MSPs set up Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR) with their clients to proactively review their technology business needs, address any issues, plan for future projects, and more. One of the challenges that MSPs experience is maintaining the QBRs for each of their clients. With the power of Autotask and TimeZest, MSPs can utilize both the automation of Autotask to create recurring scheduling for each client and the scheduling workflow capabilities of TimeZest to spend less time getting these QBRs on the calendar. In this article, we will show you how to set up a TimeZest QBR appointment type, a recurring service ticket in Autotask, as well as workflow rules to automate sending a TimeZest scheduling request from the recurring ticket.

TimeZest QBR appointment type

Follow these instructions to create a TimeZest appointment type:

Creating Appointment Types in TimeZest

With a QBR appointment type, pay attention to the following settings:

Duration – How long your QBR appointment will be with your client.
Scheduling Window – How far in advance you will allow your client to schedule the QBR session.
Allow Rescheduling – Giving your clients the option to cancel and reschedule the QBR appointment.

Queue setup

Use a service desk queue that currently exists in Autotask or create a new one that will hold the recurring tickets generated for the QBR sessions.

Issue & Sub-Issue Types setup

Set up the Issue Type, Subtype, and Item of the service board now so that you can use them when creating the recurring ticket template.

Issue Type – Create a new type called QBR.
Sub-Issue Type – Create a new Sub-Issue Type called QBR Meeting.

Recurring Ticket Template setup

After creating a new or updating an existing Queue, now create a recurring template in the Recurring Ticket Templates screen to be used when generating a recurring ticket for each client.

Create a new ticket template and name it Quarterly Business Review Template.
1. Under the General tab, select the following:
  1. Queue – Select the service board that is set up to hold QBR tickets.
  2. Status – Select the default status that should be used when creating the ticket.
  3. Issue Type – Select the QBR type.
  4. Sub-Issue Type – Select the QBR Meeting subtype.
  5. Resource - The client's Account Manager on your team.
2. Under the Recurrence tab, select the following:
  1. Set the Frequency to every three months.
Save the template.

Workflow Rules setup

After the ticket template has been applied to your clients, you will now create a workflow rule that will search for these tickets on the queue and take action to send an email that contains the TimeZest scheduling appointment link to the client.

Create the General Workflow Rule settings
1. In the Workflow Rules setup screen, select the + New button.
2. Name the workflow rule.
3. In the Events section, select Anyone in the Created by drop-down.
4. In the Conditions section, select the following conditions:
  1. Is Recurring Ticket is Equal to = True
  2. Issue Type is Equal to = QBR
  3. Sub-Issue Type is Equal to = QBR Meeting
  4. Account Name is Equal to your client's account
5. In the Updates section, select the following:
  1. Status = Choose a TimeZest status that is considered a "scheduled sent" status.
Create the Notification Workflow Rule settings
1. In the Contacts section of the Notification tab, add the main contact that the QBR notification will be sent to.
2. Create a notification template to include the TimeZest scheduling URL
  1. In the Notification section create a new template in the Notification Template drop-down.
  2. Name the notification template in the General Information section.
  3. Add a subject name in the Email Subject field.
  4. Add a note in the Email Body - HTML field.
  5. Add TimeZest URL-based scheduling URL to the body of the email.
    In the Appointment Types screen in TimeZest, select the Copy button next to the QBR Appointment Type.
    
    Paste the link in the body of the email message in Autotask.
  6. Save the Notification Template.

Once the recurring ticket template has been created for a client and the Workflow Rule has been enabled, the recurring ticket template will automatically generate the next QBR ticket and the Workflow Rule will send the notification along with the TimeZest scheduling link to the client to get a scheduled meeting with their account manager.