The process
How AI-powered TPM worksfrom plan to payout
Six stages, one platform, and a go-live measured in days. Here is what happens, who does it and what you have at the end.
The six stages
From the first plan to the last claim, in one place
Every promotion moves through the same six stages, and nothing leaves the platform for a spreadsheet.
Stage 1
Plan
Customer, SKU, dates, mechanic, planned trade spend. All in one structured form that enforces consistency across sales and trade marketing.
- Who
- Sales and trade marketing
- Result
- A structured promotion plan
Stage 2
Forecast
Baseline volume, promotion lift %, expected total volume, and planned net revenue, all modeled with the brand's historical performance curve.
- Who
- Trade marketing and finance
- Result
- Planned volume, spend and net revenue
Stage 3
Approve
Commercial and finance approve against ROI thresholds, spend caps, and brand-level trade budget. Every decision captured in the audit log.
- Who
- Commercial leadership and finance
- Result
- An approved plan with an audit trail
Stage 4
Execute
Track in-flight activity, actual shipment volume, and trade spend commitments against the approved plan, in real time.
- Who
- Sales and supply chain
- Result
- Actual volume against the plan
Stage 5
Reconcile
Match retailer deductions, process accruals, settle disputes, and clear outstanding claims, all against the approved promotion.
- Who
- Finance
- Result
- Deductions matched, accruals settled
Stage 6
Evaluate
Measure gross margin, promotion lift, plan vs. actual variance, and trade ROI, by retailer, period, or promotion group.
- Who
- Finance and FP&A
- Result
- Retailer P&L and promotion ROI
Go live in 5 to 10 business days
What your first two weeks look like
Legacy TPM projects take 3 to 9 months. PromoQuery runs on Excel templates and a TPM expert who sets it up with you.
Day 1
Kickoff
Meet your TPM expert, agree the scope and share your current planning workbook.
Days 2 to 3
Master data
Load products, retailers, distributors and your deduction type library from Excel.
Days 4 to 6
First promotions
Bring in current promotions and set up your approval workflow and users.
Days 7 to 8
First deduction match
Load recent deductions and match them against the plan together.
Days 9 to 10
Go live
Your teams plan in PromoQuery and finance reviews the first retailer P&L.
Who does what
One plan, four teams, no handoffs
Sales
Builds promotion plans by customer, runs the customer calendar and sees planned against actual volume.
Trade marketing
Designs the mechanics, sets spend parameters and checks which promotions worked.
Finance and FP&A
Validates deductions, manages accruals and builds the gross-to-net retailer P&L.
Leadership and the CFO
Approves trade budgets, reviews retailer P&L and measures promotion ROI.
Get started
Get complimentary access to PromoQuery.
Create an account in under a minute. We email you a link to log in right away, and a CPG TPM expert will follow up to help you load your data and go live in 5–10 business days.
- No credit card required. Core platform free forever.
- Free setup help from a dedicated CPG TPM expert.
- Your data stays yours. SOC 2 principles. AES-256 encryption.