Key account management: Theory, practice and challenges

TLDR

Key account management, an evolution of customer focus and relationship marketing in B2B markets, expands in scope and complexity, offering profit‑enhancing benefits to both sellers and buyers while demanding continuous skill development at strategic and operational levels. The paper proposes a framework to understand the development of key account relationships. The authors developed the framework through in‑depth interviews with key account managers, their supervisors, and key customer contacts, and included a comprehensive guide to current practice and future challenges. The study demonstrates practical implementation of key account management and provides decision‑makers with guidance for long‑term improvement.

Abstract

Key account management is a natural development of customer focus and relationship marketing in business‐to‐business markets. It offers critical benefits and opportunities for profit enhancement to both sides of the seller/buyer dyad. This paper describes a framework for understanding the development of key account relationships. It has also incorporated a comprehensive guide to the current practice of key account management and comments on the challenges for the future of key account management practice. The paper is based on research involving in‐depth interviews with key account managers, their managers and their main contacts in the customer organisation. The scope of key account management is widening and becoming more complex. The skills of professionab involved in it at strategic and operational levels need to be constantly updated and developed. This paper demonstrates how key account management can be implemented and points decision‐makers in the right direction for better practice in the long term.