In business, the key to improvement lies in consistently assessing performance and adapting strategies accordingly. Regular evaluations, such as a quarterly business review, allow companies to reflect on past challenges and achievements, ensuring that lessons are learned and applied.

Let’s get started.

What is a quarterly business review?

A quarterly business review (QBR) is a periodic meeting between a company and its clients or teams to evaluate progress from the past quarter. Held every three months, these meetings are common in customer success and business development contexts.

The primary purpose of a QBR is to assess key metrics, and understand where things stand and where they need to go. It’s a chance to celebrate successes, address challenges, and collaboratively outline actionable next steps.

Quarterly business reviews are invaluable for maintaining focus and clarity in business objectives and relationships. They help organizations refine their approach to achieving goals, ultimately contributing to long-term business growth.

How to Conduct a Quarterly Business Review

We will explore the QBR process in three stages by emphasizing what you must do before, during and after the meeting for a successful session.

Before the QBR

How well you prepare before the quarterly business review will determine the success and productivity of the session.

• Review past performance. Look back at the action items from the past QBR meeting to identify what has been achieved and what has remained unsolved. This will provide context for the current meeting.
• Create a structured QBR meeting agenda. Outline the specific topics to cover, such as performance metrics, successes, challenges, and strategic goals. Share this agenda with attendees in advance to give them time to prepare their contributions.
• Gather relevant information. This includes key performance indicators (KPIs), financial reports, market trends, client feedback, etc. Always check if the data is accurate and up-to-date.
• Prepare visual aids. The information you present should be easily understandable. Create slides, graphs, and dashboards to highlight trends, achievements, and areas for improvement.
• Invite the right people. Ensure all relevant stakeholders, decision-makers, and team members are invited. Their presence guarantees that critical business needs are discussed promptly.
• Anticipate challenges. Identify potential obstacles or concerns that might arise during the quarterly business review. Think of solutions or alternative approaches in advance to address any issues that may come up.

During the QBR

By following the quarterly business review format (achievements, key metrics, next steps), you can facilitate productive and result-oriented conversations that are grounded in data.

• Start with a brief overview. Begin the QBR by listing the main objectives and topics to be discussed. This initial step will help participants stay aligned and ready to dive into the details.
• Celebrate successes. Acknowledge both individual and team achievements to boost morale. Point out significant milestones, improvements in business performance, and positive customer feedback.
• Dive into the metrics. Smoothly move into the core of the quarterly business review by analyzing KPIs and other notable data. Use this discussion to guide business goals and define the action plan for moving forward.
• Determine next steps. Based on the insights from the metrics, set realistic deadlines and assign ownership for accountability. The steps should be measurable, specific, and aligned with the broader goals outlined earlier.
• List key takeaways. End the meeting by summarizing main points and the agreed-upon action items. This will provide a concise recap for future reference and serve as a reminder of commitments made.

After the QBR

The post-QBR phase plays a critical role in maintaining momentum, so it’s essential to follow up on key takeaways and monitor progress toward achieving the set goals.

• Share both the meeting summary and the full transcript. Use an AI meeting transcription software and summarizer to convert the meeting recording into text and extract key points. For maximum efficiency, choose a user-friendly tool like Maestra that offers a quick turnaround time.
• Follow up on action items. Track the progress of each task and reach out to responsible individuals or teams to check on updates. Offer support when needed to keep momentum going and resolve any challenges.
• Document lessons learned. Capture insights from the previous strategies and results. Focus on what worked well, what didn’t, and how these lessons can be applied to improve future business performance.
• Gather feedback from participants. Send them a form and ask for input on the structure, content and overall effectiveness of the quarterly business review. Then use the results to optimize future meetings.
• Schedule the next QBR meeting. Set a date for three months after the current session to ensure timely follow-up. Conduct regular check-ins until that time to keep the business strategy on track.

5 Best Practices for Quarterly Business Reviews

In addition to the steps outlined above, these five best practices will make your quarterly business reviews more goal-driven and boost engagement.

Try AI-Powered Live Captioning

Live captioning during a quarterly business review can improve accessibility and help everyone fully engage with the discussion. Utilize Maestra’s free AI live transcription tool to generate a live transcript in 125+ languages as the meeting happens. Moreover, feel free to translate simultaneously and provide captions in another language, especially if the meeting involves a diverse group of participants.

Use a QBR Template

Using the same quarterly business review template will provide consistency between meetings. With a predefined structure, participants will become accustomed to the QBR format, which enhances their ability to engage meaningfully. Additionally, a QBR template will save time, as it eliminates the need for reinventing the meeting structure each quarter, allowing more focus on the content.

Focus on Solutions

While it’s essential to acknowledge challenges during the QBR, the emphasis should be on finding strategies to overcome them. Use metrics and analytics to identify potential solutions instead of relying solely on opinions and assumptions. Shift the focus to collaborative brainstorming and decision-making to come up with solutions that are both realistic and practical.

Don’t Lose the Sight of Long-Term Goals

Although QBRs focus on reviewing the past quarter, it’s important to align discussions with long-term business objectives. If you’re conducting a QBR with your customers or clients, emphasize how your solutions or services contribute to their broader growth strategies. For team-focused QBRs, illustrate how quarterly targets connect to overarching company goals.

Encourage Open Dialogue

A transparent, inclusive environment can uncover great ideas that might otherwise go unspoken. Encourage participants to challenge assumptions constructively and propose alternative viewpoints. Additionally, use open-ended questions to invite creative solutions, and recognize contributions publicly to motivate ongoing engagement.

5 Great Quarterly Business Review Templates

With the following diverse tools, you can tailor your QBR meetings to your business’s specific needs while enhancing productivity and collaboration.

ClickUp

From presentations to reports, ClickUp offers a wide range of quarterly business review templates. The platform also recommends SlideTeam’s Quarterly Business Review PowerPoint Template and Template.net’s QBR Word Template.

Mural

With Mural’s Quarterly Business Review Template, you can measure your progress at regular intervals easily. Start by defining your primary business aims (aka the value your business offers), evaluate how well you achieved current QBR goals, and finally plan your upcoming goals for the next quarter.

Asana

Asana’s QBR Meeting Agenda Template will save a lot of time and make your sessions more productive. It has cool features such as “timebox agenda topics”, which give presenters time limits to ensure discussions don’t run over.

Figma

Figma’s Quarterly Business Review Template is ideal for using in whiteboard sessions. The template has several styling and collaboration features, such as shapes, connectors, and little notes that will allow you to showcase branded content.

Pitch

This Quarterly Business Review Template by Pitch has a minimalistic, clean design that will help you focus on what really matters. It is clearly divided into sections of Performance, Learnings, Next Steps, and Q&A to set a solid foundation to meet future goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who attends a quarterly business review?

The attendees of a QBR often include team leadership, account managers, and customer success managers. Clients and vendors can also participate to provide insights or receive updates. Their collective input helps shape actionable strategies for the upcoming quarter.

What is the agenda for a QBR?

A quarterly business review agenda typically covers past performance, key achievements, and areas for improvement. It also focuses on setting goals for the next quarter and developing strategies to meet those goals. The agenda may conclude with a Q&A session to wrap up the discussion with clear takeaways and accountability.

What questions should I ask in a quarterly review?

Effective quarterly business review questions focus on analyzing results, understanding customer needs, and setting goals. You might ask “How satisfied are our clients with the services/products provided, and what feedback have we received?”. Another good question to ask is, “Are there any emerging market trends or new opportunities that we should explore in the next quarter?”.

How do you present a quarterly business review?

When presenting a QBR, begin by providing an overview of the key performance data and progress made. Next, address any challenges faced and how they can be overcome in the next quarter. Make sure the presentation is visually engaging, using charts and graphs to support main points and actionable next steps.

How to write a quarterly business report?

When writing a QBR report, start with a comprehensive summary of the past quarter’s performance, including successes and areas for improvement. Then discuss any issues that impacted performance and suggest ways to address them. Finally, outline the goals for the next quarter and the strategies to achieve them.

Summary

This blog explained what a quarterly business review is while covering its purpose and importance. It provided actionable steps and tips on how to run a QBR effectively, along with 5 useful templates to increase productivity.

Embrace these tips and the others mentioned in this blog to run impactful QBRs that lead to lasting results and growth.