You are probably thinking what do the Yankees and trade promotion management have to do with each other? Well, you would be surprised.
Baseball can be a tricky business. In a nutshell, the success of the team depends strictly on the players and coaches and their talent and ability for the game. So, one would think that throwing huge contracts and salaries at big name talents to draw them to the team would increase the chances, or maybe even guarantee a chance, at winning the World Series. While the Yankees have the most World Series wins and have proven their franchise’s ability to be the top team, the 2008 season was definitely the exception. After throwing salaries topping nearly $400 million, including a 10-year $275 million contract for Alex Rodriguez, they were poised to be the team to beat. This was not the case; they ended the 2008 season in third place in the AL East, lost their chance at a playoff spot and so, did not make a World Series appearance. So as you can see, the Yankees did not get very much bang for their buck, given the ultimate goal for any franchise is to win the World Series.
Trade promotion Management can be a tricky business. In a nutshell, the success of TPM depends strictly on the organization’s ability to manage trade spending, accuracy of the data and SKUs and the system managing that information. So, one would think that throwing more money into their marketing efforts would reap notable benefits and increase revenue. This, much like the Yankees, is not the case. Throwing money and (unpredictable or inefficient) resources at something will not always make it better or more profitable. Think about it, managing WHERE you put your money will make it better and more profitable. Case in point, manufacturers often times don’t have a full grasp of how their trade spend budget is actually being spent and if it is even profitable for them. This is amazing especially since the whole point of trade spend is to increase revenue! How would a manufacturer know there are inefficiencies if there isn’t a process or system in place that houses the data, puts it into a readable, actionable format and allows the manufacturer to analyze their trade spend? If they did, it would empower the manufacturer to identify contracts that are not profitable, identify areas where contracts would be beneficial and be able to eliminate erroneous claims.
Instead of continually dropping money into increasing marketing efforts, investing in a trade promotion solution like Answers Systems ContractPro® solution would empower manufacturers to make sounds decisions about their trade budgets. Information is power; going with your gut (or bad/inaccurate data for that matter) isn’t going to provide a solid foundation for trade spend. So why not stop, take a look at what’s in place, integrate a trade promotion management solution, and reap the benefits of the money being invested in trade spend to its fullest potential. Now, if the Yankees only had a guaranteed system for ensuring success.
A great example of leveraging the data that a solution like ContractPro provides is the process of deducting. In the past one of our clients didn’t control their distributor’s ability to deduct from their invoices. Allowing distributors to deduct at will. With ContractPro in place and providing the necessary data, our client has put a stringent deduction policy in place. As a result deductions have decreased also resulting in a deduction in pendings.
Since 1986, Answers Systems has been meeting the unique trade promotion and compliance performance management needs of the foodservice industry. We stay on the leading edge of software development and service delivery with our ContractPro solution for foodservice manufacturers and ValuTrak® solution for multi-unit foodservice and hospitality operators. Visit www.answers-sys.com today for information or to request a free demonstration on how you can effectively manage your trade promotion.