TPM
Can You Answer Three Trade Spend Questions?
It is the end of the month and you need volume, so lower the price. It is the start of the month and you need profit, raise prices. Sound familiar?
Change Management Drives Successful TPM Adoption
Doing things in an easier way is surprisingly not always the easiest thing to do. As you make your way through change you’ll find the skeptics, the pessimists, the ones who are just too stubborn or even lazy to think of a new way to do things, and everyone else in between.
If you’re here, you’ve probably already made up your mind that you need a new system to manage your trade spend. You’re tired of error-ridden formulas in misplaced spreadsheets, your team is placing more focus on compiling data instead of growing your business, or your promotions are just not profitable enough.
But old habits really do die hard. So if you want to implement change and set up a system that will give you fully transparent account planning and increased forecast accuracy, you have to be smart about it: you have to gain your team’s trust, ease their way into the new, and make sure you set up the right foundations and guardrails.
Implementing a TPM system boils down to being able to manage change across all relevant stakeholders and team members, and ensuring your organization is ready to take this step. To make this process easier and make sure you don’t miss a beat, we’ve rounded the most essential aspects you should keep in mind to make sure you’re successful in implementing a TPM system.
1. Make sure you have the right data
In order to set up your TPM system, you’ll need to collect key data into accounts, products, pricing, and other.
- Clearly identify your planning accounts, your account rollup hierarchy, and the account mapping information you need to map across data sources.
- Define the type of product structure you want to put in place (based on business unit, brand, etc.) and what other product mapping information you need to map products across data sources.
- Consolidate list pricing
- Collect at least two years of historical data about sell-in, sell-through, and sell-out.
This data can help provide a wealth of valuable information for implementation.
2. Devise an internal communication strategy to support TPM implementation
Getting key stakeholders and team members to support your initiatives is crucial for their success and sustainability. These are any individuals or groups who have a vested interest in the growth of the organization, or who are directly involved in the daily operations that will be affected by the program.
By involving them in the development process, you can take their concerns into account, which can help to build support and commitment to implementing a TPM software. Stakeholder and team member buy-in may also help to identify any potential challenges or obstacles that may need to be addressed for it to be successful.
Effective communication of any program –its benefits and even challenges coming up and how they will be addressed– is essential, especially in the case of revenue growth management initiatives which involve a wide array of teams, from sales and finance, to IT and marketing.
3. Develop an MVP or phased-in approach
No two businesses are the same. This means that your TPM system will need time to adjust to your business’ particularities and for your team members to adapt to it. Opting for an MVP, or a “minimum viable product”, allows you to launch the software, identify unfit features, and implement short iterations so it aligns with your processes and revenue goals.
With CPGvision’s agile approach and pre-configured capabilities, you can tap into basic trade promotion planning, funding, reconciliation, and standard reporting to go live in a matter of a few weeks, and continue growing as you adopt other TPO and RGM capabilities.
4. Effective change management
There’s a widespread –and discouraging– myth that approximately half of all organizational change initiatives fail, while only one-third are a clear success. Change is in fact hard, but it is also true that it is one of the most basic rules of human existence. Knowing how to adequately manage change is a valuable skill for any manager or business leader, and it starts with understanding why change is necessary, all the way to communicating plans and analyzing the results of the program.
Setting SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound objectives) and KPIs is one of the first steps that as a leader you can take to make sure you are setting realistic and achievable expectations, as well as offering visibility into your team’s progress. Personally ensuring new processes are being followed and embedded within the organization is also a key aspect of change management.
Again, especially in the case of initiatives that involve cross-functional teams, leaders must help team members keep the big picture in mind, as well as keep them motivated. By implementing bottom-up instead of top-down change management you’re relying first on your workforce’s ability to adapt, before turning to the executive level.
Change management and organizational readiness are fundamental aspects of setting up any new process or system within a business. Before investing your time and resources in adopting TPM software, make sure you have the ability to manage your team members’ expectations, as well as the ability and digital infrastructure to actually implement these changes.
Taking that step means having all the necessary systems and technology in place. It means having properly trained personnel to make the most out of this new TPM system. It means ensuring you have all the right data to migrate from your current system to the new one. And, most importantly, it means making sure you have a vendor partner that is equipped to guide you through all of it.
Use these “no muss, no fuss” steps, and break the habit of not having fully transparent visibility into your trade spend, and gain real insight that can boost your bottom line.
Meet CPGvision
CPGvision are a best-in-class, fully connected, and integrated TPM and RGM solution suite for Consumer Packaged Goods, built on the Salesforce platform. With the most advanced functionality in the industry, CPGvision equips you with real-life problem-solving applications for TPM, TPO, and RGM.
Your success is our success - CPGvision proudly provides a dedicated customer success team staffed with CPG industry professionals. Regardless of where you are in your RGM journey, you’ll be fully equipped with the solutions you need for profitable revenue growth. Contact us today to learn more.