By Steve Hathaway, bringing hands-on IT experience and customer-first leadership to strategic TBRs
Many Technical Business Reviews (TBRs) look impressive on paper — full of metrics, assessments, and charts. But too often, customers leave without a clear sense of what actually matters or what to do next.
A strategic TBR is different. It’s not a status update or a data dump. It’s a focused conversation designed to help customers understand where they are today, what’s changing around them, and which priorities deserve attention next — based on their business and the greatest potential ROI, not a generic framework.
The Problem with Most “TBRs”
Let’s be honest — many TBRs quietly miss the mark.
They turn into status updates. Or metric reviews without context. Or long presentations where everything seems equally important. Customers nod along, absorb a lot of information, and then return to running the business without a clear sense of priority or direction.
When everything is presented as critical, nothing really sticks. Most executives walk away remembering only one or two takeaways — which makes focus essential.
If a TBR feels like a box-checking exercise, customers feel it. And when the meeting doesn’t answer, “What should I actually do with this?” the value fades quickly.
The problem isn’t the data. It’s the lack of meaning around it.
What Has to Happen Before the Meeting
A good TBR starts long before anyone opens a slide deck.
The real work happens in preparation — understanding the customer’s business, not just their ticket history. That means looking for patterns instead of isolated issues, identifying trends instead of one-off events, and evaluating risk and opportunity in context.
Customer interaction before the meeting matters too. The strongest TBRs include a pre-review touchpoint to understand what’s changed and what the customer wants to focus on — so the conversation starts with listening, not assumptions.
At Omega, this preparation is a collaborative effort. The Customer Success Manager, Account Manager, and Solutions Architect align ahead of the review — combining service insights, business context, and technical perspective into a shared point of view. This internal alignment ensures the meeting is focused, intentional, and grounded in what matters most to the customer.
When preparation is done right, the meeting itself feels purposeful — not rushed.
What a Strategic TBR Actually Looks Like
The biggest difference customers notice? It doesn’t feel like a presentation.
There’s less talking at the customer and more talking with them. Less technical overload. More clear, direct language. The focus shifts from showing everything to discussing what matters most.
A strong TBR walks through:
- What’s going well
- What isn’t
- What’s changing
From there, the conversation intentionally narrows to three to five priority themes that meaningfully affect business risk, productivity, or cost — whether that’s cybersecurity posture, compliance gaps, aging infrastructure, or recurring support challenges.
Not every customer faces the same risks or has the same goals — and a strategic TBR reflects that. It feels personalized, not scripted. There’s room for real questions, trade-offs, and discussion, not just polished talking points.
Customers shouldn’t have to decode what they’re seeing. They should understand it in real time.
What Customers Walk Away With (When It’s Done Right)
When a TBR is truly strategic, customers leave with something tangible — even if nothing “broke” during that period.
They have a clearer picture of their environment without unnecessary noise. They understand where things are solid, where there’s exposure, and where improvement would have the greatest impact — across areas like security controls, compliance readiness, and day-to-day IT support.
They also leave with confidence. Each review should end with a short list of clear next steps, defined ownership, and a planning horizon — so customers know exactly what happens next.
Done well, a TBR reduces surprises. It gives customers more control. And it reinforces the sense that someone is actively thinking ahead on their behalf — not just reacting when something goes wrong.
What a Strategic TBR Actually Delivers
When those elements are missing, the gaps become obvious. |
Common TBR Misses We’ve All Seen
Most missed TBRs fail in familiar ways:
- Too much data, not enough context
- Recommendations that don’t tie back to business goals
- Treating every customer the same
- Talking at customers instead of engaging them
These aren’t failures of effort — they’re failures of focus.
Customers don’t need to see everything. They need help understanding what matters now.
Why Strategic TBRs Change the Relationship
When customers leave a TBR feeling informed instead of overwhelmed, the relationship shifts.
They stop wondering, “Are we okay?” and start trusting that someone is paying attention — not just to today’s issues, but to what’s coming next. Conversations become more thoughtful. Customers engage earlier, ask better questions, and think more strategically about their environment.
This is where trust is built — through clarity, consistency, and intent.
A strategic TBR doesn’t just share information. It reassures customers that they’re not navigating complexity alone.
FINAL THOUGHTS
A strategic TBR isn’t about reviewing work — it’s about helping customers feel prepared for what’s next.
That’s the difference between outputs and outcomes. Between reporting activity and delivering real value. Between showing what happened and helping customers decide what matters most going forward.
Whether you’re an Omega customer or evaluating a new IT partner, this is the standard you should expect — and the kind of relationship we’re always happy to explore.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Hathaway is the Director of Customer Success at Omega Systems, with over 15 years of experience spanning IT support, engineering, solutions architecture, and service leadership. He works closely with customers to ensure Technical Business Reviews deliver clear priorities, actionable insight, and real business value — not just reports.
Connect with Steve on LinkedIn.
