Key Learning Points from Summarised Chapters
• Key Account Management (KAM) is essential if you wish to keep
your strategically important accounts
• Suppliers tend to overestimate how many Key Accounts they have
and hence fail to focus adequate attention on those that are
strategically important
• A long-term, strategic focus is essential for effective KAM; too many
organisations take a short-term tactical perspective which is more
appropriate to a sales relationship
• While key accounts may exist within the suppliers’ current portfolio,
plans for targeting key accounts should not be limited to current
customers. World-class companies have key account plans for
potential, as well as for actual, key accounts.
• When developing key accounts suppliers should recognise that, as
well as increasing customer penetration (share of spend), there are
also opportunities for growth through selling new products within the
existing account, extending relationships to new areas within a
current key account and building relationships with new customers
through recommendations from existing key accounts
• Key Account Managers and Sales Managers are both important
roles, but they are not the same and require different attributes and