Strategic Client Alignment: It's More Than Just QBRs

As mentioned in my recent LinkedIn update, I've been thinking a lot about the content I write about and the items I produce, and last month, I made a decision to expand my approach slightly.

When I launched SF Cooper, my vision was focused on Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs). When done right, they're incredibly powerful meetings. Yet, I frequently observed a misunderstanding and even reticence towards them within the Customer Success community. Avoiding QBRs, in my view, was a significant missed opportunity to demonstrate value and drive business growth.

Having conducted hundreds of QBRs, presenting to some of the biggest global brands and leading organizations, I was confident in my experience and authority to share my knowledge.

However, in my focus on QBRs alone, I have perhaps been guilty of overlooking a couple of crucial aspects:

1. QBRs have never truly been run in isolation.
2. Value conversations occur far more frequently than just quarterly meetings.

Customer Success is all about Goals & Objectives

As a CS professional, my consistent method has always been to build strong customer relationships, gaining a deep understanding of their goals and objectives. This understanding empowers me and my teams to deliver focused work that directly helps them achieve their business outcomes.

To achieve that deep, proper alignment, two other 'tools' have always been fundamental to my approach: the Business Value Map (BVM) and the Success Plan. While I've referenced these in my content before, (last month's newsletter is a prime example), I've not fully discussed their critical role. QBRs are useful on their own, but their true power is unlocked only when they're part of a larger system. This integrated approach ensures a QBR isn't just a check-in; it means every agenda is designed entirely around the demonstrable value the customer receives from your product.

Introducing My Model

It's this comprehensive combination of all three 'tools' that I'm now calling my Success Alignment Model. This model is quite simple:

• Business Value Map (BVM): Defines the 'Why' – outlining strategic goals, business drivers, and desired outcomes.
• Success Plan: Defines the 'How' – providing a tactical roadmap with clear milestones, owners, and metrics.
• Quarterly Business Review (QBR): Validates 'Progress' – demonstrating impact, maintaining alignment, and uncovering new opportunities.

With initial goals captured at the beginning of your relationship, you gain a crystal-clear understanding of why the customer purchased your product. This insight allows you to create a dynamic plan for delivering on those objectives – what projects are needed, and what tasks must be done. This is ongoing work, and the Success Plan serves as the grounding point for every customer conversation. This then allows a more formal review meeting (the QBR) to act as a strategic checkpoint: a gathering of all interested parties to ensure the plan is on track and assess whether it needs updating.

As you can see, this is a continuous, integrated system that spans the entire customer relationship, from beginning to end.

So, What's Next for SF Cooper?

Rest assured, I'm not leaving QBRs behind, but my content will now increasingly focus on the Success Alignment Model. I'll be adding the Business Value Map and Success Plan more prominently into my products and conversations.

And I'm already developing the first content for this new focus: an email course designed to give you clear, actionable guidance on how to implement the Success Alignment Model into your work.

Is this entirely new thinking for you, or is this an methodology you already use? As always, do let me know your thoughts.

I'll be updating you again shortly with more details on the course, so please do look out for that.

Unitl next time.

Simon.