When it comes to resources for sales strategies, there's a ton of playbooks and blog posts online. But once the contract is signed, what happens next? The journey with the customer is just beginning, yet many startups are significantly less prepared for the post-sales process.

To help our Work-Bench portfolio companies excel in this area, we recently hosted a talk by Rose Kozar, VP of Client Solutions at our portfolio company Courier Health, focusing on the importance of Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and some best practices for making them a valuable part of long-term customer relationships.

A QBR is a strategic meeting between a company and its customers to discuss performance, goals, and opportunities for growth. While QBRs are often reserved for high-ACV customers, the insights and strategies shared in this post can benefit any customer relationship. 

Below are some key tips to make your QBRs more impactful, no matter the size of the account:

Why Do QBRs Matter?

1. Your Product Quality is Just One Part of the Equation: Retaining and growing clients depends on more than the product alone. QBRs offer an opportunity to demonstrate continuous value, especially as clients’ needs evolve.
2. Your Customers/User Have Competing Priorities: Customers are busy with their jobs, personal lives, internal politics, and their own career goals. QBRs serve as structured touchpoints that help keep your product’s benefits top of mind amid their hectic schedules.
3. New Competitors Are Always Entering the Market: There will always be newcomers promising lower costs or flashier features. But a consistent cadence of QBRs can reinforce your unique value proposition and fend off competitors before they become a threat.
4. Efficiency is a Top Priority in a Post-ZIRP World: Finance teams are scrutinizing every line item for efficiency. Regularly discussing your product’s value can position it as a cost-effective, must-have solution vs. an expendable budget line.
5. You’re Always Selling: Even after the contract is signed, every QBR is an opportunity to set the stage for expansion and renewal. ‍
6. Avoid Common Objections: QBRs help prevent common renewal objections like: “I’m too busy to meet about our renewal,” “Our budget is too tight,” or “We’re going with a competitor.”

What Should QBRs Achieve?

• Align on Value and Success Metrics: Ensure that both your team and the customer agree on what success looks like, and that your product is meeting those metrics.
• Position Your Team as Strategic Thought Partners: QBRs should elevate your relationship from vendor to partner, making your team essential to your client’s success.
• Build Trust and Transparency: Establish a mutual understanding and create a space where clients feel comfortable sharing feedback.
• Identify Upsell and Expansion Opportunities – But Subtly: QBRs are not simply sales meetings. Focus on adding value first, and upsell opportunities will naturally follow when clients see your solution as a key part of their strategy.

Best Practices

Who to include:

• Check signer
• Internal champion
• Top user
• Detractor
• Potential new business

When to hold it:

If there’s a current/ongoing issue…immediately!

Otherwise, holding a three-hour QBR every three months is standard.

An agenda:

Executive Summary:

• Relationship recap
• Incremental value created
• Mutual win
• What’s not going well
• Action Plan
• Platform Roadmap
• Customer strategic priorities *prep this in advance
• Goals for the next QBR

Appendix:

• Usage stats
• Uptime stats
• Detailed inputs to value creation
• Top used features & impact
• Adoption trends
• Opportunity cost from unused features

Common Questions

‍What if I can’t get the check signer in the room? After the QBR, have your CEO forward them the QBR deck asking for just 15 minutes of their time to align on progress and goals. This will likely result in a quick virtual meeting where they might not even review the QBR deck, but still serve as an important touchpoint with senior leadership.

How far in advance should we prep the QBR deck – we want it to be recent data, but avoid last minute fire drills? About 6 weeks in advance of the QBR meeting. This will allow plenty of time to review data, craft a narrative, hammer out issues, and go into the meeting with a fully prepared mindset (with no surprises!).

If you’re an early-stage enterprise founder or operator — connect with us directly to chat about anything GTM or check out our events page to stay in the loop on all things happening in the Work-Bench community.