable insights and ideas for improvement that people at all levels bring.  For the most benefits out of your QBRs, make sure to set a clear and consistent agenda. This could include a focus on financial performance or customer satisfaction. Or you may want to review employee engagement. It may even be a mix of various parameters. It’s important to set aside time for open discussions and brainstorming to identify new opportunities and address any challenges that may have come up.  One important aspect of QBRs is tracking progress and following up on action items. It’s important to establish a system for tracking progress on goals and action items, so you can measure your success and identify areas where additional support or resources may be needed.  Read Now: 10 Best Practices to Run Super Productive Quarterly Business Reviews The Components of an Effective Quarterly Business Review  When you’re setting the agenda for your quarterly business review, check if you’ve included one or more of the following:  1. Review of product implementation or usage goals This will help you understand if your product is being used for the purpose it was intended for. It can also help you identify gaps because of which there isn’t much perceived value for your product. When these gaps are identified you can work on closing them and demonstrating the actual value of your product to your customer’s business.  2. Performance review for the previous or last financial period and assessing the value generated By doing this you can make sure that both parties are on the same page when it comes to the value being created by your product. You also become aware of any shortfall in performance and expectations, and can accordingly make any changes necessary for improvement.  3. Analysis of anticipated problems and complications Addressing and discussing these before they happen will allow both parties to be prepared if they do arise. Brainstorming about the steps that can be taken in the face of various challenges and obstacles is also helpful. This process may also help with finding solutions to avoid some anticipated issues.  4. Planning for the future Are you interested in being more than a vendor? If you’re looking to be a contributing partner to your customer’s success, then sharing plans for the future is a great way to take your association further. Taking the time to learn about your customer’s future business plans can help you develop a plan to continue helping and supporting them. This ultimately helps with customer retention. Sharing your plans for expansion or product development will help build interest. 5. Share planned product improvements This is your chance to showcase how you’re invested in product development and improvement. During this discussion or presentation, you should specifically focus on those product features that are being improved at the specific request of your customer. This also proves to your customers that their inputs are important to you. It makes them feel part of your growth and development.  Learn More: The Do’s and Don’ts of Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) What a Quarterly Business Review is NOT a Substitute for While it’s important to understand what a QBR is and what it includes, it is equally important to understand what it should not be focused on. Although these business reviews will help you understand how well your product or service is being used, the focus at these meetings is on the customer. The customer is the ‘hero’. Your product or service is in a supporting role, helping the ‘hero’ achieve success.  1. Do not use the QBR to sell This could include upselling, cross-selling or even promoting a newer product or service. This does not mean that you shouldn’t talk about new features or improvements in your product. Just don’t use this session as a back door to sell more stuff. 2. ‘Business’ is the primary word Don’t treat this meeting as a social interaction. And don’t take the time set aside for this review for granted. It is an important business meeting. One that will allow you to demonstrate the value you bring to the partnership. Use your

Key account management without a QBR?

In life, things seem to happen as a series. Once our attention has been brought to a given event, similar events seem to keep happening at a high frequency and attract our attention even more. In the last few months, I have repeatedly heard statements or read posts on how the concept of QBR (Quarterly Business Review) is outdated and not adopted any longer to our “digitized” world. Well, I could not disagree more on the relevance of a key account management QBR. Business Reviews have always been a key instrument to orchestrate the relationship between two organizations, including those with your customers. The evolution of social and economic parameters and business models does not make them less important. On the contrary. This being said, you don’t need QBRs with all customers as this powerful instrument must be used in the right context. If regular Business Reviews take place between a customer and their supplier and participants perceive it does not create value for them, there are basically two key reasons. First, the context and depth of the relationship between the two parties do not justify a regular Business Review. Second, the recurrent process of the Business Review is not properly executed. This article takes a closer look at why companies run Business Reviews and with whom, who should be involved, and what defines a good review. In the end, a short, practical checklist is suggested to help define focused measures that can help you create more value with the Business Review process. Why do suppliers run QBRs with their customers? To answer this question in a relatively simple way, one has to consider two different types of context for the relationship between a supplier and a customer. The first type of context is Account Management, things that are done with all customers with some variations depending on their size. The second type of context is Strategic Account Management, things which are done to develop a privileged relationship with a few carefully selected strategic customers. Account Management Context In an Account Management context (AM), Business Reviews, quarterly or monthly, are mostly used to review what has been delivered since the last review and to plan the next agreed period of time. For examples, suppliers of outsourced services of any kind (IT, Bookkeeping, HR, travel and accommodation, Marketing & Communications ) leverage regular reviews with their customers to share a precise picture of what they have delivered against the contractual Service Level Agreement (SLA), discuss performance, satisfaction and issues and to plan ahead. These meetings can – and should – also be used to discuss the evolutions of the customer’s needs and of the supplier’s offering. If the supplier is delivering products and solutions – which more and more include services – the Business Review might have a different frequency and content than for a service provider but the basic principles remain the same. In a pure Account Management context, the decision to run regular BRs is usually related to the size of the customer: larger accounts are managed with BRs whereas smaller customers are managed with less frequent and simpler meetings or remotely, more and more often by a Customer Success Manager. Key Account Management Context In a Key Account Management context (KAM), because the ambition is to develop and maintain a deeper relationship mapping that brings more value to both parties, the Strategic Account Management QBRs must drive a discussion beyond normal Account Management. Moreover, and this is crucial, in a well-executed KAM program, the QBR (like all regularly scheduled interactions) are designed and executed within the frame of a Key Account Plan. A good Key Account Plan is very specific on which relationships need to be created, developed and nurtured and why (if it is not, the Account Plan is not good enough and must be improved). The Business Review can also take the form of a Joint Business Planning (JBP) session aiming at aligning the two organizations on mutually agreed initiatives and projects. For example, LafargeHolcim, a construction material company uses BRs with its Global Accounts to drive collaboration in the field of R&D and to discuss long-term opportunities on major projects. Schneider Electric uses JBPs to agree with selected customers on joint strategic initiatives that go well beyond the “business as usual” activities. Well driven Business Reviews also provide an opportunity to discuss market trends and share prospective information such as technology and product roadmaps. This is used intensively by companies using KAM is an engineering-driven environment. All in all, whatever the context, AM or KAM, which customers are offered a regular Business Review process and with which purpose, must be crystal clear to both parties. Otherwise, putting in place these Reviews will be a waste of time. ‍Companies who suffer from low-value QBRs should re-evaluate if their selection of accounts and definition of purpose are strong enough. Who should be involved? If the context (AM or KAM) and purpose (monitor delivery / execute a Key Account Plan) are clear, defining who should be involved is quite straightforward, at least for the regular participants to the BRs. In an Account Management context, the person regularly involved in the supplier side must be those in charge of the Delivery (however this term is defined) and the Account Manager in charge of the customer. Occasionally, and depending on topics on the agenda other supplier’s staff members can be invited as long as their involvement brings a tangible value. In a Key Account Management context, the members of the Core Account Team should be involved in Key Account Management QBRs. The reason why is that as members of the core key account team, they should contribute to the span and depth of the relationship between the two companies. For example, if a KAM relationship implies collaboration in the area of Product Development and Marketing, members of these functions should be involved in the BRs. In a B2B2C environment such as in consumer electronics or dermo-cosmetics, it is quite