Most quarterly marketing reviews in Triad service businesses are 90 minutes of slides about clicks, impressions, and engagement. The CEO leaves more confused than when they walked in. There is a better way.
What a QBR Should Actually Answer
A great quarterly business review answers four questions in plain language. Did marketing produce the revenue we needed last quarter. Where is the next quarter's revenue coming from. What worked. What gets cut.
The 90-Minute Agenda
- →Block 1 (15 min) Revenue scorecard: Revenue by channel vs. plan. Cost per booked consult. Cost per closed deal. Pipeline coverage.
- →Block 2 (20 min) Channel deep-dive: Top performing channel. Worst performing channel. What is the action on each.
- →Block 3 (15 min) Funnel diagnostic: Lead-to-consult rate. Consult-to-close rate. Where is conversion dropping.
- →Block 4 (20 min) Next quarter plan: Revenue target. Channel allocation. Three big bets. One thing being killed.
- →Block 5 (10 min) Decisions and owners: Three decisions made today. Owner and due date for each.
- →Block 6 (10 min) Risks and asks: What could derail us. What does the team need from leadership.
The One Page Dashboard That Drives It
Every QBR should run off a single one-page dashboard. Channel name. Spend. Booked consults. Cost per consult. Closed revenue. Cost per closed deal. ROI. If you cannot see those eight columns at a glance, you do not have a marketing operation, you have a vendor relationship.
What Gets Cut From Every QBR
- →Vanity metrics: Impressions, reach, follower counts. Unless they tie to revenue, they do not belong.
- →Activity reports: Number of posts, blogs published, ads launched. Activity is not output.
- →Screenshots of dashboards: If a number matters, put it on the one page. Otherwise cut it.
A Greensboro digital marketing agency that runs disciplined QBRs is also one that has nothing to hide. The vendors that drown you in slides are usually the ones who do not want you to see the cost per acquisition.
Working with a digital marketing agency that uses this exact framework is how owners of Triad service businesses get their time back and their decision quality up.