Buyers are looking to QBRs as a platform for suppliers to demonstrate expertise, insight and innovation. However, the vast majority are feeling increasingly dissatisfied by their experience of these review meetings.
The research uncovers a wide range of frustrations for buyers when it comes to QBRs, before, during and after meetings. Many report that review meetings are often of a poor quality with sub-standard materials, little attention paid to innovation and strategy, and a lack of focus on how suppliers plan to address ongoing challenges. Other buyers complain that meetings aren’t taking place at the agreed cadence and do little to strengthen relationships with suppliers.
James Ward, CEO of Clientshare explains, “Many large companies run poor quality reviews. Even big brands that are spending millions of pounds on sales and marketing are going to QBR meetings with presentations that are average at best. Added to this, suppliers are presenting inaccurate data, they’re turning up to meetings without their leadership by their side, and they don’t have a robust or consistent way to follow up after meetings to ensure actions are assigned to the right people and implemented.”
Across the board, there is a widespread feeling among buyers that suppliers aren’t spending sufficient time preparing for QBRs, and therefore they’re coming to meetings without any meaningful plan or objective. Suppliers aren’t prioritising QBRs; they’re simply going through the motions. As a result, the focus of meetings and the content which is presented is often irrelevant or inaccurate.
Ward continues, "It’s not enough for suppliers to simply be presenting historical performance data in a review meeting. This was fine five years ago, but things are moving rapidly, and buyers now want their suppliers to provide meaningful insights on that data and, crucially, forward-looking recommendations and ideas.
The reality is that most suppliers haven’t kept pace with this change in client expectations. Buyers often want to talk about innovation, AI being the hottest topic today, but suppliers are often still stuck in the trap of just presenting massive volumes of low-level operational data, and they’re failing to instigate good business conversations. Despite best intentions, they’re not properly discussing innovation, AI or ESG – the things that buyers are actually interested in and where they’re looking for support, insight and ideas from their suppliers.
This is dangerous for suppliers. If key client stakeholders don’t feel that they’re getting value attending QBRs, they soon stop coming. The opportunity to have meaningful business conversations (and to upsell new services) is lost and, somewhere down the line, the buyer will make the decision to explore the market. But it’s not just contract churn that results from poor QBRs. Margin erosion is so often the silent killer of businesses. If suppliers don’t demonstrate value, then come renewal time, they have to price against the competition and give away margin. And if they’ve been unable to upsell additional services over the contract life, then the contract value at renewal will invariably shrink."
Supporting these insights is Alistair McVicar, UK Sales Director at Kintetsu World Express, "You need to differentiate between an operational review and a strategic, commercial, quarterly business review. You can’t get bogged down reviewing operational data that you’ve probably already pored over in your regular catch-up meetings. That doesn’t add any value and it is a massive turn off for clients. You should be covering off the operational reporting in the first five minutes of the meeting or, better still, in advance of the meeting. The sooner you move away from operations and cost, the sooner you can spend time having value-add conversations, which is actually what both parties really want."
As buyer expectations continue to climb, QBRs have evolved from routine check-ins to vital touchpoints where suppliers can demonstrate value, share insights, and align with client goals. With 68% of buyers viewing regular review meetings as the primary way to assess supplier value, the QBR has become the ultimate stage for suppliers to stand out. Those who approach QBRs strategically, focusing on outcomes, innovation, and alignment, will not only strengthen existing relationships but also unlock new opportunities for growth.