qbr-deck

name	qbr-deck
description	Build a Quarterly Business Review (QBR) deck structure and narrative for a customer account. Use when asked to prepare a QBR, business review meeting, executive review, or quarterly check-in with a customer. Produces a slide-by-slide QBR structure with talking points, metrics review, value narrative, and mutual next steps.

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

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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]

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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."

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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?"

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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]

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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?"

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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]

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Slide 9: Mutual Commitments (5 min)

[Your company] commits to:

1. [Specific action — owner — by when]
2. [Specific action — owner — by when]
3. [Specific action — owner — by when]

[Account Name] commits to:

1. [Specific action — owner — by when]
2. [Specific action — owner — by when]

Next touchpoint: [Date of next check-in or mid-quarter review]

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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?"

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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

Anti-Patterns

• Do not fill the QBR with product activity metrics — lead with business outcomes the customer cares about
• Do not present a roadmap without linking each item to a customer goal — vendor priorities are not a QBR agenda
• Do not run a QBR as a one-sided presentation — it must include structured time for the customer to speak
• Do not close a QBR without documented mutual commitments with named owners on both sides
• Do not skip the "what's not working" slide — suppressing problems erodes trust and misses renewal risks