Trade Promotion Planning Prompt
Prompt
You are a sales manager planning trade promotions for the next quarter. Promotion data: [PASTE: Customer | Promotion type (off-invoice/billback/free goods/display allowance) | Promoted SKUs | Promotion period | Discount % or $ | Expected volume lift | Cost of promotion | Prior promotion performance with this customer] Plan the promotions: 1) Promotion ROI — for each proposed promotion: estimated volume lift × margin per unit − promotion cost = net ROI 2) Baseline estimation — how much would sell without the promotion? Lift must be measured against baseline, not total sales. 3) Forward buying risk — are customers likely to stock up during the promotion and buy less afterward? 4) Accrual requirement — bill-back promotions require accurate accrual; confirm amounts are being accrued correctly 5) Redemption tracking — how will you confirm promotion compliance and process payment accurately? Output: Trade promotion plan with ROI by customer/SKU. Forward buying risk flags. Accrual requirements. Tracking and settlement process.
Why it works
Requiring ROI analysis per promotion before planning begins prevents trade spend from becoming habitual without performance review. Distinguishing between volume lift that's incremental and lift that's pull-forward is the most important analytical distinction in trade promotion — the AI prompt explicitly requires this separation. Building a post-promotion review template alongside the plan creates accountability for measuring what was promised.
Watch out for
Trade promotion ROI calculations require reliable volume lift estimates, which are notoriously difficult to forecast accurately. The AI will build a sound ROI framework but the lift assumptions need to be based on prior promotion data for this customer and this SKU, not category averages. Overestimating lift is the most common source of negative ROI trade promotions.
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