5 Ways Trade Promotion Management Helps Our Sage 100 and Sage X3 Customers

Why Do Sage 100 and Sage X3 Customers Need Trade Promotion Management Integration?

As Sage 100 and Sage X3 consultants, we help our clients with many process and tools that will help them run their business more effectively and profitably. Throughout the years, our team at Southeast Computer Solutions has worked with clients to implement and integrate Trade Promotion Management tools. So what is trade Promotion Management (TPM) and why did we develop an integration for our Sage 100 and Sage X3? TPM is a set of processes and tools that allow a company to manage trade promotions. A trade promotion is a marketing campaign directed at wholesalers and retailers instead of to the end users, consumer and customer of a product or service. For example, a wholesaler/retailer may receive a special price or discount for a product or product group for a specific period in addition to allowances they may have already negotiated. In order to effectively track the ROI and profitability of such campaigns, it's necessary to have an ERP system like Sage 100 or Sage X3 integration.  

For one Sage 100 client, as an example, we developed a Trade Promotion Management solution with their Sage 100 system. Another client was using a third party TPM solution that sits on top of Salesforce.com. We've integrated the third-party solution with Sage X3, and lastly, we've been able to configure Sage X3 to handle many aspects of the TPM process using Sage X3 out-of-the-box functionality.

In this blog series, we'll discuss each of these implementations in detail. We'll start by discussing general TPM features to lay the foundation for the implementations we've done.

Trade Promotion Management (TPM) Helps with 5 Benefits: 

1. Volume Forecasting - Defines what kind of lift in the normal run rate of a product or group of products is expected due to a promotion.
2. Financial Forecasting - Defines the financial impact that's expected due to a promotion.
3. Trade Spending Budget - Defines a budget for trade promotions and then applies promotions against the budget to ensure that the organization is working within set boundaries.
4. Deduction Process - Ensures that the promotion parameters are captured, reviewed, approved, and implemented so the business system can properly invoice a customer and ensure proper revenue recognition.
5. Settlement Process - This process is a reconciliation of what the customer paid for versus what they were entitled to based on the promotion. A customer won't pay what they're invoiced if they've negotiated allowances. The settlement process may include capturing the payment and having a review/approval process that allows a customer to argue when they disagree with the allowances taken.

To effectively measure the ROI for such trade promotions, these are the basic features, functions, and processes a customer needs to successfully manage trade promotions.

In our next blog, we'll discuss what Southeast Computer Solutions did for a Sage 100 client. For more information about trade promotion management, please contact us.

About Southeast Computer Solutions

Southeast Computer Solutions is based in Miami, Florida and has additional operations in Mexico. For over 30 years, we have positively impacted the success of small and mid-sized businesses with effective business management implementations that improve our clients’ operations. We listen, we are accessible, and we care. Learn more by visiting our website or calling 305-556-4697.

Another version of this blog was previously published by Southeast Computers' consultant Frank Bernal - Trade Promotion Management – An Overview

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net by Stuart Miles