STOP QBR-ING YOUR CUSTOMERS TO DEATH. START UNDERSTANDING THEM.

with THE UBR
Bob London created The UBR training based on 2,600+ customer discovery conversations.
What if I told you that the most engaging and revealing customer conversations you’ll ever have won't require an agenda? Or a deck. Not even a single slide, stat or talking point.

In fact, you’ll hardly have to speak at all. Because your customers will talk 70 - 80% of the time - revealing  critical business priorities and challenges they’ve never shared before, with you OR your competitors.

That unprecedented  level of transparency helps you understand how THEY define value. And it translates into three precious outcomes for your company:
​
​Insights. Innovation. And revenue.

Not to mention your team will become THE authoritative voice of the customer over time, influencing everything from roadmap to product market fit to pricing.

If all this sounds great to YOU, imagine how thrilled your CUSTOMERS will be when they get your email with this subject line: "Not a QBR."

let's take a quick step back

QBRs are having a rough year. And for good reason. They usually feature dozens of fact- and stat-filled slides - purely from the vendor’s point of view - attempting to show the customer that they’re getting value from the product or service. It's like "help me to help you to help me."

The worst part about what we can gently call "QBR fatigue" is that too often, CUSTOMERS FIND THEM A CHORE as well. Which explains why they aren’t as engaged as we’d like.

After conducting more than 2,600 B2B customer discovery conversations, I've learned the specific techniques and tools that get customers to reveal insights that lead to transparency, innovation and revenue.
And after all those conversations, I can tell you one thing for sure: Customers want to talk about what they are experts in: Their broader business challenges and priorities, independent of the vendor’s solution. They are not experts in the product, which is why it’s often hard to get them to engage when we pepper them with slides ABOUT US.

We need to stop talking at them and start understanding the bigger picture “why” that’s driving what they need our product to do. They’re happy to share if we put a little more thought into the questions - and then just $TFU. 

​MEET THE  UBR. 

WHAT IS THE UBR?
​ (U = "you, the customer," since that's who the meeting is about)

The UBR is a fundamentally new type of conversation focused solely on the customer's or prospect's broader priorities and challenges, including the top-level company initiatives driving their desired outcomes.

Why? Because if you don't understand those big picture drivers, you can't effectively position your solution to address them. And that means missing renewal and expansion opportunities.

Some characteristics of the UBR:
  • 15 to 30-minute call (no video needed).\
  • Ideally one-on-one with decision-maker.
  • Focus on customer’s or prospect’s top-level, business priorities and challenges.
  • Deckless! (That’s right – no slides.)
  • Open-ended. No agenda.
  • Use Radically Authentic Discovery methodology (disruptive questions & deep listening – see below)
  • Mute yourself. No solving or selling.
  • And let the customer insights flow

Does the UBR replace the QBR or EBR?

Best practice is to do a UBR once a year to replace a meeting in the customer lifecycle. But the UBR techniques can be incorporated into any meeting.

​The UBR isn’t an operational or status meeting. Think of it as a deep discovery conversation where you’re the authentically curious student, not the teacher. You're there to listen and learn how the customer defines value from their perspective, which will make your QBRs and EBRs more engaging and effective.

And remember: Customer priorities and challenges evolve - sometimes dramatically. That's why discovery can't just a point in time - like during implementation, success planning or renewal discussions; it is a continuous process that should happen throughout the customer lifecycle.

​So your team should be leaning into asking disruptive questions and deep listening throughout the entire customer journey.

As such, you can incorporate The UBR into your customer journey in either or both of two ways:
​
1. SWAP OUT 1 QBR PER YEAR FOR A STANDALONE UBR
  • Position as “We want to take a step back and understand your broader challenges and priorities.”
  • Make it an authentic request 
  • Ask 1 - 2 customers to participate in a "customer reality" session to talk about key trends and challenges in THEIR industry and marketplace. ​Your goals should be to get an unvarnished "customer's eye view," not a glossy, 100% positive case study. ​
2. FREE UP “UBR TIME” WITHIN A QBR OR OTHER MEETING
  • Send slides in advance.
  • Include 2-minute "talk track" video to highlight key points
  • Provide 1-page pre-read memo
  • Send attendee job titles in advance to avoid lengthy intros.
  • Use the extra 15 - 20 minutes for UBR time
"Just asked a 'Bob London' question in a monthly client call...it worked wonders! Asked the magic wand one, and from their answers, I was able to get 2 great customer outcomes and success goals."
- Senior CSM with a Multi-Billion Dollar SaaS Company
"This session went above in beyond in hitting what our role really is, and provided real examples of how to be a better partner with clients. I haven't received this type of training since client management training, and even then I feel like we didn't get this deep into questions/strategies like this."
- CSM
"(One of our CSMs) uncovered a massive issue with a client by asking the question, 'If a competitor called, how would you react.' We now have a chance to save the client."
- Senior Director of CS with a Multi-Billion Dollar Global Company
"I came out of it with specific tools I can use in my conversations with clients."
​- Senior CSM

why should CUSTOMER SUCCESS &
​ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT TEAMS
care about the ubr?

YOUR “WHY”
- Get fresh insights to drive value & innovation.
- Grow revenue.
- Get them engaged.
- Discover what’s most important TO THEM.
- Increase transparency.
- Differentiate from all their other vendor interactions
- Elevate yourself and your team.
YOUR CUSTOMERS' "WHY"
- They need to be  heard.
- They'll stay longer if they feel understood.
- They appreciate the chance to share their expertise.
- They want to be helpful.
- They like the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from innovation. (What’s good for you is eventually good for them – and vice versa.)

YOU CAN start USING THE UBR INSIGHTS & TIPS ABOVE today

or

learn about my exclusive Ubr training program by clicking this button:

what customer-facing leaders have to say

curious companies win

What about bob (london)?

I teach customer success, account management and sales teams how to have more strategic, revealing customer conversations that drive transparency, insights and revenue.

​Over the course of conducting more than 2,600 customer discovery conversations with B2B decision-makers, I developed a series of bold, disruptive questions and deep listening techniques - called Radically Authentic Discovery - that get customers and prospects to open up about what’s important TO THEM.

I was named a 2022 Top 25 Customer Success Influencer by SuccessCoaching and am also an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Maryland’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship; a board member of Mindshare, one of the country’s leading organizations for tech CEOs and founders; and an active member of Gain Grow Retain, a leading customer success community. My clients have been honored more than 30 times on Inc. Magazine's list of 5000 Fastest-Growing Private US companies.

I'm a regular and passionate writer and speaker on the topic of listening to customers, and his work and writing have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Forbes, the Miami Herald, USA Today, Inc. Magazine and The Washington Business Journal.
P.S. The UBR is a new concept, so I'd love to get any and all feedback you may have. Feel free to email me at bob@chieflisteningofficers.com any time.