What Is a Quarterly Business Review and Why You Should Do One

A quarterly business review, or QBR for short, is a meeting between a business and its key stakeholders and customers. It assesses the company’s performance over the past quarter and plans for the next one.

This meeting can be beneficial for businesses of all sizes, as it allows them to track their progress and make changes. In this article, we will discuss the advantages of quarterly business reviews and how they can help your business grow.

Quarterly Business Review (QBR) Definition

A quarterly business review (QBR) is a formal meeting between a company and its key customers. The purpose of a QBR is to review the health of the business relationship and identify any areas of improvement.

QBRs cover the previous quarter’s performance, goals for the current quarter, and any challenges or opportunities that have arisen.

During a QBR, both parties should share feedback and suggestions to maintain a strong relationship.

By setting aside time to review the state of the relationship, companies can ensure that their vendors or customers are satisfied. And that any potential problems are quickly resolved.

Why is QBR is important? 

A Quarterly Business Review is an important part of customer success. It’s an opportunity for customer success managers to review the business and identify areas for improvement.

QBRs also help to build relationships between customer success managers and their customers. By reviewing the customer’s business and identifying areas of improvement, companies show their commitment to the customer’s success.

QBRs give customer success managers a chance to share best practices with their customers and learn about new technologies and approaches that can help their customers succeed. As a result, QBRs are an essential part of customer success.

When are quarterly business reviews needed?

As a business begins to scale, it can become increasingly difficult to keep track of all customers and their specific needs.

In these cases, quarterly business reviews (QBRs) can be an essential way to check in with customers and ensure that their needs are being met.

QBRs provide an opportunity for businesses to ask for feedback, identify potential areas of improvement, and nurture relationships with key customers.

They can also be used to troubleshoot problems, set goals for the future, and review progress made over the previous quarter. As a result, QBRs can be extremely valuable for both the customer and you.

How to conduct a QBR 

At the QBR, you will review your goals and performance for the quarter. Discuss any challenges or changes in strategy, and set an agenda for the next quarter. The QBR is an opportunity to course-correct and make sure that your business is on track to meet its objectives.

To prepare for the QBR, start by reviewing your goals and performance. Take a close look at your numbers and identify any areas where you fell short. Then, take some time to reflect on your strategy. Are there any changes you need to make?

Then, set an agenda for the next quarter. What do you want to achieve? What are your priorities? By preparing for the QBR, you can ensure that it is a productive and valuable exercise for your business.

QBR presentation tips

When it comes to giving a quarterly business review presentation, there are a few key things to keep in mind to make the meeting engaging.

Be sure to prepare your slides and deck in advance, including all relevant KPIs. This will ensure that the presentation runs smoothly and that attendees have all the information they need.

Make an effort to keep the meeting engaging by incorporating interactive elements such as polls or Q&A sessions.

Respect attendees’ time by keeping the presentation concise and to the point.

The benefits of conducting a QBR

A quarterly business review is an opportunity for a company to take stock of its progress and relationships with customers and stakeholders.

By bringing everyone together to discuss recent successes and challenges, a QBR can help to build stronger relationships and create a more united team. You get to properly understand what’s in it for the customer.

Additionally, a QBR can help to set the future direction for a company by identifying areas of opportunity and outlining a plan for how to capitalize on them. It gives you goals to discuss in the next quarterly business review.

The QBR also gives a chance to collect customer feedback that the customer success team and sales team can use to improve products. The quarterly business review session gives a chance to existing customers to have their voices heard.

These business reviews also help avoid marketing myopia as you get to see the market from the eyes of a customer.

Finally, conducting a QBR can build more trust with customers by demonstrating that the company is committed to its success.

By reviewing the past quarter and planning for the next one, companies can ensure that they are making the most of this valuable opportunity.

QBR vs. EBR

Though both Quarterly Business Review (QBR) and Executive Business Review (EBR) involve presentation and discussion of a company’s performance with executives, there are key differences between the two.

The quarterly business review presentation takes place on a quarterly basis. While EBRs occur less frequently, usually only once or twice a year.

QBRs usually involve a wider range of departments and team members, while EBRs are more focused, with only key decision-makers in attendance.

Additionally, QBRs are generally shorter in duration than EBRs. Because they occur less often, EBRs tend to be more comprehensive in nature, with greater opportunity for strategy development and long-term planning.

Both QBRs and EBRs serve as important forums for communication and review. But the frequency and focus of each type of meeting differ according to the needs of the business.

Quarterly Business Review: Summary

The Quarterly Business Review, or QBR, is a meeting that takes place between a company and its customers to review the progress made over the past quarter. It is an opportunity for both parties to identify any areas of improvement and to set goals for the next quarter.

QBRs can be beneficial for businesses of all sizes, as they provide a structured forum for feedback and collaboration. QBRs can help build strong relationships between companies and their clients. QBRs can be an invaluable tool for ensuring continuous improvement and success.

Related: How to make customers happy