How to Set and Accomplish Goals in QBR Meetings

Quarterly Business Reviews are not regarded as favorably as an early Friday afternoon off. However, they play a critical role in reaching sales goals. Good QBR meetings are ones that account managers and clients can reflect upon and appreciate despite the rigorous work in accomplishing them.

Here are tips for how to plan a productive QBR so you can reach your goals:

1. Send questions to account managers ahead of time.

   Meaningful input from the client is just as important as what account managers need to present. Allowing clients time beforehand (rather than being put on the spot during the meeting) will allow them to brainstorm in privacy and give more meaningful answers. According to this Salesforce article:
   
   “Sales managers should be focusing on deep thinking and easy takeaways during the QBR, not elaborate presentations. Before you meet, send out the questions you expect each rep to answer. Don’t throw curve balls, especially when other managers and executives are in the room. You need confidence in their plan, and they need confidence that you’ve got their back.”
   
   There is nothing to gain by surprising clients. Meaningful insight is valuable, and sending questions ahead of time allows for thorough reasoning and reflection.

2. Set a time limit.

   Productive QBRs make the most out of the time allotted. It’s important to do everything you can to hold the client’s attention. According to Forbes, people begin to have difficulty continuing to focus after about 10 minutes:

   “Human beings generally can’t give their full attention to a subject for more than 10 minutes at a time. So think of your presentation as two parts: an initial summary that covers all of the important details and is done in nine minutes or fewer, then a larger presentation with the extra details that need to be covered. This way your presentation isn’t sunk if they lose interest after 10 minutes.”

   Allow time to go over the KPIs and bottom-line numbers within the first ten minutes, then you can use the rest of the meeting to go over less important details, answer questions, and discuss topics further.

3. Create SMART goals.
   

   Finally, use this SMART acronym as an outline in creating your QBR goals. Be sure they are:
   

• Specific and clear
• Measurable, so you can compare them to a number
• Achievable, so you’re not wasting any time on lofty goals
• Relevant to both you and the client
• Time-sensitive, so you can review them in the next QBR

  Start by creating goals intuitively then refer to this template to test them. You may come up with some great ideas, but in checking the list realize that you still need to set a target date.

Through good planning and foresight everyone will come out of your next QBR meeting more satisfied. By following these three basic steps, you will maximize productivity and ultimately design more productive and efficient Quarterly Business Reviews.

Curious to see how you can take your QBRS to the next level? Download this helpful ebook on how to make your QBRs more effective.