--- name: marketing-qbr version: 1.0.0 description: | AUTO-TRIGGER: Apply this skill when the user is preparing for a quarterly business review where they will present marketing performance to executive leadership. Trigger phrases include: "QBR," "quarterly business review," "presenting to the CEO," "presenting to the CRO," "quarterly marketing review," "how do I present last quarter's results," "the quarter was below expectations," "preparing my Q review," "how do I present pipeline attribution," "leadership wants to see what marketing produced," or any situation where the user is preparing to account for marketing performance to senior leadership on a recurring basis. Also trigger when the user needs to handle a QBR where results missed targets, where attribution is contested, or where leadership is likely to question the ROI of specific programs. Do NOT trigger for the marketing budget defense conversation (use marketing-budget-defense for situations where funding is at risk), or for one-time presentations that are not part of a recurring review cycle. This skill is specifically for the recurring quarterly accountability conversation between a marketing leader and the executive team. allowed-tools: - Read - Write - Edit --- # Marketing QBR: The Quarterly Accountability Conversation That Builds or Erodes Credibility This skill prepares a demand gen or RevOps Director to present quarterly marketing performance to executive leadership in a way that builds credibility, connects activity to business outcomes, and controls the narrative around results, including the quarters when results were below expectations. The marketing QBR is not a reporting exercise. It is a credibility exercise. The CEO and CRO are not learning what happened from your QBR. They already know the pipeline number and the revenue number. What they are evaluating is whether you understand what drove those numbers, whether you can identify what is and is not working, and whether you have a clear-eyed plan for the next quarter. A Director who presents data confidently is worth less than a Director who demonstrates judgment about what the data means. --- ## HOW TO SET UP THIS SKILL Provide: - Last quarter's key metrics: pipeline generated, pipeline contribution to revenue, CPL by channel, MQL to SQL conversion rate, any other metrics your leadership team follows - Targets for the same metrics: what you committed to and what you delivered - The programs that drove the most significant results, positive or negative - Whether the quarter hit, missed, or exceeded expectations - What leadership is currently most focused on: pipeline, revenue attribution, spend efficiency, or specific channels - Any contested or sensitive items: attribution disputes, programs that underperformed, budget that was spent without clear return --- ## The Structural Mistake Most Marketing QBRs Make The default QBR structure is: here is what we did, here is what we measured, here is what it produced. This structure puts leadership in the position of drawing their own conclusions from your data. They will draw conclusions that reflect their priors, not your analysis. If the CRO already suspects that paid LinkedIn is a waste of budget, presenting LinkedIn metrics without context gives them evidence for the conclusion they already hold. The structure that builds credibility is: here is what the quarter set out to accomplish and why, here is what the data shows happened, here is what I believe drove those outcomes, and here is what changes as a result. This structure keeps you in the analytical role and leadership in the decision-making role. It also surfaces your judgment, which is what the QBR is actually evaluating. --- ## Section 1: Framing the Quarter Before Presenting the Numbers Open with one slide or one paragraph that reminds leadership what the quarter was designed to accomplish and what context shaped the plan. Do not assume they remember what you committed to last quarter or what circumstances you were operating in. State the quarter's primary objective. Not a list of everything marketing did. The one or two things that the quarter was structured around. "Q3 was built around two objectives: accelerating pipeline in the commercial segment where we had the most sales capacity, and rebuilding inbound volume after the website migration reset our SEO performance." Acknowledge any material changes in context that affected the plan. A budget cut in month two, a product launch that pulled attention, a competitive move that changed the messaging, a channel that underperformed expectations from day one. Leadership needs this context before they see the numbers, not after. This framing takes two minutes and changes how every number that follows is interpreted. --- ## Section 2: Results Against Commitment Present what you committed to and what you delivered. Side by side. Every meaningful metric. Do not bury the misses. Leadership already knows the numbers. Presenting them clearly and directly signals confidence and honesty. Hiding or softening them signals the opposite. For each metric, present three things: target, actual, variance. Then one sentence of context for any metric that missed by more than ten percent. Metrics that belong in a demand gen QBR for executive leadership: Pipeline generated (total and by segment if relevant). This is the primary metric. Everything else is context for this number. Pipeline contribution to closed revenue. Not marketing influenced (which includes everything). Marketing sourced or marketing attributed first-touch. Be specific about your attribution methodology and consistent with it quarter over quarter. Attribution disputes come from inconsistent methodology more than from unfair credit-taking. MQL to SQL conversion rate. This tells leadership whether your pipeline is qualified, not just voluminous. A high pipeline number with a low conversion rate is a warning sign leadership will notice. Explain it before they ask about it. Cost per pipeline opportunity by channel. Not CPL (cost per lead) unless leadership explicitly uses that metric. CPL is a marketing metric. Cost per pipeline opportunity is a business metric. The difference in framing matters. Top three programs by pipeline contribution. What drove the most pipeline and at what cost. This is where leadership focuses attention and where you have the most influence over the narrative. --- ## Section 3: What Drove the Results (Your Analysis) This is the section that separates a reporting exercise from a leadership conversation. Present your interpretation of why the results came out the way they did. Not a description of what happened. Your analysis of the causal factors. For the programs that outperformed: what specifically worked and why you believe it worked. Not "the ABM campaign performed well." What about it worked. The targeting was tighter than prior campaigns. The sequence timing aligned with intent signals. The content matched the buying stage of the accounts in the list. One of those explanations is more useful than none. For the programs that underperformed: what specifically did not work, what you believe caused it, and whether you know the root cause or are still investigating. It is acceptable to say you do not yet know the root cause. It is not acceptable to present a miss without acknowledging that it happened and that you are taking it seriously. For external factors that affected results: name them and be specific about their impact. "The Q3 website migration reset our organic traffic, which accounts for approximately X pipeline that did not materialize from the inbound channel. We expect recovery by [month]." This frames an external factor as something you understand and are managing, not an excuse. The rule: your analysis should include at least one uncomfortable observation. A QBR that finds no problems is not credible. Leadership knows the business is not running perfectly. A marketing leader who presents only wins is either not looking hard enough or not being honest. --- ## Section 4: Handling the Quarter Where You Missed A quarter where results missed targets is the QBR that tests your credibility most directly. How you present a miss determines whether leadership sees you as someone they can trust with more resources or as someone who manages information rather than managing the function. **The wrong approach:** Lead with what you accomplished before getting to the miss. Present the miss with extensive context and mitigating factors before naming the number. End with a forward-looking plan that implies the miss is behind you. This approach makes you look defensive. Leadership notices the structure and interprets it as information management. **The right approach:** Name the miss directly in the framing section, before the numbers. "Pipeline came in at $X against a target of $Y. That is a miss of Z percent. Here is what I believe drove it and what changes in Q4." Then present the full results section as you normally would, with the miss visible in the target versus actual table. Then present a specific analysis of what drove the miss. Separate factors you could have controlled from factors you could not. Be honest about both. "Our ABM targeting was too broad, which diluted spend across accounts that were not ready to buy" is a controllable factor. "The rep team had 40 percent of its capacity absorbed by a large enterprise deal that did not close, which reduced follow-up on marketing-sourced pipeline" is a factor outside your direct control but worth naming. Then present the specific changes you are making in the next quarter in response to what you learned. Not aspirational changes. Specific ones. "We are tightening the ABM account list from 300 to 150 accounts, adding a secondary qualification step before SDR enrollment, and adding a monthly check on rep follow-up rates for marketing-sourced opportunities." **On attribution disputes:** If leadership contests your attribution numbers, do not defend the methodology in the QBR. Instead: "I want to make sure we are aligned on how we measure marketing contribution. Let me schedule time separately to walk through the methodology and make sure it reflects what we all agree is fair." This removes the dispute from the room where it would derail the conversation and creates a separate context to resolve it properly. --- ## Section 5: The Plan for Next Quarter The next quarter plan should do three things: state the commitment clearly, explain why the plan is structured the way it is, and identify the one or two things that could prevent the plan from working. State the commitment with the same metrics you reported on. Do not add new metrics. Do not change the definition of metrics between quarters. Consistency in measurement is how leadership develops confidence in the numbers over time. Explain the logic. Why is the budget allocated the way it is? Why are these programs prioritized over others? What did you learn last quarter that is shaping this quarter's plan? Leadership does not need to approve every decision. They do need to understand the reasoning well enough to support it when it is questioned by others. Name the risk. "The Q4 plan requires the SDR team to follow up on marketing-sourced pipeline within 48 hours. If that SLA slips, the conversion rate assumptions in this plan will not hold." This tells leadership what they can do to help, and it sets an honest expectation rather than a number that requires perfect execution of every adjacent function. --- ## Delivering the QBR Output in this format: ``` MARKETING QBR PACKAGE Quarter: [Q and year] Audience: [CEO / CRO / both / other] Quarter result: [hit / miss / exceeded] Built: [today's date] OPENING FRAMING (2 minutes) [The quarter's primary objectives as stated at the start of the quarter, and any material context changes that affected execution. Specific. Not a list of activities.] RESULTS TABLE Metric | Target | Actual | Variance | Context [Pipeline generated] [Pipeline to revenue] [MQL to SQL conversion] [Cost per pipeline opportunity by top channels] [Top program results] ONE-LINE CONTEXT for each metric that missed by 10%+: [Specific, honest, not defensive] WHAT DROVE THE RESULTS [Your analysis of the top two or three causal factors, positive and negative. At least one uncomfortable observation. Stated as your interpretation, not as fact.] MISS HANDLING (if applicable) [The exact language to open the miss section. The separation of controllable from uncontrollable factors. The specific changes in response.] ATTRIBUTION DISPUTE RESPONSE (if applicable) [The language to use if attribution is challenged in the room. The specific ask for a separate conversation.] Q[NEXT] COMMITMENT AND PLAN [Same metrics as the results table. The logic behind the allocation. The one or two risks that could cause the plan not to work as designed.] QUESTIONS LEADERSHIP WILL LIKELY ASK [The two or three questions most likely to come up given what the user has described, and the specific answers to have ready. Not general questions. The ones specific to this quarter's results and this leadership team's known concerns.] ``` --- ## Output Rules - Never recommend leading with wins before naming a significant miss. The structure of hiding a miss signals information management. Leadership notices it and it erodes credibility faster than the miss itself. - The attribution dispute response must be a redirect, not a defense. Do not recommend defending the methodology in the QBR room. - The "questions leadership will likely ask" section must be specific to what the user has described. Generic questions ("what is your plan for next quarter") are not useful preparation. - If the user has not stated what they committed to last quarter, ask before building the results section. Presenting results without the commitment context is a reporting exercise, not a QBR. - No em dashes. Use commas or periods.