QBR Deck Skill
Produce a complete Quarterly Business Review deck — structured, data-backed, and customer-focused. A good QBR demonstrates value delivered, aligns on goals for the next quarter, and strengthens the executive relationship. It should never feel like a product demo or a vendor update.
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not already provided:
- Account name, CSM name, and customer stakeholders attending
- Contract details — ARR, contract start date, renewal date
- Last quarter's goals (from previous QBR or kickoff)
- Usage and adoption data — key metrics for the quarter
- Support summary — tickets raised, resolution time, any escalations
- Business outcomes the customer cares about — what success looks like for them
- Product updates or new features relevant to this customer
- Goals for next quarter
- Any open commercial conversations (expansion, renewal, at-risk signals)
QBR Principles
- Lead with customer outcomes, not product features
- Every metric should connect to a business result the customer cares about
- The agenda is a conversation, not a presentation — build in time for customer input at every stage
- Close with mutual commitments, not just vendor actions
Output Format
QBR: [Account Name] × [Your Company]
[Quarter] [Year] Business Review
Date: [Date] | Location / Call link: [TBC] Customer attendees: [Names and roles] [Your company] attendees: [Names and roles]
Slide 1: Agenda (5 min)
| Time | Topic | Owner | |---|---|---| | 0:00 | Welcome and introductions | CSM | | 0:05 | [Last quarter] — how did we do? | CSM + Customer | | 0:20 | Value delivered — business impact | CSM | | 0:35 | What's coming — roadmap preview | CSM / Product | | 0:45 | [Next quarter] — goals and priorities | Customer | | 0:55 | Actions and mutual commitments | CSM | | 1:00 | Close | |
Talking point: "We've kept today to 60 minutes. We want as much of this to be a conversation as possible — please push back, redirect, and ask questions throughout."
Slide 2: Where We Are Together (2 min)
Partnership snapshot:
- Customer since: [Date]
- Contract value: £/$/€[ARR]/year
- Renewal date: [Date]
- Active users: [N] of [N] licensed seats ([X]% adoption)
- Products / modules active: [List]
Talking point: "Before we dive in — a quick picture of where we are. [X] months in, [Y] active users, and this is our [Nth] QBR together."
Slide 3: Last Quarter — Goals We Set Together (5 min)
| Goal | Set in [Last QBR / Kickoff] | Status | |---|---|---| | [Goal 1] | [What we committed to] | ✅ Achieved / ⚠️ Partial / ❌ Missed | | [Goal 2] | [What we committed to] | ✅ Achieved / ⚠️ Partial / ❌ Missed | | [Goal 3] | [What we committed to] | ✅ Achieved / ⚠️ Partial / ❌ Missed |
For any partial or missed goal: state what happened and what changes next quarter.
Talking point: "Let's start with accountability. Here's what we said we'd achieve last quarter — let's be honest about where we landed."
Slide 4: Usage and Adoption (5 min)
Quarter-over-quarter trend:
| Metric | [Q-1] | [Q] | Change | |---|---|---|---| | Monthly active users | [N] | [N] | +/-X% | | Sessions per user per week | [N] | [N] | +/-X% | | [Key feature 1] adoption | [X]% | [X]% | +/-X% | | [Key feature 2] adoption | [X]% | [X]% | +/-X% |
Highlights:
- [Positive adoption trend to call out]
- [Feature or workflow with strongest engagement]
Opportunity:
- [Feature with low adoption that could drive more value — link to their goals]
Talking point: "Usage is [up / stable / something we want to talk about]. The area I'd like to focus on is [feature] — we're not seeing the adoption we'd expect given [their goal], and I want to understand why."
Slide 5: Business Impact — Value Delivered (10 min)
Lead with outcomes, not activity.
[Outcome 1: customer's primary success metric]
- Before: [baseline]
- Now: [current state]
- Impact: [quantified business result — time saved, revenue influenced, cost reduced, risk mitigated]
[Outcome 2]
- [Same structure]
[Outcome 3]
- [Same structure]
Customer evidence (use if available):
"[Quote from champion or user about value experienced]"
Talking point: "This is the section I most want your input on. Are these the outcomes that matter to your business? Are there other ways you're measuring success that we should be tracking?"
Slide 6: Support Summary (3 min)
| Metric | This quarter | Last quarter | Trend | |---|---|---|---| | Tickets raised | [N] | [N] | ↑ / → / ↓ | | Average resolution time | [X hrs] | [X hrs] | ↑ / → / ↓ | | P1 / critical issues | [N] | [N] | ↑ / → / ↓ | | CSAT score | [X/10] | [X/10] | ↑ / → / ↓ |
Notable issues this quarter:
- [Any escalation or major ticket — brief summary and resolution]
What we're doing differently:
- [Any process change or improvement based on support patterns]
Slide 7: What's Coming — Roadmap Preview (5 min)
Focus only on what's relevant to this customer's goals. Do not dump the full roadmap.
| Feature / Improvement | Expected | Why it matters to [Account Name] | |---|---|---| | [Feature 1] | [Q+1] | [Direct link to their goal or pain point] | | [Feature 2] | [Q+1 / Q+2] | [Direct link] | | [Feature 3] | [H2] | [Direct link] |
Talking point: "I've filtered the roadmap to what I think matters most to your team. I'd love your reaction — are these the right priorities from your perspective?"
Slide 8: Next Quarter — Your Goals (10 min)
Customer input section — facilitate, don't present.
Prompt questions:
- "What does success look like for your team in [next quarter]?"
- "What's the biggest challenge you're trying to solve in the next 90 days?"
- "Is there anything about the way you're using [product] you want to change?"
Capture live:
| Goal for next quarter | Owner (customer) | How we'll support it | How we'll measure it | |---|---|---|---| | [Goal 1] | [Name] | [CSM / product action] | [Metric] | | [Goal 2] | [Name] | [CSM / product action] | [Metric] |
Slide 9: Mutual Commitments (5 min)
[Your company] commits to:
- [Specific action — owner — by when]
- [Specific action — owner — by when]
- [Specific action — owner — by when]
[Account Name] commits to:
- [Specific action — owner — by when]
- [Specific action — owner — by when]
Next touchpoint: [Date of next check-in or mid-quarter review]
Slide 10: Thank You + Open Q&A (5 min)
- Recap the one headline from today: [The single most important thing you want them to remember]
- Confirm actions are captured and shared after the call
- Ask: "Is there anything we didn't cover today that you wanted to raise?"
Preparation Checklist
- [ ] Usage data pulled and QoQ comparison calculated
- [ ] Last QBR goals reviewed — status confirmed before the meeting
- [ ] Business outcomes framed in customer language (not product language)
- [ ] Roadmap filtered to this account's specific use cases
- [ ] Customer's goals for next quarter researched or pre-confirmed with champion
- [ ] Executive sponsor briefed on any sensitive topics before the call
- [ ] Actions from previous QBR reviewed — any outstanding items addressed
Quality Checks
- [ ] Every slide has a talking point, not just a title
- [ ] Value slide leads with business outcomes, not product activity
- [ ] Roadmap preview links each item to a customer goal
- [ ] Mutual commitments section has real owners on both sides
- [ ] Customer has at least 20 minutes of airtime in the agenda