# TELUS Trade Promotion Management Reviews **Vendor:** Telus **Category:** [Trade Promotion Management Software](https://www.g2.com/categories/trade-promotion-management) **Average Rating:** 3.9/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 18 ## About TELUS Trade Promotion Management TELUS Trade Promotion Management’s offerings (formerly Blacksmith Applications) are delivered via a SaaS platform specifically engineered to streamline both retail and foodservice trade planning, execution and analysis in a single, auditable system of record. The solution empowers consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers to move beyond manual oversight by centralizing promotion planning, financial reconciliation and advanced optimization. By integrating these critical functions, the platform ensures that every dollar of trade spend is backed by real-time P&L visibility and precision-driven forecasting to maximize total return on investment (ROI). For manufacturers navigating the fragmented data landscapes of the CPG industry, TELUS TPM serves as a primary driver of operational efficiency. It directly tackles the common challenges faced by sales, finance and revenue growth management teams. The platform bridges these gaps by simplifying the complexities of deduction management while simultaneously enhancing the reliability of inventory and demand planning through real-time baselines and volume phasing. A core pillar of the technology is its purpose-built framework that supports foodservice and retail trade in a single platform. TELUS TPM manages direct shipment data alongside indirect redistribution sales and helps reduce administrative effort by automating deduction matching and accruals, featuring native data integration with industry giants like Sysco, US Foods, and DOT. This specialized visibility into contracts and promotions allows teams to collapse analysis cycles from one week down to just 30 minutes and achieve 30% better forecasting through AI-enhanced demand modeling. Furthermore, its advanced proxy planning capabilities allow brands to maintain data accuracy for new launches or non-syndicated retailers even when traditional POS or syndicated data is unavailable. Beyond execution, the platform provides deep financial intelligence through a fully-configured, always-live P&L and automated accrual management. This transparency enables leadership to make proactive pricing decisions and prevent overspend before it impacts the bottom line. By leveraging an AI assistant, users can interact with their data in plain language to uncover hidden performance drivers and reallocate resources to the most productive programs. Scale with confidence: TELUS TPM is a seven-time Promotion Optimization Institute Best-in-Class award winner with a legacy of delivering measurable results, including recovering $2.1M in lost revenue in two years for a single partner. With over 25 years of industry experience and a global footprint of more than 300 clients, TELUS solutions are trusted by 15 of the top 20 CPG companies. Industry leaders such as Smithfield Foods, Lindt Canada, and T. Marzetti rely on TELUS TPM to drive superior promotional performance and achieve sustainable growth. For more information on TELUS TPM results visit TELUS.com/consumergoods. ## TELUS Trade Promotion Management Pros & Cons **What users like:** - Users appreciate the **business efficiency** of TELUS Trade Promotion Management, streamlining tasks and enhancing productivity. (1 reviews) - Users find TELUS Trade Promotion Management very **easy to use** , thanks to its organized workflow for prioritization. (1 reviews) - Users appreciate the **planning efficiency** of TELUS Trade Promotion Management, enhancing their ability to prioritize tasks effectively. (1 reviews) - Users find the **security features** of TELUS Trade Promotion Management reassuring, enhancing their work organization and prioritization. (1 reviews) **What users dislike:** - Users find the **outdated interface** of TELUS Trade Promotion Management lacks a contemporary feel, hindering a smooth experience. (1 reviews) ## TELUS Trade Promotion Management Reviews ### 1. Easy-to-Use, Structured Platform That Consolidates Trade Planning to Settlements **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Manufacturing | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 05, 2026 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** It is very ease to use and also very structured.I really like how it consolidates everything from initial trade planning to claims and settlements into a single user friendly platform. Previously we used to manually cross refer retailer clearing bills but now system automatically matches deductions based on the events. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Importing historical data from old Excel files into the platform is quite difficult. The file upload system needs precise formatting. When an error happens, the troubleshooting messages are often unclear, making the user rely on trial and error. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** Previously teams used to rely on manual, error-prone tracking across disconnected files. Now this Telus Trade Promotion Management solves the problems of disconnected spreadsheets. **Official Response from Kelley Loeber:** > Thank you for sharing your review and for your partnership with TELUS. We are pleased that our platform is helping your team streamline processes and eliminate manual spreadsheet tracking. We also appreciate your feedback regarding the data ingestion and formatting experience; insights like yours are critical as we continuously refine the platform. Thank you for your business. ### 2. Competitive Pricing, Smooth UX, and Plenty of Integrations **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Nil G. | Executive Member, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 09, 2026 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** It offers a wide range of integrations, and the pricing tiers are competitive. The onboarding flows felt a bit too long, but in the end they were worth the effort. It’s a deep piece of software, so onboarding should take time. Also, the UX made it easier. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** I’m missing more AI functionality. Nowadays, it’s expected to have more AI agents working side by side with you, but in this version of Telus they aren’t fully implemented. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** We were with smaller providers before, but they couldn’t meet our requirements. Their programs weren’t deep enough for our use case, and Telus managed to solve it. **Official Response from Kelley Loeber:** > Hi Nil, thank you for your review and for your business. We are glad to hear that our platform's depth, user experience and integration capabilities are delivering value for your organization. Regarding your note on AI functionality, we have deployed these capabilities across other global regions and are working to integrate them into our North American product. Thank you for your partnership as we continue to evolve our solutions. ### 3. Improves Mindset and Helps Achieve Targets **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sarosiz D. | Subject Matter Expert, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 15, 2026 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Helps to improve people's mindset and achieve the target. Helps in residing the challenges and create impacts on the measure targets and goals provided **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Nothing as the program is very helpful and likely helps all the required information in right platform and right amount of time. A great initiative al **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** Manages well oriented data and secure kpi and kra according to the basic job platform along with right amount od time and patience al together hiring the correct way of approach ### 4. "Forging Excellence: A Riveting Review of Blacksmith Applications" **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Bibhas A. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 08, 2023 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** 1- Streamlined Workflow:this can enhance efficency and Productivity 2-Community and Support : this fosters a sense of community and provides a platform for learing and growth with its backsmithing teams 3-Comprehensive Toolsset 4-Design and Visulizations **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** 1- Limited Customizations: In blacksmith application there are limited option for customization or adatbaility to specific Workflow 2- Technical Issue: these issue can disrupt Workflow cause data loss or lead to frustrations for user 3-Price : there is issue or cost because those who prefer free tools or application so blacksmith **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** there are some benifits of Blacksmith its a positively impact blacksmith by enhancing the Productivity, improving accuracy in Porject managment and cost extimations, faciliating the collaborations and providing resouces to valuable resources and support withi balcksmith Community ### 5. increases sales effectiveness and profitability **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Vikas t. | Linux System Administrator, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 21, 2023 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Platform increases sales effectiveness and profitability by making promotional strategies more efficient. Blacksmith Applications is a valuable tool for success in trade promotion due to its user-friendly interface and advanced features. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** This lack of flexibility could limit productivity or require workarounds to achieve desired results. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** provides tools for enhancing collaboration between manufacturers and retailers, optimizing trade spend, forecasting sales, analyzing data, and improving visibility and control of trade promotion activities. ### 6. Blacksmith: Easy to learn, Smooth to Navigate **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Accounting | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 16, 2023 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Security - You can feel reassured that using Blacksmith is a secured channel. On top of this, Blacksmith organizes your work in a way that makes it easy to prioritize to know what you need to complete next. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** The UI is outdated. I think it could use a touchup to feel a bit more contemporary for younger users to use but also so that it makes it even smoother to work within it. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** Blacksmith helps organize deductions and rebates taken by customers in order to be able to take notes, communicate with others, document, and close underlying issues about them. ### 7. Excellent SaaS platform **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jennifer Q. | Revenue Cycle Analyst, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** May 09, 2023 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Excels in providing insight to company data. We primarily use for budgeting and forecasting. The analytics and tracking are user friendly. The customer service is responsive and helpful. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** No dislikes, everything has been great so far. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** Able to budget and forcast appropriate for our needs. ### 8. Has been smooth, and effective **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Frasier M. | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 06, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** I like that's it's simple. Once you understand how to work with it, it is incredibly easy to use and communicate through it. I like how I can set reminders on my records that I track so that I can receive emails that let me know I need to update something or reach out to someone. I also like how in every record, I can attach any document that is pertinent to that record so then later on, i can send an email out with all of those documents combined. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** I think that the user interface could be updated to be more contemporary and perhaps even easier to use. There are some clicks that seem redundant to me. For example, I'll have to "open" a record that I'm looing at in order to click on edit. that seems like an extra click that is not needed. Also, it's impossible to copy information with a mouse. i have to hit control+C in order to copy. Uploading can be an issue because the actual 'upload' button does not show up all the time so I may have to upload a file 3 or four times before it finally shows up. **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** Simple service and Easy to use. I enjoy being able to upload files/documents very easily and be able to email to contacts already loaded into the system. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** Revenue Analysis and I/R. I use the system to organize, track, and close outstanding issues that involve deductions, invoice receivables, and rebates. ### 9. Review by Sam Cooper **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Sam C. | Costing Analyst, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 15, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Most likely the format and layout, working in finance - a lot of systems can be overly complicated for little reason **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** In my work - sometimes taking too long to do something can be detrimental, some of the processes I have been trained on take longer for me than they do on our current systems. **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** Like any business - please do due diligence and coduct testing to ensure Blacksmith is definitely for your company. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** The problems we are solving mostly are customers sending us incorrect info - blacksmith is helping us mitigate this. ### 10. Tough to learn at first but easier as i gain more experience **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Food Production | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 09, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Ability to easily copy programs and renew them **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** I think it is sometimes slow to respond and not always to find what i'm looking for **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** It is a great product and easy to use. You can house all of your programs and pricing in one place. I highly recommend any organization using it and use it as a CRM. I would compare to others in the market and you will find it is the best program for you to use. It allows for all employees to collaborate on opportunities and keeps everyone in the loop. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** I use Blackmith to put together pricing programs for customers. It is nice to have everything housed in one location. ### 11. Blacksmith Application **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Restaurants | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 06, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** I utilize the Blacksmith application for various clients and find it system easy to use and understand. Recently had a new client and when they asked our opinion of what application to use, I suggested Blacksmith; which they took the suggestion. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** I have found that it would be helfpul if I was able to not only export programs, but also each item and price for each item , exporting that from the application would be a great help. **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** N/A **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am able to check for claims as well as renew expiring programs. ### 12. Blacksmith review **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Food Production | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 09, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** easy to load programs and view programs and their status **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** too many clicks are needed to do simple things, it would be nice if it defaulted to me as the RSP, but I have scroll to make that change each time. **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** n/a **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** not solving any current problems, benefits are easy of use ### 13. Seems like an easy program to follow **Rating:** 2.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Joel G. | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 14, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** The format/layout of the site was easy to navigate **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** I didn't use the application enough to find anything that I disliked about it **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** I briefly went through a bill back webinar. And realized that this program has the capabilities to handle the process ### 14. Easy to Navigate **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 09, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Best feature is that it is intuitive. The application is pretty self explanatory. Filter functions are straight forward. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** There tends to be a delay or lag when moving between screens. Information that can be entered for the award is limited. **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** Make sure you enter the Operator name in the title. It helps with searching. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** The application let's me verify if a contract was previously created and houses pricing history. ### 15. Foodservice Industry Technology Expert **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Amy C. | IT Business Relationship Manager, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 05, 2019 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Their in depth knowledge of the Foodservice Industry shapes a technology solution that doesn't have to be customized to fit manufacturers needs. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** They have grown substantially and can't always be as responsive as you would like them to. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** Insights into deal profitability, quicker Billback processing times, access to industry knowledge/changes. ### 16. Blacksmith Review **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Food & Beverages | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 14, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** Integration, reliability and ease of use **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** user interface, lack of speed, duplicate programs that are not **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** Get your customization completed early **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** Tracking trade payments ### 17. Great Tool To Organize and Reconcile Your Trade Spend **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Food Production | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 05, 2019 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** The Blacksmith system is very user friendly. The Blacksmith applications allow you to analyze your trade spend and look at ways to reduce your spend. **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** There is not much to dislike about Blacksmith Applications. There is sometimes extra steps to take, but this is to help you avoid any duplicate or incorrect entries **Recommendations to others considering TELUS Trade Promotion Management:** Try this system and see for yourself why Blacksmith is the preffered application. **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** We have identified and stopped unauthorized distributor deduction problems. This has allowed us to increase our profit margins with our operator customers. ### 18. Blacksmith **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Food Production | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 14, 2020 **What do you like best about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** program screen makes it easy to view all programs & statuses **What do you dislike about TELUS Trade Promotion Management?** too many clicks needed to complete basic tasks **What problems is TELUS Trade Promotion Management solving and how is that benefiting you?** managing trade ## TELUS Trade Promotion Management Discussions - [How do i search for existing program easier?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/25985-how-do-i-search-for-existing-program-easier) - 1 comment, 1 upvote - [View TELUS Trade Promotion Management pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/telus-trade-promotion-management/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-06-15+18%3A58%3A41+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=68b0f805-f3f1-4408-a9c7-43c09ca8d9f4&secure%5Btoken%5D=441066edd602f825189754a093edc2f66618b72402fce53b326179125d220cdf&format=llm_user) ## TELUS Trade Promotion Management Features **Reports** - Reports Interface - Graphs and Charts - Dashboards **Promotions** - Planning - Campaigns - Funds Allocations - Alignment **Collaborate** - Optimization - Supply Chain Planning **Platform Additional Functionality** - Dashboard - Cloud - On-Premise **Reports** - Reports Interface - Share Reports - Steps to Answer **Generative AI** - AI Text Generation - AI Text Summarization **Document Management - Deduction Management** - Analysis - Repository **Agentic AI - Accounting & Finance** - Autonomous Task Execution **Optimization** - What-if Scenarios - Recommendations - Adjustments - Data Harmonization - Strategic Analysis - Optimization Models - Forecasting **Logistics** - Warehouse Optimization - Inventory Targets - Procurement Planning **Platform Data** - Visualization - Platform Search - Dashboard - Alerts and Notifications **Visualization** - Graphs and Charts - Score Cards - Dashboards - Formats **Analytics** - Lost Opportunities - ROI - Forecasting **Platform Basics** - Reporting - Interoperability - Performance **Data Updates** - Historical Snapshots - Real-Time Updating **Campaigns** - Plan - Execution - Tracking - Opportunities **Collaboration** - Sharing - Co-Editing - Devices **Self Service ** - Calculated Fields - Data Column Filtering - Data Discovery - Search - Collaboration / Workflow - Automodeling **Marketing - Trade Promotion Management** - Strategy - Collaboration - ROI - KPI - Analytics **Advanced Analytics** - Predictive Analytics - Data Visualization - Big Data Services **Building Reports** - Data Transformation - Data Modeling - WYSIWYG Report Design - Integration APIs **Platform** - Mobile User Support - Customization - User, Role, and Access Management - Internationalization - Sandbox / Test Environments - Performance and Reliability - Breadth of Partner Applications **Data Updates** - Historical Snapshots - Real-Time Updating - Email Reports ## Top TELUS Trade Promotion Management Alternatives - [SAP HANA Cloud](https://www.g2.com/products/sap-hana-cloud-2025-10-01/reviews) - 4.3/5.0 (521 reviews) - [Canva](https://www.g2.com/products/canva/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (6,417 reviews) - [CaptivateIQ](https://www.g2.com/products/captivateiq/reviews) - 4.7/5.0 (3,410 reviews)