Let’s be honest, quarterly business reviews have a bit of a reputation problem. Many MSPs either don’t do them at all, or they treat them as glorified sales calls with too many slides, too much jargon, and not enough real value for the client. But when done right, QBRs are one of the most powerful tools in your relationship-building toolbox.
These meetings are your chance to remind clients why they chose you. You must demonstrate how you’re protecting their businesses and uncover new opportunities that benefit both sides. The challenge is doing it in a non-pitchy way that actually holds your clients’ attention and leaves them feeling smarter.
5 Steps for MSPs to Win with QBRs
Here is a step-by-step process to help MSPs make QBRs count.
Step 1: Reframe the Purpose
First, stop thinking of QBRs as a chance to show off what you’ve done. Instead, think of them as a collaborative meeting to help your client make smarter decisions about their IT.
Brian Weiss
“The old QBR — where you’re focused on showing tickets you’ve completed or viruses you have blocked — is out the door,” said Brian Weiss, CEO of ITECH Solutions, in a ChannelPro interview. “They can see those reports on our client portal. Instead, we try to get clients to tell us about the current state of their business, what they expect their future to be, and what type of business outcomes they are looking to accomplish by getting there.”
Consider the following for your own QBRs:
- What business goals is your client trying to hit this year?
- Where is the company struggling with productivity, compliance, or security?
Your job is to translate the answers into strategic technology decisions. Then, show them how your services support those decisions.
The best QBRs aren’t about your wins, but the client’s business trajectory and how you’re accelerating it.
Step 2: Keep It Focused and Conversational
Your client isn’t interested in a 35-slide deck filled with charts and ticket stats. Most won’t remember more than two of them anyway.
Instead, keep the meeting tight, ideally under an hour, and structure it like a strategic conversation. Be sure to keep in mind that it’s not a performance review.
Marnie Stockman
“CEOs typically are not interested in technology for the sake of technology. They don’t really care about the newest server or cloud product on the market,” wrote Marnie Stockman, author and former co-founder and CEO of Lifecycle Insights (now a ScalePad product), in a ChannelPro article. “They care about business outcomes, such as becoming more profitable and more productive, growing the business, eliminating human error, and increasing employee and client retention.”
Here’s a loose framework that works well:
- Review Business Priorities: What’s changed in the last 90 days? Is the client hiring, expanding, downsizing, or changing focus?
- Recap Key Wins and Issues: Mention any major improvements, incidents, or shifts in support needs.
- Technology Health Check: Do a brief overview of system performance, patching, security posture, and any red flags.
- Strategic Recommendations: Show them what’s next. Highlight new tools, needed upgrades, and risk mitigation. Always tie it back to the company’s business goals.
- Action Items and Roadmap: End with next steps, timelines, and a clear idea of what you will do together over the next quarter.
Step 3: Show, Don’t Just Tell
Data matters only when it tells a story. If you’re using metrics, keep them relevant. Show how uptime improved, how your proactive work avoided an outage, or how you handled X tickets faster this quarter. Avoid dumping a laundry list of KPIs that don’t connect to business outcomes.
If your client declined an upgrade last quarter and its system failed, tactfully bring that up. If the company followed your recommendation and it paid off, highlight that too. These are moments that build credibility and trust.
Step 4: Don’t Avoid the Tough Stuff
Sometimes QBRs reveal friction, such as rising support requests, a security concern you flagged that’s still unresolved, or a missed opportunity the client ignored. That’s okay. These meetings should be honest.
Use QBRs to raise flags before they become fires. And always pair problems with solutions. If your client is not backing up a key system, don’t just offer a warning. Demonstrate the cost of downtime and recommend a fix.
Step 5: Plant Seeds for Future Growth
QBRs are a great time to suggest a roadmap. These are not a hard upsell, but a gentle nudge toward strategic upgrades.
Maybe it’s time to move from basic antivirus to a full MDR stack. Perhaps your client’s firewall is due for refresh. It could be that the business needs a better cloud backup strategy.
Frame these not as “wants,” but as must-haves aligned to goals or risks. And always give your clients time to budget, plan, and understand the ROI.
Final Thought: Make QBRs a Habit, Not an Event
If you only meet with clients when something’s broken—or when you want to sell them something—you’re just a vendor. QBRs let you act like a true partner.
The key is consistency. Don’t let them fall off the calendar. Assign ownership, prep in advance, and treat them like one of your highest-value activities. At the end of the day, a well-run QBR doesn’t just reduce churn or upsell services. It makes clients feel supported, informed, and confident in their relationship with you.
And that’s what keeps them coming back.
Next Steps
- Want more helpful guidance on this topic? Check out our Running a Profitable MSP Answer Center.
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ChannelPro has created this resource to help busy MSPs streamline their decision-making process. This resource offers a starting point for evaluating key business choices, saving time and providing clarity. While this resource is designed to guide you through important considerations, we encourage you to seek more references and professional advice to ensure fully informed decisions.
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