Capturing and reacting based on your customers’ expected business outcomes are integral part of Customer Success. Therefore, during a Quarterly Business Review (QBR), customers are asked what their desired business outcomes are.
The focal point of the Quarterly Business Review, commonly known as a QBR, revolves around the business of your customers, on what can be done to scale the growth of their business. It aims to understand the desired outcomes and potentials of the business, delivering recommendations based on the understanding of those desired outcomes.
The purpose of this blog is to enlighten, not just people in the Customer Success practice, but anyone who is aspiring to achieve excellent business outcomes for their customers, thus, creating a strong relationship with them.
What is a Quarterly Business Review? Why is it Important?
| The purpose of a QBR is to bridge the gap between the customers and the product or service that they purchased from your company. It should be thought-provoking and challenging. In establishing your agenda, you need to keep in mind what the customer wants and their desired outcomes. Through this, you can determine exactly what to include in the business review.
Help the customers prioritize ideas and develop a suitable Customer Success Plan from the results. This will increase your customers’ perceived value, especially as you prove the value of your new ideas to their business goals. In today’s new business review practices, you will learn that your QBR should be strategic, not tactical. The QBR is not the right time and place to discuss support questions. The business review is an opportunity for Customer Success Managers to dive deeper into gaining a better visualization of the customers’ business planning for the future strategies that will help the customers to achieve their goals. |
QBR Best Practices
Here are some best practices to maximize and scale your QBR activities:
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Identify the GoalsWhat are the end goals of the business? It is very important that end goals are identified for customers to have a clear vision of where the business is leading. Highlight the Achieved vs. End GoalsHighlight the achieved goals during business reviews and compare them to the end goals. Use statistics and facts in showing the results that have been achieved so the customer can see the milestones that they have accomplished. Provide SuggestionsOnce the achieved goals have been highlighted and compared to the end goals, suggestions in bridging the gap between the achieved goals and end goals should be provided. How are we going to achieve the end goals? When is the best time to lay down the action plans to achieve the end goals? |
Key Takeaways
There is always that urge from customers to know what’s next in their journey with you. That said, it is clear that Quarterly Business Reviews should make customers feel that they are being valued by keeping them well informed about the status of services and/or products that they are using. Conducting QBRs confirms that you are the perfect partner for them who always thinks ahead in keeping them on the right track; a partner who always prepares a plan to help them innovate and reach their desired outcomes.
Establish a cadence for your strategic customers and your high-touch customers in a manner that aligns with the customers’ desired experience. Do not perform QBRs just because it’s a requirement or part of your engagement model to do it on a quarterly basis. Always look at the bigger picture and assess the situation and the status of your customers to clearly identify what they really need in order to achieve their goals and desired outcome for their business.
About the Guest Contributor
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Irit Eizips is the Chief Customer Officer & CEO at CSM Practice, is a world-renowned expert on customer retention, upsells, cross-sells, and customer value strategies and methodologies. Since 2013, Irit has been pivotal in shaping Customer Success best practices. She has been nominated a top Customer Success strategist and influencer, year after year, since 2013. Irit was recently named on of the Top 150 Global Customer Experience Thought Leaders and Influencers of 2020. She is frequently producing thought leadership on her YouTube channel and is often featured as a speaker at conferences and Customer Success publications. |