Mid-market brands are ready to move away from Excel and into the future.

Manufacturers with sales of less than $1 billion are experiencing serious growth. In fact, in 2020, IRI says that the CPG industry grew 10.3 percent to $933 billion, and one-third of that growth is attributed to those small and mid-tier manufacturers.

These once small, now maturing companies are longing for solutions that take them out of Excel and into the future. Visibility, efficiency, and control aren’t easy to come by when you’re wielding macros.

You may see red flags like a deduction balance that is high, old, or both. Manual processes result in mistakes. A trade promotion management (TPM) solution will get you over that hurdle.

If spending is out of control (maybe a little…maybe a lot) within your organization and you have poor accountability, it’s time to take the reins with a trade technology solution.

Get your team planning in promotion tools to drive profitability into the future. Let’s talk about table stakes of TPM:

SERVICES & STAFF

Not every TPM comes backed by a team that understands the industry. Especially if your team is bootstrapped and you plan to rely on your partner (which you should) to stand up a best-in-class TPM for your business, you’ll want to make sure the people on your project come from and understand various channels. Dig in on this one. Use some industry jargon. Make sure your partners can keep up.

SAAS

On-premise tools have fallen to the wayside; the SaaS model has become the standard since it offers speed, agility and adaptability. “The search for efficiency inevitably leads manufacturers to cloud solutions. There’s no need for a company to support hardware on their end when they can outsource configuration, implementation and workflow,” explains TELUS Consumer Goods Global Head of FBCG, Paul Wietecha.

NEARLY 78% OF SMALL BUSINESS HAVE ALREADY INVESTED IN SAAS OPTIONS.

ERP RELIANCE

Not all mid-market retail brands have planned groups of skus or customers set up as master data in their ERP. You should implement a TPM that allows you to manage your planning groups directly in the tool. Ideal TPM solutions support grouped skus and customers. Give those groups names so you can easily review your performance in terms of what some organizations call planning groups.

GEOGRAPHIES

Consider how your team is structured and the geographies you play in. For example, indirect planning is critical in the US market but some European solutions don’t handle those capabilities as well because indirect planning isn’t as prevalent. If you require a solution for North America, look for both direct and indirect planning capabilities.

“WHEN WE PRESENT THE DATA, IT’S WHOLE; IT’S EASY TO UNDERSTAND. YOU HAVE A SINGLE, RELIABLE VIEW OF EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING NEEDED TO SUPPORT YOUR BUSINESS DECISIONS.”

— PAUL WIETECHA, Global Head of FBCG, TELUS Consumer Goods

10 CAPABILITIES TO EFFICIENTLY MANAGE TRADE

We’ve compiled a list of the bull’s eye capabilities required for mid-market national brands to efficiently manage trade across channels:

  1. Dashboards
  2. Targeting & Objective Setting
  3. Interactive Planning Calendar
    • Direct
    • Indirect
  1. Data support through planning and customer groups
  2. Coverage of all promotional tactics
  3. Approval workflow based on targets and budgets that are embedded in the system
  4. Post-Event Analysis
  5. Accrual Management
    • Direct
    • Indirect
  1. Full deduction / settlements capabilities
    • Clear deductions
    • Full validation against billbacks
  1. Analytics and reporting
    • Visualization, ad-hoc queries and self serve /self create

Our clients often say that it’s not about spending less on promotions, but making sure that the dollars spent are working successfully. And, if they aren’t, it’s important to know that. So, friends, step away from the spreadsheets and step toward the light. Welcome to the land of trade transformation.