Leading a QBR account review with data and recommendations.
English for Sales and Account Management. Lesson 10.
In this lesson you are the account manager leading a quarterly business review with an existing customer. You need to sound structured and commercially sharp: not just reporting activity, but helping the client make decisions. The meeting includes multiple stakeholders, and one senior person joins late and wants the headline quickly.
You will practise agenda language for an account review, then work on telling a clear story with data: what changed, why it matters, and what you recommend next. You will also practise language for handling questions and small challenges such as These results are lower than expected or Why should we expand now? You will rehearse how to propose an action plan and get alignment on priorities.
By the end, you will deliver a short QBR segment: you introduce the agenda, comment on a trend, give an insight, and propose a next-step plan that supports retention and growth in a professional, confident tone.
1. Opening the QBR with rapport, agenda and time control.
Today you are the account manager chairing a quarterly business review. The situation is very specific: you have several stakeholders on the call, and you need to sound structured and commercially sharp. That means you are not just reporting what happened. You are guiding them to decisions. In this first block, we will focus on the opening minute of the QBR: welcoming people, setting expectations, and getting agreement on an agenda. This is where you quietly take control of the meeting without sounding controlling. You will hear a short model opening first. As you listen, pay attention to three things: how the speaker keeps the tone warm, how they signpost the aim of the meeting, and how they protect time. Then you will write your own opening, using the same moves but with your own natural style. Keep it concise, because a strong QBR opening is confident and efficient.
The situation.
You are leading a QBR-style account review with an existing customer. The meeting has multiple stakeholders (for example: operations, finance, a project lead). Your goal is to sound like a trusted commercial partner: calm, clear, and focused on outcomes.
In a QBR, the opening is not just polite. It does three important jobs:
Creates structure (so people relax and follow you).
Sets the commercial purpose (review results, share insights, agree next quarter’s plan).
Controls time (so you finish with decisions, not “nice discussion”).
A model QBR opening (notice the moves).
Read the moves below, then listen to the model in the activity.
Move 1: Welcome + time control
“Thanks everyone for joining. I will keep us on time.”
Move 2: Clear aim (not just ‘an update’)
“The aim today is to review results, share insights, and agree the plan for next quarter.”
Move 3: Agenda and agreement
“I’ve got three parts: performance, key insights, then next-step plan and owners.”
“Does that work for everyone?”
Move 4: Give permission to adjust
This makes you sound collaborative while keeping authority.
“If anything is not relevant, please say and we will adjust.”
Useful phrases you can recycle today.
Here are lesson phrases that match this opening moment:
“Thanks everyone for joining. I will keep us on time.”
“The aim today is to review results, share insights, and agree the plan for next quarter.”
“Let me start with the headline.”
“Shall we agree owners and dates before we close?”
Quick tone tip (B2+ credibility).
Keep your opening confident and lean. Avoid apologies like “Sorry, I’m not sure…” or long scene-setting. You can be friendly, but your main message is: we are here to decide and move forward.
Practice & Feedback
Listen to the model opening once. Then write your own QBR opening for the same situation.
Write 80–120 words as if you are speaking at the start of the meeting. Include:
A welcome and time check / time control.
The aim of the QBR (results + insights + plan).
A simple agenda (2–4 parts) and a question to gain agreement.
One polite line that shows flexibility (adjust if needed).
Use at least two phrases from the lesson phrase list on the screen, but keep it natural for you.
2. Commenting on trends and explaining what changed.
Now that you can open the QBR with a clear agenda, the next step is the part most people find tricky: talking about performance data in a way that is meaningful. Many QBRs fail because the presenter lists numbers without telling a story. Today we will practise a simple pattern you can reuse with almost any chart: compared to last quarter, what changed, what the trend is, and why it matters. I also want you to practise being precise and confident when you reference percentages and time periods. That precision is what makes you sound senior. On the screen, you will see a short set of data points from a fictional account. Your job is not to be a data analyst. Your job is to lead your customer to the implication: what should we do next because of this trend? First, you’ll write a short commentary that someone could say in a meeting.
From numbers to a story.
In a QBR, you are not tested on whether you can read a chart. You are tested on whether you can interpret it commercially.
A helpful structure is:
Headline trend: “What we are seeing is a clear trend.”
Comparison: “Compared to last quarter, we are up by… / down by…”
Driver: “The main driver seems to be…”
Implication: “The implication is that…”
Check alignment: “Does that align with what you are seeing?”
Mini data set (fictional customer account).
Imagine this is a slide in your QBR deck:
KPI
Last quarter (Q2)
This quarter (Q3)
Notes
Active users
820
760
Drop after internal restructure
Weekly adoption rate
61%
54%
Fewer new teams onboarded
Time saved per week (est.)
1,200 hrs
1,050 hrs
Lower usage drives lower savings
Support tickets (high priority)
14
22
Spike linked to one workflow
What “good” sounds like (example commentary).
Notice how the speaker selects what matters and connects it to outcomes:
> “Let me start with the headline. What we are seeing is a clear trend: compared to last quarter, adoption is down. Active users dropped from 820 to 760, and weekly adoption moved from 61% to 54%. The main driver seems to be the internal restructure, which slowed onboarding for new teams.
>
> The implication is that the value you are getting is also dipping, so our focus next quarter should be on re-onboarding and fixing the workflow that is driving the ticket spike. Does that align with what you are seeing?”
Small language points that increase credibility.
Prefer “compared to” and “moved from X to Y” for clear comparisons.
Use “seems to be” when you are confident but not 100% certain.
Always include an implication (why the customer should care).
Next, you will write your own 5–7 sentence commentary using the data above.
Practice & Feedback
Read the mini data set carefully. Then write a short spoken-style data commentary you could say in the QBR.
Write 6–8 sentences (around 90–130 words). Follow this structure:
Start with a headline (one sentence).
Compare two or three KPIs (use specific numbers).
Suggest one driver (use “seems to be” if needed).
State the implication (why it matters).
End with one alignment-check question.
Try to use at least three of these phrases: “Let me start with the headline.” / “What we are seeing is a clear trend.” / “Compared to last quarter…” / “The main driver seems to be…” / “The implication is that…”
Slide extract: Q3 performance (fictional).
Active users: 820 → 760
Weekly adoption rate: 61% → 54%
Estimated time saved per week: 1,200 hours → 1,050 hours
High-priority support tickets: 14 → 22
Context note: The customer went through an internal restructure in Q3. Onboarding of new teams slowed down. A ticket spike is linked to one workflow.
3. Handling pushback when results are lower than expected.
In a real QBR, you rarely get a perfect, easy story. Someone will challenge the numbers, or imply that you are underdelivering. The key is not to get defensive. Your job is to acknowledge the concern, clarify what the data does and does not show, and then steer the group towards a constructive next step. In this block we will practise exactly that with a common challenge: “These results are lower than expected.” You will hear a stakeholder raise that concern in a direct way, and you will craft your response. I want your response to include three elements: acknowledgement, a brief explanation of the driver or context, and a recommendation or action. This is how you protect trust and keep the meeting moving. You are not arguing. You are leading.
The challenge moment.
Stakeholders often test you in a QBR. This is normal, especially when performance is flat or down.
A useful response pattern is:
Acknowledge (calm, not defensive)
“That’s a fair point.”
“I completely understand why you would raise that.” (useful when the tone is stronger)
Clarify what the data means (one or two sentences)
“What we are seeing is…”
“The main driver seems to be…”
Implication + recommendation (bring it back to decisions)
“The implication is that…”
“My recommendation would be to…”
Check alignment / invite specifics
“Does that align with what you are seeing?”
“Is there a specific part you want to dig into?”
Model response (compact and credible).
> “That’s a fair point. Compared to last quarter, adoption is down, and that is pulling the headline outcomes down as well. The main driver seems to be the restructure and the pause in onboarding.
>
> The implication is that we need to focus next quarter on reactivating new teams and removing friction in the workflow that’s creating tickets. My recommendation would be a short onboarding reset and a joint session to validate the assumptions. Does that align with what you’re seeing internally?”
What to avoid.
Over-explaining or blaming the customer: “Your team didn’t do X.”
Sounding uncertain: “I guess maybe…”
Getting stuck in the past: the QBR must end with a plan.
Your aim in the next activity.
You will write a response to a stakeholder challenge. Keep it to 60–90 seconds of speech in written form: around 90–120 words. Make it calm, structured, and forward-looking.
Practice & Feedback
Listen to the stakeholder’s challenge. Then write your spoken response as the account manager.
Write 90–120 words. Use this structure:
Acknowledge the concern (1 sentence).
Clarify the trend using one or two numbers (1–2 sentences).
Give one driver (use “seems to be” if you are not 100% sure).
Recommend one concrete next step (1–2 sentences).
Finish with a question that keeps the meeting collaborative.
Aim for calm authority: you are steering the room, not defending yourself.
4. A senior stakeholder joins late and wants the headline.
Now let’s add the realistic complication from our lesson scenario: a senior stakeholder joins late and wants the headline quickly. This can throw you off if you are mid-flow, but it is also a chance to demonstrate executive-level communication. Your goal is to welcome them, give a crisp headline, and then signpost what you are doing next, without losing the rest of the room. Think of it as a thirty-second reset. You are not repeating the whole deck. You are giving the key trend, the main driver, and what you recommend, and then you move on. In the activity you will do a short chat-style simulation. You will write as the account manager, and I will play the senior stakeholder. Keep your messages short, like in a live Teams chat during the meeting, and use polite, efficient language. The key phrase here is: “Let me start with the headline.”
The late-join moment (very common).
In QBRs, senior people often join late. When they do, they usually want:
the headline,
what it means, and
what you propose to do next.
If you handle this well, you sound senior. If you panic and ramble, you lose control.
A simple 30-second reset script.
You can reuse this structure almost every time:
Welcome + no drama
“Hi Priya, thanks for joining.”
Headline
“Let me start with the headline.”
Trend with one number
“Compared to last quarter, adoption moved from 61% to 54%.”
Driver
“The main driver seems to be the restructure and slower onboarding.”
Implication + recommendation
“The implication is that value is dipping, so my recommendation would be an onboarding reset plus a workflow fix.”
Signpost where you are going next
“If that works, I’ll quickly show the trend slide and then we can align on the plan and owners.”
Language that keeps authority but stays polite.
Notice the balance:
Direct: “Let me start with the headline.”
Collaborative: “Does that work for you?” / “Does that align with what you are seeing?”
Time control: “I’ll keep us on time.” / “Shall we agree owners and dates before we close?”
Your simulation goal.
In the activity, you’ll respond in a chat-style format.
Keep each message 1–2 sentences.
Avoid long paragraphs.
Use signposting so the room stays with you.
Practice & Feedback
You are in the QBR. A senior stakeholder (Priya, VP) has just joined late.
Write a chat-style mini conversation with 4–6 short messages total, alternating roles like this:
Keep messages short (1–2 sentences each). Use at least two of these phrases: “Let me start with the headline.” / “What we are seeing is a clear trend.” / “The main driver seems to be…” / “My recommendation would be to…”.
Give Priya the headline quickly and keep the meeting on track towards decisions and an action plan.
5. Proposing an action plan and aligning on priorities.
Once you have explained the trend and handled questions, the QBR must land somewhere concrete. If you end with ‘We’ll look into it’, you lose commercial momentum and you also increase renewal risk. In this block we will focus on action planning language: making recommendations, proposing priorities, and getting alignment on who does what by when. This is also where you can position retention and growth in a natural, non-pushy way. The key is to link the plan to the customer’s outcomes and success metrics. On the screen you’ll see a short set of recommendations. Your task will be to turn them into a crisp action plan statement that you could say live, and then to write a short follow-up style summary with owners and dates. This is the language that creates clarity and protects you later when people forget what was agreed.
The QBR should end with decisions.
A QBR is successful when everyone leaves knowing:
the priority outcomes for next quarter,
the actions to reach them,
the owners on each side,
and the dates.
This is how you move from reporting to leadership.
Action-plan language that sounds commercially sharp.
You want a balance of clarity and collaboration:
“My recommendation would be to…”
“The implication is that our focus next quarter should be…”
“Shall we agree owners and dates before we close?”
“Does that align with what you are seeing?”
Example: turning recommendations into a plan.
Raw recommendations (too informal):
fix onboarding
resolve workflow bug
run training
talk about expansion
QBR-ready plan (clear and professional):
> “My recommendation would be to run an onboarding reset in week one, fix the workflow that’s driving high-priority tickets by mid-month, and then re-launch enablement with team leads so adoption recovers. If we see adoption back above 60% by week six, we can review expansion for two additional teams with a clear success metric.”
Notice what makes it strong:
sequencing (first, then, by mid-month),
ownership implied,
a condition for expansion (not pushy; it’s outcome-based).
Planning template you can copy.
Use this template when you speak:
“My recommendation would be to [Action 1] by [date].”
“In parallel, we should [Action 2] so that [outcome].”
“Then we can [Action 3], and measure success by [metric].”
“Shall we agree owners and dates before we close?”
In the activity, you’ll convert meeting notes into a structured plan with owners and dates.
Practice & Feedback
Read the meeting notes below. Then write a QBR action plan summary as if you are speaking to the room and also capturing it clearly.
Write 120–160 words.
Include:
2–3 recommended actions in a logical order.
At least one metric (e.g., adoption % target) and one date / timeframe.
Clear owners on both sides (e.g., “Your Ops lead”, “Our Customer Success team”).
One line that links the plan to retention or growth without sounding salesy.
End with a closing alignment question.
Use at least three phrases from the chunk bank on screen (headline, driver, implication, recommendation, owners/dates).
QBR notes (fictional).
Priority problem: adoption dropped (61% → 54%); value is dipping.
Driver: restructure slowed onboarding; one workflow causing ticket spike.
Proposed actions:
Onboarding reset session for team leads (next week).
Joint working session to diagnose and fix the workflow causing tickets (within 2 weeks).
Re-launch enablement: short training + internal comms plan (weeks 3–6).
Success metric suggestion: adoption back to 60%+ and tickets down to <15 by end of next quarter.
Stakeholders: Customer Ops Lead (Marta), Customer IT (Dan), VP (Priya). Your side: AM (you), CSM (Leah), Solutions (Arjun).
6. Deliver your QBR segment from agenda to next-step plan.
You have built the key pieces: a strong opening, clear trend commentary, a calm response to pushback, a crisp executive headline for a late joiner, and a practical action plan with owners and dates. Now you will put it all together as a short QBR segment you could genuinely use at work. Imagine you are back in the meeting, and you have two minutes to sound structured and commercially useful. Your job is to guide the room from agenda into a key trend, give an insight, and propose a next-step plan. Keep it realistic: one or two numbers are enough, and your recommendation must be actionable. I also want you to show leadership with a final line that secures alignment. When you finish, I will give you feedback against a simple mini rubric: structure, clarity of data language, recommendation quality, and meeting control. This is your capstone for the lesson.
Final performance: a complete QBR segment (short but real).
This is the integrated task for today. You will deliver a short QBR segment in writing, as if you are speaking.
Your segment should include four stages:
Agenda + time control (10–20 seconds)
Welcome, aim, agenda, agreement.
Trend + what changed (30–45 seconds)
“Let me start with the headline.”
“Compared to last quarter…”
One or two KPIs with numbers.
Insight (the ‘so what’) (20–30 seconds)
“The main driver seems to be…”
“The implication is that…”
Recommendation + next steps (30–45 seconds)
“My recommendation would be to…”
Owners and dates.
Alignment question and meeting control.
Reference phrases (use them naturally).
You do not need to use all of these, but do use several:
“Thanks everyone for joining. I will keep us on time.”
“The aim today is to review results, share insights, and agree the plan for next quarter.”
“Let me start with the headline.”
“What we are seeing is a clear trend.”
“Compared to last quarter, we are up by… / down by…”
“The main driver seems to be…”
“The implication is that…”
“My recommendation would be to…”
“Does that align with what you are seeing?”
“Shall we agree owners and dates before we close?”
Mini rubric (how you’ll be assessed).
Structure: clear signposting; easy to follow.
Data language: accurate comparisons; not too many numbers.
Commercial sharpness: insight + implication, not just reporting.
Meeting control: alignment question; owners and dates; calm tone.
When you’re ready, write your full segment below.
Practice & Feedback
Write your full QBR segment script as if you are speaking live.
Length:180–230 words.
Situation constraints (keep them in your script):
Multiple stakeholders are present.
A senior person joined late earlier (you can briefly acknowledge that, but do not restart the meeting).
Performance trend: adoption down (61% → 54%), active users down (820 → 760), tickets up (14 → 22).
Driver: restructure + one workflow causing friction.
You need to propose a plan with owners and dates and get alignment.
Include at least six phrases from the reference list on the screen. Finish with a strong closing that secures next steps.
