What to Look for in a TPM Solution—Now & Long-Term

by Fred Schroeder

How often have you thought about replacing your Excel spreadsheets with a TPM Solution to address your lack of visibility into trade spending? I’m sure it’s crossed your mind! And if you’re like most, you can’t spend countless hours developing an RFP (not that this is the best course), nor do you want to worry about the cost, time to value or other areas of uncertainty that process would bring to your life. So, the spreadsheets will be fine for another year or two.

If you do start to explore the market, you might do an internet search, find a few ‘vendors’ that do this, and check out the websites of 2, 3 or 4. You then make your request, “Can we get a demo of your product?”

Having been in the CPG industry my entire career, and on this side for about 15 years, I know that the odds are, you will stay with Excel. Why is that? After multiple vendor demos, they all look the same.

In reality, we – Adesso and others in our industry – have done a rather solid job of creating software to address planning promotions, clearing deductions, creating some reporting, and all the basics of trade management.

However, there is a long-term reality here. This is not a recent problem, it’s far from simple, and you don’t have a 7 figure budget to address it.

You need a long-term partner, and a short-term plan to get started.

It takes significant CPG & trade spending experience to understand that it takes a system, PLUS clearly defined, successful and cost-effective services for the short term, such as administrative help, training and insights. If needed, you move into retailer analyses and even some assistance in trade strategy.

An experienced partner will contribute specific client results to help you make sense of it all – our clients even share success stories and challenges with each another as a community.
Finally, you need a chance to relax.

Imagine not having to worry about this constantly every period closing – knowing all the numbers and accruals throughout each month. The ‘monthly close’ becomes a snapshot in time, as it’s supposed to be.

You watch your kids play soccer, spend time with your spouse, play with your grand kids, whatever you want to do – without worrying incessantly about trade. At the end of the year, you’ve met your objectives and take a vacation or two. You earned it.

Fred Schroeder is CEO of Adesso Solutions, makers of the Flamingo TPM System. He understands the complexity of trade promotions, the mental barriers to getting started, and the importance of getting it under control so you can finally relax. You can write to Fred at fschroeder@adesso-solutions.com.

Idahoan Foods Leverages Flamingo TPM to End “Over 90 Day” Deductions & Reduce Overall Outstanding MCB’s

Rolling Meadows, IL (September 13, 2017) – Adesso Solutions announced today impressive results achieved by a leading client-partner, Idahoan Foods of Idaho Falls. As deductions and manufacturer charge-backs (MCB’s) continue to be a major area of concern for all CPG manufacturers, including those in the Natural-Specialty arena, Idahoan Foods leverages the power of Adesso Flamingo TPM to drive some impressive results for their 2017 fiscal year (ending August 2017).

Most significantly, Idahoan ended their 2017 fiscal with $0 in their ‘over 90 day’ column for deduction aging. In addition, their total ‘over 60 day’ column is <6% of the total outstanding deductions. Finally, their total deduction balance at the end of the year is 50% of where it was in 2016… they reduced their total deductions by over 50%!

“I would attribute these incredible results to Idahoan’s diligent planning within Flamingo. Specifically, their promotions are confirmed in advance, and promotional contracts, as well as all other key information, is stored within each promotion,” commented Fred Schroeder, President & CEO at Adesso. “Idahoan consistently makes use of the functionality within Flamingo – a system that continues to improve based on their input and discussions with others in the Adesso Client Community. Furthermore, ongoing training for both internal resources and their broker partners with Adesso ensures optimal usage, as well as more accurate information within the system.”

Keith Peers, Senior Vice President of Operations for Adesso said: “We listen to our clients, as it is ‘their system’ …we are simply the stewards of the system. Our TPE Community facilitates opportunities for our clients to stay involved in their solution, to share best practices, and to take advantage of a host of shared benefits. Having the depth of industry experience, however, allows our team to pinpoint the real functionality opportunities.”

The upcoming fall client conference, the ‘Trade Experts Council II’, taking place on October 17-18, is an example of Adesso’s collaborative client community events that bring together clients and select ‘not yet clients’ with a broad range of trade expertise. These attendees range from Executive Leadership to Senior Sales & Finance, Trade Marketing, Field Sales, Sales Finance, and this year with representation from Broker Partners.

About Idahoan Foods
For nearly 50 years, Idahoan Foods has been the gold standard in prepared potato products. Headquartered in the heart of America’s potato country, Idahoan Foods employs an extensive network of potato experts that oversee the potatoes from field to shelf. The company offers a full spectrum of convenient mashed, hash brown, and casserole products under the Idahoan®, Paradise Valley®, and all-natural Honest Earth™ brand names. For more information, visit http://www.idahoan.com.

About Adesso Solutions
Adesso Solutions is a leader in delivering Trade Promotion Effectiveness for small and medium sized Consumer Packaged Goods manufacturers. Adesso leverages a long history and deep expertise in the industry and a unique suite of solutions. It includes an all-encompassing Trade Promotion Management (TPM) system on a cloud-based SaaS common platform (.Net), unique System Effectiveness Services and Trade Analysis & Planning Services to maximize the trade promotion effectiveness for client partners, as well as an active TPE community for client collaboration.

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Announcing Fall Client Conference in Rolling Meadows for Adesso’s Flamingo Retail, Foodservice and Natural TPM

Rolling Meadows, IL (August 17, 2016) – Adesso Solutions announces its upcoming client conference to take place October 18 in the newly expanded and remodeled Rolling Meadows headquarter office. This conference will feature Flamingo TPM roadmap sessions that are relevant to specific segments of the CPG industry. These include retail and foodservice, as well as the uniquely tailored Adesso offering that is relevant to the Natural and Specialty segment.

“This conference offers our client community the opportunity to participate in interactive business discussions that yield industry and best practices learnings. They also guide the future development of our system and services,” said Rich Jones, Executive Vice President TPE Solutions at Adesso. “We will also reveal upcoming Flamingo enhancements, and offer the opportunity to learn exactly what is involved in order to migrate to the latest release of Flamingo TPM.”

In reference to attending an Adesso conference, Vernetta McDowell, Director of sales and Operations at Reynolds Brands stated: “It’s a good opportunity to understand from a transactional perspective what the tool is capable of doing. And more importantly, it’s an opportunity to network and understand what it’s like to work in the tool, what it’s like to work with the Adesso team, and then what it takes to migrate. Some of the things that we all talk about is this journey to Trade Promotion Effectiveness (TPE) and where we are in the continuum. Also, understanding what the tool has to offer, and the best practices that Adesso can help you put in place. And then also collectively what you can gain from the Adesso Community – it’s a great opportunity to start those connections and start to immerse yourself in what a trade management tool can do for you.”

“I like the direction of the product, and especially that Adesso has created our foodservice site so we can have one system instead of two separate systems, it’s a big plus for us.” said Karen Prophet, Promotions & Trade Spend Manager at Idahoan Foods.

To learn more about Adesso’s fall client product conference, and to reserve a spot, please contact Karin Souren at ksouren@adesso-solutions.com or at 847-342-1095, x4031.

About Adesso Solutions
Adesso Solutions is a leader in delivering Trade Promotion Effectiveness for small and medium sized Consumer Packaged Goods manufacturers. Adesso leverages their long history and deep expertise in the industry and a unique suite of solutions. These include a TPE community for client collaboration, an all-encompassing TPM (Trade Promotion Management) system on a cloud-based SaaS common platform (.Net), and unique consultative services to maximize the trade promotion effectiveness for the whole client community.

Adesso Launches the “Santa Monica” Release of Their Flamingo TPM System

Rolling Meadows, IL (February 29, 2016) – Adesso announces “Santa Monica”, the 7th release of their Flamingo Trade Promotion Management (TPM) System since its launch in April, 2013. Santa Monica builds upon leading edge functionality and ease of use required by Consumer Package Goods and Consumer Goods manufacturers today. It has received very positive support from long term clients, numerous new clients and industry analysts alike.

“The Flamingo Santa Monica release has numerous enhancements, all recommended and supported by our clients. These cover 4 distinct categories that we put into every release,” indicated Fred Schroeder, President of Adesso Solutions. “From exciting new Wow’s, Feature Enhancements, User Experience & Ease of Use Items and also Technical Enhancements to keep Adesso clients on the leading edge. This all assists our clients maximize their Trade Promotion Effectiveness.”

There are both major and minor advancements in Santa Monica. The major ones range from an upgraded “alerts module”, to more dashboard KPI’s, an upgraded search and deal calendar, and significantly enhanced reporting. Together, they provide the ability to make smarter, timelier decisions with greater visibility into viewing your trade spending vs. budget. Second, we continue to enhance the Offline Planner to simplify planning for users, while seamlessly integrating the information with the system.
The next Flamingo release is scheduled for late Spring.
 
About Adesso Solutions
Adesso Solutions is a leader in delivering Trade Promotion Effectiveness for small and medium sized Consumer Packaged Goods manufacturers. Adesso leverages their long history and deep expertise in the industry and a unique suite of solutions, including an online community for client collaboration, an all-encompassing TPM (Trade Promotion Management) system on a cloud-based SaaS common platform (.Net), and unique consultative services to maximize the trade promotion effectiveness for the whole client community.