Joint Business Plans Are Broken. Here’s How To Fix Them

Effective joint business plans (JBPs) can boost retailer-manufacturer profit pools by more than 10% in a single year, according to Bain & Company. Yet most JBPs deliver “little—if any—incremental benefit.

Why such a massive gap between potential and reality?

After years of helping FMCG giants and ambitious challengers transform their customer planning processes, we’ve seen behind the curtain. We’ve helped our clients rebuild strategies from scratch and developed digital tools that turn overwhelming data into actionable insights.

And the pattern is clear: exceptional collaboration is absolutely possible—but only if you’re willing to dismantle everything you think you know about planning.

Let’s be honest: JBPs are too often just glorified sales decks with a retailer’s logo hastily pasted onto slide one. We can do better.

THE PROBLEM IN PLAIN ENGLISH

Most JBPs are about as “joint” as a divorced couple sharing custody of a Netflix account. Here’s what’s actually happening:
It’s a one-way street: Manufacturers show up with targets they’ve already decided on and call it “collaboration”.

Money fights: Both sides waste time haggling over trade funds instead of growing the business
Data hoarding: Everyone’s sitting on valuable information they won’t share
Short-term addiction: Quick promotional hits win over long-term category growth every time
When targets aren’t met, the blame game begins. Retailers feel JBPs are just vendor initiatives not addressing their real needs, so they disengage. The result? A plan neither side believes in that wastes everyone’s time.

HARD-EARNED LESSONS FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE TABLE

We’ve seen what works—and what doesn’t—from every angle, from strategy meetings at headquarters to conversations on the retail floor, inside CPG giants, and challenger brands. Our team has sat on both ends of the table, bringing a perspective shaped by real wins and the near-misses that teach you just as much.

1. Cut the complexity
One supplier scrapped their byzantine promotion system and rolled everything into the everyday price, giving the retailer control over promotions. Revolutionary? No. Effective? Yes.
The manufacturer cut their sales team costs by 30%, and the retailer gained flexibility they actually valued.
Do this tomorrow: Take your 17 different promotional funds and consolidate them into three clear buckets. Your team will thank you, and retailers will actually understand what you’re offering.

2. Make it ongoing, not annual
A beverage company replaced their annual planning marathon with quarterly joint steering committee meetings. They discuss everything from new products to supply chain integration with their Latin American retail partner. The result? Double-digit category growth and significantly improved in-stock rates.
Do this tomorrow: Schedule monthly 30-minute check-ins with your top three retailers. No PowerPoints allowed—just discuss what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs to change.

3. Bring data no one else has
A mid-sized food manufacturer was being squeezed by larger competitors until they showed up with AI-powered insights about shopping patterns that even the retailer didn’t have. Suddenly, they weren’t just another vendor—they were valued advisors.
Do this tomorrow: Identify one unique data point you have that would benefit your retailer, and share it freely at your next meeting without asking for anything in return.

4. Make it about the category, not just your brand
Retailers are drowning in suppliers pushing their own products. Stand out by showing them how to grow the entire category.
Category-first thinking builds more than trust—it builds business. When manufacturers act as true category advisors, they shift the conversation from “how do we sell more?” to “how do we grow this space together?” Retailers notice. Whether it’s spotting assortment gaps, surfacing new shopper trends, or rethinking merchandising, brands that lead with value to the category don’t just get shelf space—they earn influence.
Do this tomorrow: Before your next meeting, prepare a one-page analysis of an emerging consumer trend that benefits the category first, your brand second.

A REAL SUCCESS STORY WITHOUT THE FLUFF

When P&G and Walmart tackled the air freshener category together, they didn’t just push existing products. They identified genuine consumer needs, developed new formats like car vent clips, and created in-store experiences that excited shoppers.
The result wasn’t just incremental sales—it transformed an underperforming category into a growth driver. P&G sold more products at higher prices, and Walmart increased both traffic and basket size.
They broke through because they stopped treating planning as a negotiation and started treating it as actual collaboration.
Three Questions to Transform Your Next Retail Meeting

Before walking into your next customer business planning session, ask yourself:
“What problem am I solving for this retailer that they actually care about?” (Hint: it’s not helping you hit your quarterly target)
“If we completely eliminated promotions, how would we grow this business?”
“What information am I keeping to myself that could benefit both of us if shared?”

Here’s the bottom line: Less PowerPoint, more partnership. Less negotiation, more collaboration. Less looking backward, more planning forward.
The companies that get this right aren’t just changing presentations—they’re changing how they work. And they’re leaving their competitors wondering why all their perfectly formatted JBPs aren’t delivering results.

By

Sebas Ramírez and Luís Zunzunegui
Hibrids