The Power of the Quarterly Business Review for Managed Services
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Apr 03, 2018
Using Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) To Grow Your MSP Business
A Quarterly Business Review (QBR) gives Managed Service Provider’s the opportunity to remind your customers the value you are bringing to their organization, align their business goals with your technology roadmap and plan for their future together. As a Master MSP, Collabrance requires this with all of our partners to ensure accountability and continued success.
“We partner with customers who view IT as an investment, not a cost. We are not the cheapest and we know this! Quarterly Business Reviews allow us to provide our customer’s justification of what they are paying for.” - Matt Alvarez, DOCUmation
Scaling Your MSP Business with Quarterly Business Reviews
Until you have grown your managed services business to about 42 subscribers or $1.5 million in revenue you will most likely be utilizing your Subject Matter Expert to perform your QBRs. Therefore, it is important that you are performing business reviews for all your customers but prioritizing based on who are most profitable. For your smaller customers meeting bi-annually might be enough while your larger customers need more than quarterly reviews to ensure you are on the same page and showing your value.
Timing Your QBRs as a Managed IT Partner
Schedule your first QBR 90 days after your go live date. We recommend doing this during your go live meeting with the customer to ensure all key participants are involved. Who should participate? All key decision makers. This means everyone who was involved in making the decision to sign your managed services agreement. Why? Because these are the same individuals who will be signing off on ongoing opportunities presented during your QBRs to increase efficiencies in their environment.
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What You Should Include In Your Next Quarterly Business Review
Now, what information is relevant to include in your QBR? As the premier Master MSP Collabrance has been the catalyst to growing your MSP profitably. One of the many ways we accomplish this is to provide each Managed Services Partner a template with reports based on our solution offering. Here is a sampling from that
1. Current Service Level Performance and Metrics
Gauging how you are currently performing and how you properly track your metrics helps you measure success with your customers. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or Metrics are how you can quantify your company’s impact on the development of your partnerships. Providing clear, actionable takeaways on your efforts will go a long way to promote a healthy and long-term relationship with every one of your technology partners.
Service Level Agreement and Its Impact For Your MSP Business
Your Service Level Agreement is the scorecard that you and your customer use to ensure accountability. Use this as a baseline for gauging the metrics that matter to your customer.
Incoming and Proactive User Ticket Metrics
The proactive approach is a major reason customers choose to partner with a Managed Services Provider, showcasing how your team remediated those issues is a key component to focus on. User tickets highlight all the issues you resolved and the inbound traffic, equally critical to include in your QBR as these are issues your customer didn’t have to address.
Current Open Tickets and Open Projects
The ongoing projects that you are working on for your customer should be discussed, with clear goals and milestones established to gauge your progress. For example, if they are implementing new technology or software over a longer period of time.
Current Status of Backups and Scheduled Backup Reports
Your customer doesn’t need backup until they absolutely need it, showing the cadence of those reports give them the piece of mind to focus on their business, not worrying about their data.
Additional Service Reports Including Patch, A/V, and Security Reports
Having the right solution that you know how to manage is critical so that you can repeat this process successfully with all of your customers. Standardizing the technology you implement is critical to your team’s success deliverables to your customer.
2. Review Your Roadmap: “How Your MSP Is Helping Them Grow”
Going over the current roadmap and reviewing if it still makes sense is important for your customer. Needs can change dramatically in 3 months time. Calibrating the roadmap to meet your customers business demand’s is an ever evolving process.
Review Key Strategy and Technology Efforts Affecting Delivery and Goal Completion
Does your customer have key initiatives they are focusing on? Do you know their strategy for the new fiscal year or quarter? Knowing these and molding them with the technology needed to accomplish themefficiently helps you further integrate your company with theirs.
Review How Emerging Technologies Can Impact Their Growth and Expansion Plans
Scaling a business the right way with steady growth while coupling that with their technology needs helps reinforce why they chose you as their Managed IT Partner . Whether the growth is cyclical or steady, prepare accordingly and show them how they can grow through your MSP.
3. Review Status and Roadmap of Partner’s Technology Advancements
Being a Managed Services Partner you know how quickly technology becomes antiquated, creating timelines for end of life on all of their equipment and software helps them budget accordingly.
LOB Apps Specific To Their Need
What software and applications are needed for your customer to successfully run their business? Make sure that you have a good grasp of your customer’s needs within their industry.
Key Business Operational Applications: Accounting software, ERP, etc.
What makes your customer’s business run? This is another reason having the key decision makers included in the QBR is critical to ensure you understand the diversity in software and can provide guidance as needed for successful updates and migration if needed.
Review Storage Status and Potential Upgrade Progress
Analyzing their current storage and asking the right questions regarding their future storage needs. Understanding their business going forward helps you prepare for success, so there is no interruption in the operations of the company.
Review Current Server Age, Remaining Lifespan and Replacement Timelines
Setting clear expectations on replacing servers and when to replace them is critical to successfully monitoring their environment and keep it running smooth.
Endpoint Age, Capacity, Lifespan and Replacement Timelines for Other Devices
Every device that touches the network should be discussed if possible. They partnered with you as their outsourced help desk for a reason. Having a budgetable plan in place helps them acquire the technology needed and helps you deliver an exceptional experience.
Firewalls, Edge, and Routing Devices Age, Lifespan and Replacement Timelines
The lifespan of what is acceptable for all technology in today’s business world is actively getting shorter. Keeping your customer on the cutting edge helps them and you be ahead of the competition.
Age, Capacity, Lifespan and Replacement Timelines of Network Switches
Not all technology needs to be replaced at the same time, taking a staggered approach with all of it keeps the network humming along the right way. The more you discuss now the easier it is in the future to implement.
Wiring and Wireless Network Age, Capacity, Lifespan and Replacement Timeline
Wireless networking is evolving rapidly and giving your customer the piece of mind that you are on top of the changes further engrains your MSP as their Managed IT partner.
OS and Horizontal Application Licensing Status and Renewal Information
In a perfect world, everything would renew on the same date, but we know this isn’t true. and being their outsourced service desk this is your responsibility to be on top of it.
4. Provide Recommendations with Timeline and Estimated Costs
We have just touched on all the technology that is needed to successfully run the network, highlighting these also showcases the value of having a managed services partner for your partner. Properly positioning the timeline with the expected cost helps your customer budget accordingly. This is also a great time to discuss the scheduled monthly payment for the technology that is needed.
Need Help Finalizing Your Partner’s QBR?
Quarterly business reviews are a necessary and valuable investment to keep your managed services customers and continue to expand their technical solution. Are you ready to take your Managed Services Offering to the next level of profitability? Click Here to set up a time to speak with Collabrance the premiere 100% US based Master MSP. This is one of the many best practices we provide to enhance your success in growing your managed services business with current customers.
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About The Author
Hannah Erb
Hannah Erb, Director of Sales, is responsible for building the strategic vision for sales and marketing while providing business planning, education, training, and sales assistance to partners. She is also responsible for originating new partnerships for Collabrance. She was recognized as one of 2019's Women of the Channel by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company. Hannah started at Collabrance in 2013 as a Strategic Business Advisor. In 2014, Hannah was nominated by her peers and won Rookie of the Year, and in 2015 became a member of the 100% Sales Achievement Club at GreatAmerica. Hannah earned her business degree in Marketing and Management Information Systems from the University of Iowa.