University of Minnesota - UMN Executive Leadership Insights
Key Account Management and Planning
Book

Key Account Management and Planning

The Comprehensive Handbook for Managing Your Company's Most Important Strategic Asset

Noel Capon
Free Press, 2001
Buy book or audiobook

Read offline

Amazon Kindle

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Not surprisingly, the author of this exhaustive guide to key account management is a professor: Noel Capon of the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. His meticulous manual on key account management certainly could be used to teach a course on the subject. He thoroughly explains why corporations turn to key account management to handle their biggest customers. He outlines the benefits to these firms and their clientele, covering every stage of the account management process: selection of clients, key account organization, recruitment, training, research, analysis, strategy, step-by-step action and implementation. Capon’s liberal use of real-life stories, graphs, and examples of what works and what doesn’t helps break up the dry, complex material. This reference book requires commitment and concentration, but getAbstract considers it essential reading for anyone in corporate sales and key account management, or for any sales manager who is considering a key account management system.

Summary

Why Key Account Management?

The traditional salesforce system is quickly becoming a dinosaur. Mounting competition nationally and worldwide has made it more difficult to locate, acquire and retain customers. Labor and technology are more costly, and suppliers must contend with a shrinking yet increasingly influential customer base. Mergers and acquisitions have reduced the number of customers; weaker companies get forced out of the market altogether. For example, Kroger’s purchase of Fred Meyer in 1998 formed a mega-U.S. supermarket chain that reduced the number of supermarkets. Companies are also choosing to deal with fewer suppliers, hoping to reduce costs and receive better service.

The 80/20 Rule Rules

Because traditional sales methods are becoming less effective, corporations are re-evaluating their sales systems. Every company recognizes the significance of the 80/20 rule (20% of a company’s clients generates 80% of its revenue). Therefore, treating your top customers differently than your average customers is prudent. In fact, your best accounts deserve special attention and access to more of your resources. Your key account customers benefit from this...

About the Author

Noel Capon, a business professor at Columbia University, has written more than 80 articles and several books.

Comment on this summary