Quarterly business reviews (QBRs) are supposed to bring clarity and spark action. Too often, they turn into data dumps or slide decks that nobody reads twice. If you want your reports to actually drive decisions, you need more than just fancy charts—you need focused, actionable insight.
This guide is for anyone who has to prep QBR reports—whether you’re in ops, analytics, customer success, or you just drew the short straw this quarter. We’ll walk through how to get genuinely useful reports out of Leanlayer, step by step. No fluff, no corporate showboating—just what works, what to watch out for, and how to avoid wasting your time.
1. Get Clear on What Actually Matters
Before you even open Leanlayer, pause for five minutes and answer these:
- Who’s your audience? (Execs, managers, customers, all of the above?)
- What decisions are they supposed to make based on this report?
- What questions do they always ask—or, what do they wish someone would answer for them?
Pro tip: Don’t try to answer everything in a single report. QBRs are not the place for kitchen-sink dashboards. Focus on the 3-5 metrics or trends that tell the real story.
If you skip this step, you risk building a beautiful report nobody cares about.
2. Get Your Data House in Order
Leanlayer is only as useful as the data you feed it. If your source data is a mess, your report will be too.
Checklist before you start: - Are your data connectors set up and pulling in the latest info? - Do your fields and labels make sense to a normal human, not just your data team? - Are there any known issues—duplicates, missing data, weird anomalies? Make a note so you can flag them later.
What doesn’t work:
Hoping you can “fix it in the report.” You can hide bad data, but you can’t make it trustworthy. If you’re not sure about a data source, be up front about it in the report.
3. Build a Focused Leanlayer Report from Scratch
Now, let’s get into Leanlayer. Here’s how to build a report that won’t put your audience to sleep—or worse, lead them astray.
Step 1: Start with a Blank Report, Not a Template
Tempted to use a pre-built template? They’re fine for inspiration, but most are too generic. Start blank, and add only what you know people need.
Step 2: Add Key Metrics—But Only a Few
Drag in your 3-5 “north star” metrics. Think: - Revenue or pipeline by segment - Churn or retention rates - Customer satisfaction scores - Operational KPIs you actually control
What to ignore:
Anything you can’t explain in one sentence, or that you know nobody acts on. (Looking at you, “monthly pageviews by region” if nobody ever talks about regions.)
Step 3: Layer On Context
Numbers alone are just noise. For every chart or table, add a short note: - “Up 12% from last quarter because of X campaign.” - “Behind target—see next slide for root cause.”
Leanlayer lets you annotate visuals and add text blocks. Use them. If you skip this, your audience will just ask you for context anyway.
Step 4: Highlight Trends, Not Just Snapshots
Leanlayer’s time series charts are your friend. Set your date ranges to show quarter-over-quarter change, not just the latest number.
Avoid:
Year-over-year comparisons if your business or team has changed a lot. You’ll just confuse people or set off unhelpful debates.
Step 5: Flag Action Items
Under each section, add a bullet for “So what?”
- What should people do about this number?
- Is there a decision or a follow-up needed?
You can use Leanlayer’s checklist or “action box” widget for this. If you don’t, expect that “action items” will get lost in the meeting notes (or never happen at all).
4. Make It Visual, but Not Distracting
Leanlayer has plenty of chart options. That doesn’t mean you should use them all. Stick to these basics:
- Line charts for trends
- Bar charts for comparisons
- Tables only for things you really need to see exact numbers for
Skip the pie charts, 3D graphics, or anything with more than 5 colors. If you’re spending more time picking a color palette than writing insights, you’ve lost the plot.
Pro tip:
Preview your report on a small screen before sharing. If it’s unreadable at a glance, it’s too busy.
5. Collaborate—But Don’t Design by Committee
Leanlayer lets you share reports with teammates for editing or comments. That’s great for catching mistakes and getting feedback. But if you invite everyone and their dog, you’ll end up with a Frankenstein report.
- Share early drafts with 1-2 trusted people who know the audience.
- Ask: “What’s missing?” and “What can I cut?”
- Ignore minor nitpicks about fonts or colors.
What doesn’t work:
Trying to please everyone. You’ll end up with a bloated report that tries to answer every possible question and satisfies nobody.
6. Review and Stress-Test Your Report
Before you hit “send” or present it live, run through this checklist:
- Are the numbers up to date and accurate? Double-check filters and date ranges.
- Can someone new understand each chart without you explaining it?
- Are there open questions or data gaps you need to acknowledge? (Honesty builds trust.)
- Did you clearly call out the 2-3 key takeaways and next steps?
Ask a colleague who wasn’t involved to review it. If they can’t tell you what matters after skimming for 5 minutes, you’re not done.
7. Share and Track Engagement
Leanlayer reports can be shared as links, PDFs, or embedded in slide decks. Pick what fits your audience’s habits. Don’t assume everyone will log into Leanlayer.
- If you’re presenting live, have a backup PDF ready in case of tech issues.
- Use Leanlayer’s view tracking if you want to see who actually opens it.
(Don’t get obsessed with these numbers—sometimes people just want the summary.)
Pro tip:
After the meeting, follow up with a one-paragraph summary and link. Most people won’t read the full report anyway, but they might read your email.
8. Rinse, Repeat, and Improve
No report is perfect the first time. After the QBR, get honest feedback: - What did people actually use in the meeting? - What got skipped or ignored? - Did any metric cause confusion or debate?
Keep your next report even more focused. Don’t keep adding slides or charts—prune ruthlessly.
Wrapping Up
Actionable QBR reports aren’t about showing off every number you can find—they’re about making decisions easier. With Leanlayer, you’ve got the tools to build focused, context-rich reports that don’t waste anyone’s time. Keep things simple, iterate with feedback, and always ask: “Does this help someone take action?” If not, leave it out.
The best QBRs spark progress, not eye rolls. Stick to what matters, and you’ll get there.