Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) are the basis for a successful buyer-supplier relationship. However, with 76% of service buyers saying they feel like QBRs are a tick-box exercise, it's unsurprising that people can get frustrated with the process.
During Clientshare's Virtual Panel in May 2024, QBR experts from OCS Group UK and CEVA Logistics gave their advice on how to minimise and respond to buyer frustrations around QBRs.
Transcript:
James: So, talking about customers and content; you made some fascinating points earlier about the type of content you share with your customers. And I'm not saying what I'm about to say is exactly what the frustrations that OCS and CEVA customers might face, but broadly across many industries.
What frustrations have you seen that your customers have often said about how QBRs are run? This could be about things about poor-quality content, it could be about backwards-looking information... If you lined up your customers and said to them: 'Where do where does it go wrong from a QBR perspective? , what do you think they'd say?
Claire: I think from my side, content becoming stale and maintaining the status quo that's not being challenged. Also, like you say, when presenting data we always say 'So what? What is it actually telling us?'. It's about it being meaningful data and really bringing it to life, telling a story, and actually re-solutioning our contract as a result of what we're learning. They're some of the key things that seem to come out. That we never challenge the format of what we do or, you know, liven it up a bit. They want us to tell them something, explain what it is telling us, and bring something to the table...
James: But how do you both do that? If you think about how busy most organisations are, certainly in today's economic climate, how do you keep it fresh? How do you do that, whether it's data or content, what do you do that enables that?
Jon: I think there's a few really easy things that you can put into place that will just add another layer to making that more compelling, more entertaining for a better word, but that's important to be engaging in that scenario.
So, first thing is venue. There's like a tradition or something where you do the same venue, same, you know, same roll-down screen, the same projector and the same PowerPoint...
James: The projector that doesn't work!
Jon: ...that you have to reposition, and you haven't got the right adapter for the new laptop... that's the first thing. So venues that will be of interest; and that could be going to your client's venue, that could be taking them to somewhere completely different. If they're a contract logistics customer, taking them to one of our port-side venues or to see something that they haven't seen before.
And when you think about one of the biggest pieces of feedback that seems negative about QBRs is there's no evidence of innovation. Quite often, innovation just means seeing something new, it doesn't necessarily have to be the latest Apple product, right? So venue is the first thing that always brings them onboard, mix that venue up so the customer gets to see something new.
And then the second thing, which I think is really easy to do, is get the customer to have some playback content. Wherever I've seen QBRs most successful, there'll be an element of 'Tell us about your business', and that'll be carved out into the deck to give the customer time to prepare.
Because, actually, when you're being reactive and it's a two-way conversation, it can stop that being stale. When it's just a 'Here's what we did' and it's completely looking backwards, it's never going to be appealing for a senior stakeholder within a customer's business.
James: I'm going to come back and explore the bit about what's appealing for a senior stakeholder, but I just want to try this venue thing.
Claire: We've done waste recycling plants and all sorts!
James: I love it, you've got some awesome places you can take them! But go on, what's your thoughts?
Claire: I'm nodding at what Jon's saying; we've taken customers to waste recycling plants and piggybacked on that, but it's also a great way of demonstrating innovation or best practice on another customer's site. So it actually does go a long way and, equally, they can return the favour by taking you somewhere different within their portfolio, introducing you to something else that we're not necessarily aware of or a venue in that respect. So I do think it does keep things fresh, 100%. It's always a good conversation tool as well isn't it?