Quarterly business review checklist

A quarterly business review (QBR) is a scheduled meeting with a key customer or partner to look at the last quarter and plan the next. Done well, it keeps the account healthy and finds the next order. Done badly, it is a slide show nobody remembers.

This checklist is for account managers and sales leaders who run QBRs with their largest customers or distributors. For what a QBR is, read what is a quarterly business review. For how to run one, see how to run a quarterly business review. Our key account review checklist is about reading one key customer before you meet. This page is the working list for the QBR as a routine: which accounts get one, the scorecard you show every quarter, the meeting and the actions.

Pick the accounts and set the date

You can't hold a QBR with every customer. Choose the accounts where it pays and book them early.

Build the scorecard and the data pack

A QBR works when both sides look at the same few numbers every quarter. Agree them once and keep the format, so a trend shows at a glance. Pull the figures from your own records, not from memory.

Build the agenda

Keep it to one hour. Spend more time on the future than on the past.

Run the meeting

Listen more than you talk. The best result of a QBR is something you didn't know before it.

Follow up and act

The value of a QBR comes after it. Send the summary within two days and then do what you said.

The items people skip

• The customer's goals. A QBR that only reviews your performance misses the next order.
• Bad news. Late deliveries or complaints belong in the room. Leave them out and the customer raises them later.
• Last quarter's actions. Open with the status of what both sides promised. Actions agreed without an owner and a date disappear.
• The summary. Without a written record, each side remembers a different meeting.

How PromptLab helps

Prepare from the account: its Overview shows the last order, lifetime sales and anything overdue, its deals and sales orders sit on it, and quotes and samples sit on each deal. Reports and dashboards on pipeline and revenue give you the numbers, and Ask AI can turn them into a slide deck with charts tied to live reports, downloaded as PowerPoint. Record the QBR on Google Meet, Zoom or Microsoft Teams, and PromptLab writes the summary and a follow-up email draft, and turns the action items into tasks. Ask AI also answers plain-word questions about the account's orders and meetings. See our pipeline review checklist for the internal side.

Frequently asked questions

What is a quarterly business review?

It is a regular meeting with a key customer or partner to review the last quarter, discuss problems and set goals for the next. It is common for distributors and large accounts.

Who should attend a QBR?

The account manager and a senior person from your side, and the decision maker and day-to-day contacts from theirs. Ask the customer who should attend when you book it.

How long should a QBR last?

About an hour. Give more time to the future and the customer's plans than to the past figures.

Which customers get a QBR?

Your largest accounts, your distributors, and any account with real room to grow. Smaller customers can get a lighter yearly review.

What do I do if a QBR shows a problem?

Acknowledge it, find the cause, and agree an action with an owner and a date. Follow up on it at the next check-in, so the customer sees it fixed.