Key Account Management and Planning: The Comprehensive Handbook for Managing Your Company's Most Important Strategic Asset [Hardcover]

Noel Capon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2001

Columbia University's Noel Capon delivers the only up-to-the-second, must-read handbook for today's sales manager - an A-to-Z how-to on parlaying key accounts, both domestic and global, into unprecedented business success. The current explosion in mergers and acquisitions has prompted a rapid change in the nature of sales straegies and ideologies. So say goodbye to traditional, tired and true systems, and say hello to customer consolidation, account partnerships and above all, increased sales pressure. It's a bold new business world, in which a firm's 'key' accounts are by far its most crucial assets. Recognising the central importance of managing key accounts, Noel Capon has written a timely and truly indispensable guide for the entire sales force, from the sales director to the key-account manager. He presents a powerful, step-by-step framework for developing domestic and global strategies, organising the process, managing the sales force, and effectively analyzing key accounts.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Capon, an academic and consultant, provides a framework for managing key accounts, which he describes as a company's single most important asset, since these accounts produce the major share of sales revenue. He offers a planning process that aids in developing strategies to enhance profitable results from these prized customer relationships. Central to his thesis is his congruence model for key account management, which has the following four elements--identifying key accounts; organizing and managing key accounts; identifying, managing, and rewarding account managers; and maintaining human and information based systems and processes. Capon also addresses the issues of key account-management partnering and global account management. The book concludes with exercises for developing key account management skills and an appendix containing a guide for developing a key account plan. This book could serve as a textbook for the author's executive training programs in key account-management and clearly is an infomercial for his consulting activities. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Fred Schindler International Sales Operations, Program Executive, Global Customer Management, IBM Capon's differentiation of the global account management elements is insightful and will help those considering global account management to avoid some common mistakes. If his advice is followed, companies can get breakthrough results in managing their most important clients. -- Review

Review by Doug Bosse, Strategic Account Management Association Board of Directors Member -- Velocity(TM) Magazine, October 2002

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (September 4, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074321188X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743211888
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,535 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Noel Capon is the R.C. Kopf Professor of International Marketing and former Chair of the Marketing Division at Columbia Business School in New York. He is one of the world's leading marketing educators and the global leader in key/strategic and global account management. He designs and directs numerous educational programs in marketing and account management for Columbia Business School, other educational institutions, and business organizations globally. Professor Capon formed Wessex Press for the express purpose of reducing the high price of college textbooks.

Professor Capon's early training was in chemistry; he holds B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from University College, London University. He also holds advanced degrees in business administration from Manchester (Dip. BA), Harvard (MBA), and Columbia Business Schools (Ph.D.). Prior to joining the Columbia faculty in 1979, Professor Capon was on the faculties of the UCLA Graduate School of Management and Harvard Business School. He has also served as a Visiting Professor at INSEAD (Fontainebleau France), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) (Shanghai). He also holds the position of Distinguished Visiting Professor at Manchester Business School (Great Britain).

Professor Capon's publications have appeared in many refereed journals and managerial outlets. He has also written several research and managerial books on marketing, sales, and account management. At Columbia, he is Director of the Managing Strategic Accounts and Global Account Manager Certification programs. He also teaches on Columbia's Executive MBA program and its partner programs with the University of California, Berkeley (Berkeley/Columbia EMBA) and London Business School (EMBA Global).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough introduction to account management., December 11, 2002

By 

Jeff Vance (Redwood City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Key Account Management and Planning: The Comprehensive Handbook for Managing Your Company's Most Important Strategic Asset (Hardcover)

As a manager in a large international consulting firm, I've been exposed to a number of different issues in a key account management. This is one of the most thorough reviews of the subject I've come across.

The book spends about 30 pages covering the introduction to what Key Account Management is, and more importantly what it is not. It provides a balanced view to the benefits to both the customer and supplier firm, as well as instances where key account management may not be appropriate.

The bulk of the book (Part 2 and 3) covers key account analysis and planning. It devotes two entire chapters to key account analysis and supplier firm analysis/competitor analysis. These are perhaps the most valuable chapters in the book. Chapter 7 covers formulating and capturing the key account strategy -- from the vision and mission statements through action plans and resource committments. Part 2 also provides significant coverage of the various organizational issues around organizing for key account management.

Part 4 covers critical issues in key account management, including issues in partnering with your key accounts and a whirlwind treatment of issues related to global account management.

The content of the book (though dry) is good for a survey of the issues. A number of examples are provided to illustrate points, though some of these examples are fairly weak and could have easily been omitted. The exercises and appendices provided take up nearly 70 pages. The exercises are extremely helpful at boiling down analysis, planning and information requirements for improving key account plans. The appendices provide exposition and further examples to back up the content.

Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone who is new to account management and looking for a very even-handed overview of the structure, processes and critical issues for account management. It was exactly what I expected. I would not recommend this book for someone who is looking for an introduction to a sales organization or for tecniques on selling as that's not where the book is focused.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thorough, March 12, 2002

By 

KndIrl "villipauli" (Helsinki, Finland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Key Account Management and Planning: The Comprehensive Handbook for Managing Your Company's Most Important Strategic Asset (Hardcover)

Working in KAM and writing my thesis on Benchmarking KAM/KAS, I find this book to be one of the two cornerstones for me. It is well-developed and unlike many of the other books on the market, it leaves you with the impression that the process is difficult, but possible with proper planning. I have read many other books on the subject, that tell amusing anecdotes, make it look simple, and give little structure for proceeding. They are actually long sales brochures for the consultants that wrote the books. Capon's book covers how to manage the process of selecting, approaching, and acquiring key accounts, and more importantly, how to align this process with the strategy of the firm. Very useful.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wise, thorough, and timely., October 2, 2001

By 

Jordan D. Lewis (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Key Account Management and Planning: The Comprehensive Handbook for Managing Your Company's Most Important Strategic Asset (Hardcover)

For decades, companies have recognized the central value of getting close to their customers. Yet most attention to that topic has focused on selling to consumers. How to build such vital relationships with business customers has never been spelled out. Noel Capon's new book is far more than the best work on a long-ignored topic. Its breadth, depth, and practicality make Key Account Management and Planning a resource that should be valued by sales and marketing executives, their colleagues, and top executives for many years to come.