Listen, I don't know how you're going to react to this.
I don't know if I should say anything. Look, what the heck.
Let's just rip the band-aid off. Your QBRs are boring. There. I said it.
I feel better. I hope you do too. Now look, I get it.
Your Quarterly Business Reviews don't always come out of a box in great shape,
but look, there's things that an account manager can do to turn a dull,
lifeless, boring, Quarterly Business Review into an engaging,
exciting one that everybody wants to attend.
So sit tight and I'm going to share with you nine ways you can have a successful
Quarterly Business Review.
Welcome back. Thank you so much for joining me.
It's Warwick here from Account Manager Tips. Now don't forget to like share,
subscribe, follow, whatever you need to do to make sure that we stay in touch.
All right, well, what are the secret ingredients of a successful QBR? Well,
number one is don't call it a QBR.
So what are the objectives of a Quarterly Business Review? Well,
you want to review past performance and how that's tracking towards agreed
goals.
You want to make sure that you are forecasting and planning for the future and
making the most of opportunities that present themselves.
And you want to make sure that as a supplier you're demonstrating the value that
you bring to the partnership and the difference you're making to your client's
business. I just don't think Quarterly Business Review does all that justice.
So listen, get creative,
re-brand yourself and re brand the Quarterly Business Review into something a
bit more exciting. So here's some ideas for you.
Partnership development workshop, strategy and performance workshop,
business planning review, strategic planning review,
strategic opportunity workshop.
Lots of different ways you can come up with exciting variations on Quarterly
Business Review.
Now use "workshop" for meetings that are more focused on planning and use
"review" for meetings that are more focused on assessing performance.
And if you don't like any of those,
just head on over to Power Thesaurus and pick some of your own and come up with
something. Let me know what you do though.
I would love to see what you come up with in terms of re branding that Quarterly
Business Review. Alright, number two is to keep it short.
The fastest way to a boring QBR is to make it a long QBR.
So stick to about an hour, you know,
around 20 to 30 minutes on the past and around 30 to 40 minutes on the future.
Simple as that. For annual reviews,
you might want to make them 90 minutes just because you have a lot more data to
assess. And also those tend to be more planning focused meetings.
So you have a lot more conversations around what you want to achieve in the
future. So that's my advice.
We just don't have attention spans that can sustain long Quarterly Business
Reviews. In fact,
they did a study on how students attention spans lag during a lecture and they
found after the first 30 seconds they start to lose attention and every couple
of minutes they start to get distracted.
So my advice is also during your review to keep it different,
to mix things up. Play a video, show some images,
maybe move from a presentation to a whiteboard or a flip chart just to,
you know,
re-engage your audience and to refocus their attention on you and what you're
presenting. Number three is to tell the QBR as a story. We all love stories,
we respond to them. That's how we're wired.
Use a very simple story structure like beginning, middle and end.
Nancy Duarte who is a presentation guru suggests this format and I think it
works really, really well. You know, you open with the beginning,
which is you know where you are today and the possibility of where you could be
in the future and you really highlight the contrast and the gap. In the middle,
you want to bring together more data that supports that whole story of where you
are and where you want to be and also how you are the guide to get your client
to that glorious future.
And then at the end you want to wrap it all up in a big finish summarising all
of that story and making sure you've got a compelling call to action that
inspires your client to act. Pretty simple.
And what are you going to talk about? Well, let the data be your guide.
Look for the threads of data that are connected and that support that story you
want to tell. You want to make sure that you've only got like one aha moment.
One exciting thing to be talking about that influences your Quarterly Business
Review. I used to get reviews that had like 60 slides.
I mean there's just no way to prepare and remember all of that.
So you want to like just put all of the surplus slides into an Appendix and just
focus on those dozen slides that really tell that story.
Now why not think about using the Rule of Three? As humans,
we're much more inclined to remember information that we see as patterns.
And if you chunk information, it really helps you remember things.
Now think of a number like 07527684121.
If you show that in one long string,
really hard to kind of remember and even read.
If you break it down into little sections, you know, 0752 768 4121,
it's much easier to read and recall.
So that's sort of the background to that.
But the Rule of Three is a time honored tradition for storytelling,
for songwriting, for poetry, for all sorts of literature.
And it's really about bringing your narrative into groups of three compelling,
powerful sentences. So "beginning, middle, end" and "ready, set,
go" - these are all examples of things that use the Rule of Three.
So it can be a great way to actually make your presentation and your review much
more memorable. How about using pictures? I mean,
human beings are visual creatures. We love to see things,
and are inspired by and respond to imagery.
And some studies have shown that even presentations that use visuals are 43%
more persuasive. So great thing to incorporate into your review.
Now I know your review will probably come with dozens of charts. That's okay,
that's an, that's an image. But also they get a bit monotonous after all.
If you're presenting a dozen slides, all with charts,
they each blur into each other. So think about using photographs.
You can use those as title slides,
as transition slides to move onto new topics within your review or to pose
questions to your audience. What about diagrams?
Those are great to show the relationships between information or to explain
processes - that's really useful.
And Hislide and Diagrammer are both great resources you can use to download
diagrams for free.
Hislide has a great plugin that actually sits directly within PowerPoint and you
can download slides within your presentation without leaving PowerPoint,
which is really, really useful as well. Or think about icons.
Icons are a great way to organize your information. So dump the bullet points,
use icons instead. So let's, let's say you're talking about targets.
So you might use an icon of say,
a bulls-eye and that can really draw people's eye, can draw their attention,
you can quickly communicate the information you're trying to share.
And also it's a nice way to kind of freshen up your review.
Give it a bit of a face-lift and make it look more modern and appealing.
And the resources I use to find icons are, Iconfinder,
Flaticon and The Noun Project.
They have millions of icons in all shapes and sizes and they're mostly free.
So check those out. Next tip is to use strategy, not tactics.
So you want to make sure that your QBR is focused on evaluating performance,
on removing roadblocks,
on exploiting new opportunities and staying focused on momentum and moving
forward and delivering value.
If you start to focus on operational matters and you know,
issues and feedback, it's just going to dissolve into one complaint resolution,
problem solving mess, and you'll just not getting anywhere.
So schedule separate meetings for anything that's operational to keep the two
separate. Now if you're going to be at your client's premises,
then you might want to set up a meeting before your Quarterly Business Review.
And the reason I do it before is because I want to leave on a high note and I
want the client to leave on a high note.
I want us both to leave the Quarterly Business Review thinking about all the
great, exciting things we can achieve together.
If I schedule an operational meeting after a QBR,
then we're both just going to feel flat and thinking about all the problems we
have to solve and all the issues we have to fix. So that's my advice.
If you do have to set up an operational meetings set up before your QBR,
not after, and keep those strategy meetings separate to your tactical meetings.
Now the next tip is my favorite probably is to make the QBR an event.
You know, fireworks, party, you know,
get some enthusiasm and anticipation growing about attending your event.
Make sure your client is crystal clear,
this isn't another meeting that could have been an email.
This is a really important strategic meeting about optimizing your partnership
and making a big difference to their business. All right? So, you know,
most account managers will send an invitation and then it's set and forget until
the actual day of the event.
So think about how you can actually bring more anticipation to your
QBR. Now, here's how I'd do it, is to set up an email sequence, you know,
drip your client and the attendees, you know,
four or five different emails over the course of a period,
like a month to let them know about what's going to happen in the QBR,
why their attendance is important and why they need to be there.
This is what it might look like. Okay? Email one,
let's say you send it 30 days before, that's your invitation.
You're going to make it sound exciting, like a movie premiere, why not?
Let people know why they should be there and that they don't want to miss it.
Email two, 10 days before, share a sneak peek at some data,
maybe an interesting trend you've discovered and let them know they're going to
need to be the QBR to find out more. Four days before, email three,
you might just send a copy of the full business review and more on that later.
Send the agenda,
what input you need from them and why this is a QBR they don't want to miss.
And then the data before,
send a final reminder about the review and let them know how much you're looking
forward to meeting. And then a day or two after send any followup notes,
action items and thank participants for making the QBR a success.
So how easy is that? I mean so simple and a very,
very effective way to build up some anticipation and interest in your event.
Now to make an event, you want to have like some A-listers there, right?
You know, rolling out the red carpet. So get those senior stakeholders involved,
your boss, your point of contacts, boss,
important people that can make decisions on the spot and move the program
forward.
That is going to signal that this is a very strategic meeting and not just some
boring update. Now this is a favorite tip of mine,
which is to pull together a highlight slide of the successes of the program in
the quarter previously or the year to date and give shout outs to people that
deserve them - your point of contact, people within your client's organization.
That can be a really exciting way for you to showcase the value you're bringing,
the work people are doing and easy for people to message up and also around and
internally in their business.
And it can be something people anticipate - they look forward to the surprise of
who's going to get the recognition this quarter in your review.
So it's a nice tip. Alright, and last tip, bring food.
That's probably the most effective tip of all.
Nothing like donuts and muffins to encourage people to attend your business
review. Alright, we're nearly at the finish line. Next tip,
send the Quarterly Business Review in advance. Now, I used to hate doing this.
I had a client that insisted upon it.
She wanted the review at least a week in advance and then she'd return it back
to me with her notes and questions and anything she wanted to discuss during the
review. I used to think, well if I send her the review now,
what am I going to talk about in the meeting?
But then I came to realize that actually the review is the least important part
of the actual meeting, the conversation with the client is. So actually,
I came to love it, love it. She would give me the feedback,
I could be fully prepared. And you know what?
The more people are prepared for your business review,
the more that they've read it in advance,
the more they understand what you're going to talk about,
the less time you have to spend talking about the review,
and you can spend much more time talking about the far more exciting future and
the possibilities of things you can accomplish together.
And my last tip is to read the room.
Now if you are delivering your review in person,
it's so important that you are aware of your audience's reactions.
I've seen so many account managers fail at their Quarterly Business Reviews,
and not because the content wasn't great,
but just because they didn't read the room. You know,
if people are talking on their phones, if they're having side conversations,
if they're staring out the window - these are all classic signs that they're
losing interest.
So here are some ways you can reengage them and make sure they stay focused on
you and your business review. All right, skip it.
Don't dwell on the slide if no one's interested in, move on.
Don't read the slides. People can read the screen just as well as you can.
Let the slides speak for themselves and tell a story instead.
Share some insights or some context that brings perspective to the information.
Audience interaction that works actually,
whether it's in person or you can use polls and chats and surveys in webinars.
Ask people to participate. Call on somebody specifically and say, Hey, listen,
Warwick, you had experience with that.
Why don't you share that with the rest of us?
I think it'd be really interesting to this conversation. Whatever you do,
don't be afraid to just put people on the spot and ask for them to give their
insights. Changing pacing, talking fast, going slower,
pausing to highlight important points.
All of these things can make it much more interesting and get people listening.
Along the same lines,
alternating your volume - whispering if you want to make a really powerful
point, drawing people in with your intonation.
Now you don't want to go crazy and kids TV show, which is, you know,
something I've been accused of and I'm working on, but you know,
how can you bring expression and personality to your review? Don't be afraid,
you don't need to hide it.
It's actually what makes you you and makes you build relationships and rapport
and gets people interested in your review. All right,
now how about moving around?
A lot of times I see people just sitting down at the head of the table
presenting a review and it gets really boring, really quickly.
If you're sitting down, stand up. If you're presenting,
maybe move to a flip chart or a whiteboard.
If you are standing at the front of the room,
move to the back of the room or just continue to walk around the room as you're
presenting. It encourages people to look at you,
not necessarily the presentation and it refocuses their attention on you.
So it can be a great tip to just change the energy in a room. All right,
go off script.
Don't be afraid to deviate from your slide notes and the slides if the
conversation heads that way. If it's relevant,
if something pops into your head that you want to discuss or ask questions of,
or if people,
bring new topics to the table that again are relevant (you don't want to go
completely off-piste), don't be afraid to do it.
It can make it much more engaging,
much more spontaneous and much more interesting. And last,
share an anecdote or funny story,
some examples of things that have happened to you or to clients.
And they can be personal,
sometimes they can be somebody else's experience that you know about and look,
sometimes I embellish for the sake of a punchline,
but this can help break the ice for introductions or ease the tension after a
heated exchange. But these are great ways to again,
bring more interest to your business review. Alright there you have it.
They are my tips to rescue a boring QBR and to make it a successful one.
So let me run through them again real quick for you. One. Don't call it a QBR.
Use an alternative description that inspires and better reflects the objectives
of your meeting. Two. Keep it short,
20 or 30 minutes for the past 30 to 40 minutes for the future.
No more than 15 slides. Move everything else to an appendix. Three.
Tell the QBR as a story. Find the narrative in the data.
Tell a new and unexpected story of what is,
what could be and how you are the guide that will get your client to the
promised land. Use the Rule of Three.
Improve recall by chunking your insights into groups of three short,
powerful messages. Use pictures. That's tip number five.
Humans remember pictures better than words, so use a variety of charts, images,
diagrams, and icons to communicate your ideas. Number six. Strategy,
not tactics. Keep the QBR at a high level. Focus on supplier performance,
return on investment, progress towards goals,
potential roadblocks and emerging opportunities.
You want to schedule separate discussions for operational matters. Number seven.
Make it an event.
Generate interest and anticipation with a series of emails to participants that
showcase the objectives of the QBR and get them excited to attend.
Number eight is to send the QBR in advance.
Circulate that review to participants before the presentation. Ask for comments,
ask for questions.
You'll be better prepared and with everyone familiar with the QBR,
you can spend less time during the meeting talking about the past and more time
planning for the future. And last number nine. Read the room.
Watch your audience's reactions for signs you might be losing them.
Use techniques like audience participation, pacing volume,
and humor to re-engage them. Alright, thank you,
I hope you've enjoyed this video. Now if you are a member of The KAM club,
head on over to The KAM Kit where you can download a free PowerPoint template
for your Quarterly Business Review.
I've got it all laid out with some nice graphics to help you engage your client
really quickly. You can just insert your slides and you are done. Easy peasy.
Now, if you're not a member of The KAM club, well what are you waiting for?
The KAM Club is a private learning community for key account managers,
helping you achieve success with your clients and with your career.
You will find templates, downloads, tutorials, guides,
training courses, all sorts of stuff,
as well as a connected community of professionals all ready to help you succeed.
So check that out at amtip.co/kamclub. All right. That's been,
that's the video so let's wrap it up, huh? Thank you so much for your attention.
If you have any questions at all,
you can find me @warwickabrown on the social media platform of your choice.
Drop me an email warwick@accountmanager.tips.
Thank you for joining me and I'm going to see you guys next time. Alright bye.