A QBR (quarterly business review) is a quarterly meeting where a vendor's account team and a customer's sponsor review results and agree the customer's next priorities.
Customer QBR, sales QBR and EBR
The term has two meanings. A customer QBR is held with the customer. A sales QBR is an internal quarterly review of a sales team's pipeline and numbers. An EBR (executive business review) is a customer QBR held with the customer's executives. A customer QBR does three jobs, in order: confirm the value delivered in the customer's own measures, hear what the customer needs over the next 90 days, and look at the commercial calendar that follows. The account manager usually leads, with the customer success manager covering adoption. Run as a status update, it does none of those jobs, which is the argument of our post the QBR is not a status update.
- 01Confirm the value deliveredIn the customer's own measures
- 02Hear the next 90 daysWhat the customer needs
- 03Look at the commercial calendarWhat follows from it
A QBR that opens an expansion deal
This example is illustrative. An account manager opens a QBR by naming a missed delivery date before the customer can, then shows the result the sponsor's team cares about: dispatch rework down by a third. In the next 90 days section, the sponsor mentions that the warehouse team has the same handoff problem. The account manager asks who runs that team and for an introduction, and leaves pricing for later. That introduction is the start of an expansion deal.
A week before, the question a manager asks the account manager is "which result will the sponsor repeat to their boss after this meeting, in the sponsor's own words?" A good answer is a measure the customer already tracks, like the rework figure above. A weak answer is a usage chart or a login count, which tells the sponsor the product is open and nothing about whether it paid for itself.
Related terms
- How to run a customer QBR: the timed agenda, step by step
- What is net revenue retention?: the number a good QBR program moves
- Account expansion guide: where the QBR sits in the year
FAQ
What does QBR stand for? QBR stands for quarterly business review. With customers, it is a quarterly meeting to review results and plan ahead. Inside a sales team, it can also mean an internal quarterly review of pipeline and performance, so check which one someone means.
What is the difference between a QBR and an EBR? An EBR, or executive business review, is a customer QBR held with the customer's executive team. It focuses on results and direction more than operational detail. Many companies run QBRs with the day-to-day sponsor and an EBR once or twice a year.
Who runs a customer QBR? The account manager usually leads, with the customer success manager presenting results and adoption. On the customer side, the sponsor who holds the budget should attend. If the sponsor skips two in a row, treat the account as drifting.