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The High-Performing Key Account Manager

Creating Sustained Value with Strategic Customers

Javier Marcos, Rodrigo Guesalaga, Andrew Hough, Richard Vincent

Develop the skills and capabilities to maintain high performance, deliver exceptional customer value and drive profitable growth.

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EAN: 9781398620308

Edition: 1

Published: 03 Jun 2025

Format: 234 x 156

392 pages

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About the book

Looking to develop the skills and strategies needed to excel as a key account manager and drive profitable growth?

The High-Performing Key Account Manager is a practical, aspirational guide tailored for mid-career professionals eager to build credibility and lead strategic customer relationships. This book offers proven models and actionable tools to help you develop core competencies, foster trust and implement value-based sales solutions that deliver measurable results.

You'll learn how to:
- Apply principles for building long-lasting, profitable customer relationships
- Implement strategies to build trust and deliver value-driven sales solutions
- Optimize organizational support by enhancing leadership, teamwork and collaboration
- Learn from real-world examples including Siemens, Caterpillar, Honeywell and CISCO
- And develop the skills to navigate challenges and capitalize on emerging market opportunities

Equip yourself with the frameworks and insights needed to perform at the highest level and advance your career in key account management.

Themes include: Key account management, strategic customer relationships, sales strategy, leadership, cross-functional collaboration, career development

About the authors

Javier Marcos is Professor of Strategic Sales Management and Negotiation at Cranfield School of Management, UK. He is co-author of Implementing Key Account Management, published by Kogan Page.

Rodrigo Guesalaga is Professor of Marketing at Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile. He is co-author of Implementing Key Account Management, published by Kogan Page.

Andrew Hough is Lecturer in Sales Leadership and Performance at Cranfield School of Management, UK and is founder of the Association of Professional Sales.

Richard Vincent is Visiting Fellow, Cranfield School of Management, UK and is a founding Fellow of the Association of Professional Sales.

- Chapter - 01: Introduction: succeeding in increasingly complex customer relations
Section - ONE: Network and Ecosystems-Wide Capabilities: Identifying opportunities for sustained value creation
- Chapter - 02: Strategizing and Planning
- Chapter - 03: Researching and Seeking Value-Creation Opportunities
- Chapter - 04: Managing Information and Conducting Financial Analysis
- Chapter - 05: Embracing technology and digitalisation
Section - TWO: Inter-Organisational Capabilities: Fostering High-Value Relationships with Strategic Customers
- Chapter - 06: Developing Lasting Relationships
- Chapter - 07: Engaging, Communicating and Building Trust with Key Customers
- Chapter - 08: Fostering Value-Based Selling and Co-Creating Solutions
- Chapter - 09: Negotiating And Designing Supplier-Customer Partnerships
Section - THREE: Intra-Organisational Capabilities: Creating the Conditions for High-Performance Account Management
- Chapter - 10: Promoting Customer Centricity
- Chapter - 11: Building Teams and Enhancing Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Chapter - 12: Achieving Top Management Involvement and Support
- Chapter - 13: Leading And Influencing Both with And Without Authority
- Chapter - 14: Conclusion: Enhancing Your Performance as Key Account Manager

Reviews

Prof. George S. Yip, Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Imperial College London, author of Total Global Strategy and Managing Global Customers.

This book focuses on KAM implementation as well as strategy, making it a great addition to the guides for key account managers, especially the chapter on the use of information technology and artificial intelligence.

Prof. Neil Rackham. Speaker, writer and Author of SPIN selling.

The UK is the global leader in KAM research and practice, due, in no small measure, to the years of best practice experience gathered and codified at Cranfield. The High Performing Key Account Manager collects together some of the best Cranfield thinking and will be an invaluable source of advice and leadership for both academics and practitioners.

Steven Elsham. Head of Marketing, Commerce, Service & Revenue Clouds EMEA Commerce Champion Saleforce Nederland

The High-Performing Key Account Manager is a critical resource for anyone serious about driving significant revenue and building lasting partnerships with strategic clients. This isn't just a theoretical text; it delivers practical, immediately actionable guidance that you can apply to your key accounts right away. Whether you're a veteran key account manager looking to sharpen your edge or a rising star aiming for rapid impact, this book provides the essential knowledge and practical tools to not just manage key accounts, but to truly excel.

Dr. Daniel Prior. Associate Professor of Buyer-Supplier Engagement

The High-Performing Key Account Manager is an essential resource for anyone interested in strategic sales. The team have brought together a great mix of KAM theory with practice-relevant insights sourced from some of the brightest and best KAM thinkers from around the world. Grounded in an extensive body of research, this book is destined to being one of the great KAM resources of our time!

Prof. Deva Rangarajan, Professor of Marketing and Sales at IESEG School of Management, France

This is a highly relevant and engaging book on key account management. The authors have not only provided a strategic take on this topic, but also provide a practical, hands-on approach for managing high-value clients, covering essential topics like relationship building, value co-creation, and long-term customer retention. In particular, their use of testimonials from key account managers in combination with evidence from academic research, makes this a must read for executives, business school faculty, and for university students.

Kate Rotheram, BMS Specialist, Intelligent Buildings

Every good seller should always be thinking about Key Account Management, a toolkit such as this book is great to refer to and remind yourself of some key points to help keep you on track with your customers. If KAM's were to adopt even a few strategies from this book you will be more successful than your peers. If you work for a company who supports KAM you won't go far wrong.

Prof Lynette Ryals OBE Deputy-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Business & Management, Cranfield University

This book brings together perspectives from leading academics and practitioners in the field. A welcome message that emerges from their work is that culture, customer understanding and flexibility are as important as structure and processes in making companies customer-focused and generating high performance. Of course, key account managers need to do their analytical homework and manage a data-rich environment, but the role of trust and the importance of collaboration and of mutual understanding in successful key account relationships is set out here.

Prof. Christoph Senn, CEO Valuecreator AG and Adjunct Professor INSEAD

This book is an essential guide for account managers dedicated to driving value creation. With practical advice and real-world examples from different industries, this book provides hands-on tools to demonstrate measurable value, foster growth, and navigate complex business environments. A must-read for those looking to elevate their impact and drive long-term success.

Dr Philip Squire, CEO Consalia Sales Business School

Comprehensive, up-to-date, extremely well-referenced, this book is a brilliant insight into the world of contemporary key account management with a great blend of academic research and practitioner insight. This must read for anyone in key account management, we shall certainly be including the book on our reading lists.

This book focuses on KAM implementation as well as strategy, making it a great addition to the guides for key account managers, especially the chapter on the use of information technology and artificial intelligence.
Prof. George S. Yip, Emeritus Professor of Marketing and Strategy, Imperial College London, author of Total Global Strategy and Managing Global Customers.

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