qbr-architect

# QBR Architect

## Overview

Transform Quarterly Business Reviews from status updates into strategic partnership conversations. This skill encodes the frameworks for structuring QBRs that demonstrate value, strengthen relationships, and uncover expansion opportunities—not just review what happened.

## When to Use This Skill

- **QBR preparation** — Building decks and gathering data for upcoming reviews
- **Executive presentation** — Structuring conversations with customer leadership
- **Value demonstration** — Quantifying and communicating ROI
- **Expansion positioning** — Identifying and presenting growth opportunities
- **Risk mitigation** — Addressing concerns proactively
- **Account strategy** — Planning long-term partnership evolution

## QBR Philosophy

### The QBR Mindset Shift

| Traditional QBR | Strategic QBR |
|-----------------|---------------|
| "Here's what we did" | "Here's the value you received" |
| Feature usage reports | Business outcome metrics |
| Backward-looking | Forward-planning |
| Support ticket review | Strategic initiative alignment |
| Vendor reporting to customer | Partnership discussion |
| CSM presents, customer listens | Co-creation of future plans |

### QBR Objectives Hierarchy

Every QBR should achieve:

1. **Demonstrate value** — Prove ROI in their language
2. **Strengthen relationship** — Deepen strategic partnership
3. **Identify opportunities** — Uncover expansion or upsell potential
4. **Surface risks** — Proactively address concerns
5. **Align on future** — Co-create next quarter priorities

## QBR Preparation Framework

### 4-Week Preparation Timeline

**Week 4 (Pre-QBR):**
- [ ] Schedule QBR with appropriate stakeholders
- [ ] Confirm executive sponsor attendance
- [ ] Review account health score and trends
- [ ] Identify key discussion topics

**Week 3:**
- [ ] Gather usage analytics and metrics
- [ ] Calculate ROI/value metrics
- [ ] Review support tickets and resolutions
- [ ] Identify expansion opportunities

**Week 2:**
- [ ] Build first draft of QBR deck
- [ ] Prepare success stories and proof points
- [ ] Develop recommendations
- [ ] Internal review of materials

**Week 1:**
- [ ] Finalize QBR deck
- [ ] Prepare talking points and backup slides
- [ ] Confirm logistics and attendees
- [ ] Send pre-read (if appropriate for customer)

### Pre-QBR Intelligence Gathering

**Usage Analytics:**
- Active users vs. licensed users
- Feature adoption by module
- Usage trends over time
- Comparison to similar customers

**Health Indicators:**
- Support ticket volume and sentiment
- NPS/CSAT scores
- Engagement with CSM
- Product feedback submitted

**Business Context:**
- Customer's recent news/announcements
- Leadership changes
- Strategic initiatives mentioned
- Industry trends affecting them

**Relationship Status:**
- Champion strength and engagement
- Executive sponsor relationship
- Expansion conversations history
- Risk factors identified

## QBR Deck Structure

### Standard Structure (45-60 Minutes)

| Section | Time | Purpose |
|---------|------|---------|
| Executive Summary | 5 min | Key outcomes, recommendations |
| Business Outcomes | 15 min | Value delivered, metrics achieved |
| Usage & Adoption | 10 min | How they're using the product |
| Support & Partnership | 5 min | Service quality, responsiveness |
| Product Updates | 5 min | Relevant new features, roadmap |
| Recommendations | 10 min | What we suggest for next quarter |
| Discussion & Next Steps | 10 min | Co-planning, action items |

### Section-by-Section Guidance

#### 1. Executive Summary (1 slide)

**Include:**
- 3 key wins from the quarter
- Primary value metric (quantified)
- 1-2 recommendations for next quarter
- Health status (green/yellow/red)

**Template:**
```
Q[X] EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Key Achievements:
• [Specific outcome with metric]
• [Specific outcome with metric]
• [Specific outcome with metric]

Value Delivered: [Primary metric - e.g., $X saved, Y hours reduced]

Recommended Focus for Q[X+1]:
• [Recommendation 1]
• [Recommendation 2]

Account Health: [Status with brief explanation]
```

**Do NOT:** Lead with feature updates or support metrics.

#### 2. Business Outcomes (3-5 slides)

**Structure each outcome slide:**
- Objective (their stated goal)
- Metric (what we measured)
- Result (what we achieved)
- Context (why this matters to them)

**Outcome Presentation Format:**

```
OBJECTIVE: [What they wanted to achieve]

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                         │
│    [BIG NUMBER]     [COMPARISON]       │
│                                         │
│    [metric label]   vs. [baseline/     │
│                         target]        │
│                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

IMPACT: [What this means in business terms]

EVIDENCE: [Quote, case example, or supporting data]
```

**Example:**
```
OBJECTIVE: Reduce time spent on manual data entry

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                         │
│      73%             $156K             │
│                                         │
│   Time Reduction   Annual Savings      │
│   (vs. baseline)   (based on labor)    │
│                                         │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

IMPACT: Your team now processes 3x more requests per day

EVIDENCE: "We used to spend Friday afternoons on reports. 
          Now it's done by lunch." — [User name], [Title]
```

#### 3. Usage & Adoption (2-3 slides)

**Show:**
- Active users over time (trend)
- Feature adoption breakdown
- Comparison to similar customers (if favorable)
- Adoption recommendations

**Avoid:**
- Vanity metrics without context
- Negative comparisons
- Feature lists without business connection

**Healthy Framing:**
```
ADOPTION HIGHLIGHTS

✓ 92% of licensed users active (goal: 85%)
✓ 3 new power users identified this quarter
✓ Core workflow adoption at 100%

OPPORTUNITY: [Feature] adoption is at 40%—
we recommend a training session to unlock [specific benefit]
```

**Concerning Metrics Framing:**
```
ADOPTION FOCUS AREA

Current state: 45% of licensed users active
Target: 75%

Root cause: [Specific, non-blaming explanation]

Recommendation: [Specific action plan]
```

#### 4. Support & Partnership (1 slide)

**Include:**
- Response time / SLA performance
- Ticket volume trend
- Major issues resolved
- CSM engagement summary

**Avoid:**
- Dwelling on problems
- Long lists of tickets
- Defensive posturing

**Template:**
```
PARTNERSHIP SUMMARY

Support Performance:
• Average response time: [X hours] (SLA: Y hours) ✓
• Tickets resolved: [N] (100% within SLA)
• Satisfaction rating: [X/5]

Key Resolutions:
• [Major issue]: Resolved in [timeframe]
• [Enhancement request]: Implemented in Q[X]

Engagement:
• [N] check-in calls conducted
• [N] training sessions delivered
• Executive business review: [status]
```

#### 5. Product Updates (1-2 slides)

**Only include updates that:**
- Are relevant to THIS customer's use case
- Are already available (not vaporware)
- Have clear benefit they can act on

**Format:**
```
PRODUCT UPDATES RELEVANT TO [CUSTOMER]

[Feature Name]
What it does: [Brief description]
Why it matters for you: [Specific benefit to their use case]
How to enable: [Simple action or offer to assist]

[Feature Name]
What it does: [Brief description]
Why it matters for you: [Specific benefit to their use case]
How to enable: [Simple action or offer to assist]

COMING SOON: [Only if highly relevant and near-term]
```

#### 6. Recommendations (2-3 slides)

**Structure recommendations as:**
```
RECOMMENDATION: [Clear, specific action]

Why: [Business rationale linked to their goals]

Expected outcome: [Quantified benefit if possible]

Effort required: [Time/resources from them]

Our support: [What you'll do to help]

Next step: [Specific action to take]
```

**Good recommendations:**
- Expand to new team/use case
- Increase adoption of underused feature
- Upgrade to unlock specific capability
- Engage in beta program for upcoming feature
- Adjust workflow to improve outcomes

**Bad recommendations:**
- Generic "use more features"
- Expensive upgrades without clear ROI
- Changes that only benefit you
- Too many options (max 3)

#### 7. Discussion & Next Steps (1 slide)

**Include:**
- 2-3 discussion questions for them
- Proposed action items (assigned, with dates)
- Next QBR scheduling

**Template:**
```
DISCUSSION & NEXT STEPS

Questions for Discussion:
• [Strategic question about their priorities]
• [Question about specific opportunity identified]
• [Question about potential concern]

Proposed Actions:
┌──────────────────────┬──────────┬──────────┐
│ Action               │ Owner    │ Due      │
├──────────────────────┼──────────┼──────────┤
│ [Action 1]           │ [Name]   │ [Date]   │
│ [Action 2]           │ [Name]   │ [Date]   │
│ [Action 3]           │ [Name]   │ [Date]   │
└──────────────────────┴──────────┴──────────┘

Next QBR: [Proposed date]
```

## QBR Variations by Tier

### Enterprise (High-Touch)

**Length:** 60-90 minutes
**Attendees:** Executive sponsor, champion, key stakeholders
**Depth:** Strategic, outcome-focused
**Customization:** Highly tailored to their initiatives
**Extras:** 
- Industry benchmarking
- Roadmap preview
- Executive-to-executive alignment
- Multi-year planning

### Mid-Market

**Length:** 45-60 minutes
**Attendees:** Champion, key users
**Depth:** Balanced outcomes and tactical
**Customization:** Use case-specific
**Extras:**
- Peer customer examples
- Self-service resources highlighted
- Clear upgrade path if relevant

### SMB (If conducting QBRs)

**Length:** 30 minutes
**Attendees:** Primary contact
**Depth:** High-level outcomes, quick wins
**Customization:** Template-based with personalization
**Extras:**
- Community resources
- Webinar recommendations
- Simplified upgrade options

## Difficult Conversation Frameworks

### When Value Is Unclear

**Opening:**
> "Before we dive in, I want to acknowledge that demonstrating clear ROI this quarter was challenging. Here's what we know and what we're proposing to improve measurement."

**Structure:**
1. Acknowledge the gap honestly
2. Explain what limited measurement
3. Share proxy indicators of value
4. Propose improved measurement plan
5. Ask for their perspective

### When Usage Is Low

**Opening:**
> "I want to address adoption directly. We're at [X]%, which is below where we expected. I've done some analysis on why, and I have specific recommendations."

**Structure:**
1. State the metric clearly
2. Share root cause analysis
3. Present action plan
4. Request their input and commitment
5. Set milestone for progress review

### When Relationship Is Strained

**Opening:**
> "I know this quarter hasn't been smooth, and I want to use our time today to address that directly. Can we start by understanding your concerns?"

**Structure:**
1. Acknowledge the tension
2. Listen fully before responding
3. Take responsibility where appropriate
4. Present remediation plan
5. Agree on communication improvements

### When Discussing Renewal/Risk

**Opening:**
> "As we approach renewal, I want to understand where your head is at and address any concerns directly."

**Structure:**
1. Ask open-ended questions about satisfaction
2. Listen for both stated and unstated concerns
3. Address concerns with specific plans
4. Present value summary
5. Align on renewal timeline and process

## Post-QBR Process

### Within 24 Hours

- [ ] Send thank-you email with deck attached
- [ ] Document action items in CRM
- [ ] Send meeting notes summary
- [ ] Schedule follow-up actions

### Within 1 Week

- [ ] Begin executing on commitments
- [ ] Send any additional resources promised
- [ ] Confirm internal handoffs
- [ ] Update account plan

### Ongoing

- [ ] Track action item progress
- [ ] Provide updates at regular intervals
- [ ] Incorporate learnings into next QBR prep
- [ ] Update health score based on QBR outcomes

## Resources

### references/
- **metric-frameworks.md** — Standard metrics by product type
- **discussion-guides.md** — Facilitation guides for common scenarios
- **objection-handling.md** — Responses for common customer concerns
- **benchmark-data.md** — Industry benchmarks for context

### scripts/
- **deck-generator.py** — Generates QBR deck from account data
- **roi-calculator.py** — Calculates and formats ROI metrics

### assets/
- **qbr-deck-template.pptx** — Branded QBR presentation template
- **action-tracker.xlsx** — Post-QBR action item tracker
- **prep-checklist.xlsx** — QBR preparation checklist