| name | quarterly-business-review |
| description | Use when preparing the quarterly review a client account faces — to report results against the objective honestly, read what worked, and set what the next quarter buys. |
Quarterly Business Review
Run this once a quarter for every account that matters. The QBR is where the
agency earns its renewal: it leads with results against the promise, tells the
truth about what did not work, and turns the page to the next quarter with a
plan the client can buy.
Steps
- Open with the scoreboard. The objectives set last quarter and the actual
result against each — hit, missed, or partial. No preamble; the client came
for this.
- Be honest about the misses. For anything below target, one straight
sentence on why and what changed as a result. A hidden miss costs more trust
than an owned one.
- Show the work behind the numbers. The campaigns, creative, and spend that
drove the results — briefly, tied to outcomes, not a highlight reel.
- Read the account. Where the relationship and the results are trending, and
the one risk or opportunity worth the client's attention.
- Propose the next quarter. The objective, the plan, and what it costs —
framed as what this buys, not what it spends. Tie any growth or scope change
back to the SOW.
- Land three decisions. End with the specific things you need the client to
decide today, each with an owner and a date.
Quality bar
- Results lead; the deck opens on the scoreboard, not the agency logo.
- Every objective shows an actual number against its target.
- At least one honest miss is named and owned.
- The next-quarter ask is priced and tied to a stated objective.
Output format
ACCOUNT: <name> QUARTER: <Qn YYYY> PREPARED BY: <account team>
SCOREBOARD:
<objective> — target <x> / actual <y> — <hit/miss/partial>
WHAT WORKED: <bulleted, tied to outcomes>
WHAT MISSED: <miss — why — what changed>
TREND: <relationship + results read, 1-2 sentences>
NEXT QUARTER: <objective> — <plan> — <price / what it buys>
DECISIONS NEEDED: <decision — owner — date, up to three>
