Some solutions are being positioned as fully transactional, able to handle all the trade promotion management needs of CPG manufacturers, so you have to be careful what you are reviewing. Therefore, you need to make sure they are capable of executing each step in the traditional TPM process of Plan, Execute, Monitor, Settle and Analyze.
There are several things to do to avoid making the wrong purchase.
First, determine whether the provider developed the solution from scratch with the goal of it being a TPM solution. If not it may be a hybrid where key elements of the TPM functionality were tacked on to a limited scope solution, such as one that only focused on predictive analytics or TPO, to make it appear as if it is a fully transactional TPM solution.
Second, ask that the demo of the product be shown going through the details of each of the 5 steps in the TPM process outlined above.
Third, speak to their clients and ask them about the effectiveness of the solution for each step. If they start complaining about struggles with certain aspects of one or more of the steps, then that’s a red flag.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, check the backgrounds of the key executives to determine if they have ever worked on the CPG manufacturer side with direct responsibility for managing trade spending. If they can’t take you through the process from your CPG perspective as to not just what the TPM product does but why, be afraid…be very afraid.
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