Commercial Impact
40-Point Diagnostic
Commercial Capability Assessment

The A.C.T.S
Audit

A structured 40-point diagnostic designed for ambitious pet and FMCG brands. Identify your biggest commercial opportunities, benchmark against peers, and receive a personalised report — free.

40
Questions
10–15
Minutes
Free
Report
4
Pillars
0 of 40 answered 0%

How to score each statement

Read each statement and score how accurately it describes your business right now — not how you'd like it to be, or how it was last year. There are no right or wrong answers.

Be honest. The value of this diagnostic comes entirely from an accurate picture of your current commercial capability.

1
Not in place / No process
2
Early stages / Ad hoc
3
Some process / Developing
4
Well established / Consistent
5
Best in class / Fully embedded

Your details

A
Assess
Commercial strategy, pricing, data management, and AI readiness
Q1–10
1
Our commercial strategy clearly identifies and prioritises key channels, customers, and geographies, with our resource allocation reflecting this.
2
Our pricing strategy is based on a clear understanding of brand value, the competitive landscape, and price elasticity — not just cost-plus.
3
We have a standardised process for evaluating the ROI of all major promotional activities.
4
Our promotional calendar is a strategic tool designed to achieve specific objectives — not just a repetition of last year's activities.
5
Our commercial team has a strong understanding of the full customer P&L and is empowered to optimise profitability.
6
We have a clear segmentation of our channels and customers, and we deliberately tailor our assortment and pricing for each key segment.
7
We actively monitor how AI and data tools are changing the way our retail partners make ranging, pricing and promotional decisions — and we factor this into our commercial planning. AI
8
We actively track the profitability of each key account or retail customer.
9
We have a consistent approach to managing and leveraging data from both internal sources and our customers.
10
We use data and AI-powered tools to identify commercial opportunities — such as distribution gaps, pricing anomalies, or emerging category trends — that would be difficult to spot manually. AI
C
Commercialise
Selling stories, shopper insight, pitch quality, and digital shelf management
Q11–20
11
Our selling stories are built on a robust foundation of market data, category trends, and specific shopper insights.
12
Our commercial team is formally trained on how to effectively build and deliver compelling selling stories.
13
Our selling stories clearly articulate how our proposals solve a specific customer problem or help them achieve a key objective.
14
Our sales arguments are built around our customers' commercial priorities, rather than just what we want to sell.
15
We have a clear understanding of our customer's business model and how we can support their profitability.
16
We understand how algorithmic search, AI-driven recommendations, and digital shelf ranking affect our products' visibility and conversion on key retail platforms — and we actively manage for this. AI
17
We effectively leverage our commercial strategies to influence each stage of the shopper journey.
18
We have a clear, well-articulated pitch that can be quickly adapted for different customers and channels.
19
Our team is experimenting with or actively using AI tools to improve the quality and speed of commercial outputs — such as pitch preparation, market analysis, or performance reporting. AI
20
Our commercial goals are clearly defined, understood by all team members and cascaded through the organisation.
T
Transform
Negotiation, JBPs, retailer partnerships, and AI readiness in trading relationships
Q21–30
21
We utilise a formal negotiation process that outlines our strategy, defines our "gives" and "gets," and establishes walk-away points.
22
Our commercial terms and investment are explicitly linked to the customer's delivery of specific, measurable performance outcomes.
23
Our Joint Business Plans (JBPs) are genuinely collaborative and contain shared objectives co-developed with the customer.
24
We conduct formal, data-driven quarterly business reviews with our JBP partners to track progress and course-correct.
25
We are confident in our ability to manage requests for non-performance-based trade spend from retailers.
26
We have considered how AI-driven changes in retailer buying, category management, or automated replenishment might affect our trading relationships — and have begun adapting our commercial approach accordingly. AI
27
We can effectively manage and navigate difficult conversations with retailers, such as those about price increases or underperforming products.
28
We proactively seek out and build relationships with key decision-makers and influencers within our customer organisations.
29
Our commercial data and systems are structured in a way that would allow us to adopt AI-powered tools for pricing, forecasting, or trade spend optimisation without a major overhaul. AI
30
Our team has a clear understanding of their legal responsibilities when it comes to commercial discussions, e.g. around recommended retail pricing.
S
Sustain
Team capability, talent development, accountability, and AI skills readiness
Q31–40
31
We have a formal coaching and development plan to ensure our commercial team consistently applies best practices and hones their skills.
32
Our team's goals and incentives are clearly defined and adequately link back to core business objectives with clear targets and measurement frequency.
33
We have a documented process to ensure new commercial team members are fully onboarded and aligned with our strategic approach.
34
We actively track and analyse key commercial metrics to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
35
We have a proactive process for gathering feedback from our retail partners to identify opportunities for continuous improvement.
36
We have clear succession plans in place for key commercial roles to minimise disruption and ensure continuity.
37
We have a clear view of how AI is likely to affect the commercial skills our team will need over the next 2–3 years, and we are actively building capability in those areas. AI
38
There is a culture of accountability in our team, where we both celebrate successes and learn from failures.
39
We have systems in place to ensure our team is prepared for major market disruptions or new competitor entries.
40
We are confident in our commercial team's ability to drive profitable growth for the business for the next three years.

Before you submit

You'll receive your complimentary diagnostic report within 24 hours.
Questions? rich@commercialimpact.co.uk