Executive Business Reviews (Part 1) - Make Them Taste Good

I was fortunate enough to recently attend one of our amazing corporate hospitality events that Gainsight hosted for Customer Success Leaders in London, where they were taught how to make delicious hand-made pasta from scratch.

As the chef was guiding us on what to do, it got me thinking. Customer Success is a lot like cooking. You need to have all the right ‘ingredients’, such as a robust Success Plan, strong Stakeholder Alignment and visibility into Customer Health. However, it is the Customer Success Manager (i.e. the chef) that makes the magic happen (or, using my analogy, the food taste good). 

Keeping with the above theme, If you've ever read the “The Customer Success Professional's Handbook” (Chapter 8 - Section 6), then you will recognise the analogy of treating a Quarterly / Executive Business Review, like a meal. Once again, it needs all the right ingredients and you are responsible for preparing them correctly: -

1. There is a First Course or 'Appetizer' = Executive Summary 
2. Followed by a Second Course or 'The Main Course' = 90% of the content
3. Finishing with a Third Course or 'Dessert' = Co-ordinating next steps 

I would argue that we are missing something here. Perhaps some canapés? 

I always try to prepare thoroughly before hosting an Executive Business Review. To quote James Baker - prior preparation prevents poor performance. 

It’s worth investing your time and conducting some due diligence before attending the actual Business Review with your customer. Remember, you potentially won’t have much time with your customer’s Exec team if they are attending and therefore, you’ll want to maximize your time with them.

Here is a quick 10-step guide that you can use when planning for an EBR with a customer: -

1. Look at other EBR slide decks and meeting recordings from your peers to get some ideas.
2. Start building your own slide deck and personalise it for your customer. Add appropriate content that you know will land well, based on the audience.
3. Write an Executive Summary near the beginning (in case the Exec leaves the meeting later and you don’t get the full time with them).
4. Reserve time within the presentation for your champion to present (1-2 slides) themselves on what success they have realised. Ask them to focus on the ‘'Before & After’ with your product (this is a good prompt to discuss return on investment and value realisation).
5. Have a meeting with your champion, one week prior to the EBR, to run through the proposed agenda.
6. Have meeting(s) the week leading up to the EBR, with any other key stakeholders who are attending, to run through the proposed agenda and get some additional pointers that you can use during the meeting.
7. Have a second meeting with your champion the day before the EBR, to run through the slide deck and what you/they will be presenting (this is a worthwhile exercise in case there are any slides that need removing / adding). Make sure you are aligned.
8. Ideally, arrange for one of your own Execs to join the meeting with you for peer-to-peer alignment.
9. Block out at least an hour in your diary post-EBR, to write up your notes, send follow-ups and execute any agreed actions.
10. Get ready for your EBR! 

In Part 2, I’ll share some best practices for conducting a delectable Executive Business Review, including who should be there, an example agenda, and more!

If you’ve recently conducted an EBR yourself, how did you prepare for it and are there any tips and tricks that you’d recommend?