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Malcolm McDonald on Key Account Management
Malcolm McDonald on Key Account Management explores the challenges of winning, retaining and developing key accounts. Key accounts are customers who help their suppliers grow, and consequently, they wield significant power. Although they are the key to market share and revenue growth, the costs of serving key accounts can erode profitability unless they are thoroughly understood and managed.
Malcolm McDonald on Key Account Management takes a step-by-step approach to presenting best practice in key account management. Whether your business is starting up or well-established, there is always more to discover about improving the way value is created between you and your most important customers. Malcolm McDonald and Beth Rogers have spent over twenty years researching, teaching and consulting on key account management, and have condensed their knowledge into this book, focusing on making it clear, concise and easy to use.
Malcolm McDonald on Key Account Management takes a step-by-step approach to presenting best practice in key account management. Whether your business is starting up or well-established, there is always more to discover about improving the way value is created between you and your most important customers. Malcolm McDonald and Beth Rogers have spent over twenty years researching, teaching and consulting on key account management, and have condensed their knowledge into this book, focusing on making it clear, concise and easy to use.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 3, 2017
18 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm McDonald
68 books9 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 22, 2017
Key account management is a phrase that many seem to either understand or fail to appreciate, so this book can help focus or educate the mind and hopefully lead to positive change.
The reader will understand and appreciate the importance and power of a key account for their business, a customer who not only orders a lot of product or service, but they also contribute to the growth of their supplier’s suppliers and underpin the business-at-large. Of course, they may order a lot, but servicing their needs and requirements can also cost a lot too, so the relationship must be properly managed, understood and focussed. It is a lot more than just prioritising their needs and ‘kissing butt’.
This is an excellent, considered book, distilling decades of real-world experience from the authors into something that can be beneficial for beginner or old-hand alike. The reader is taken through the whole process from winning key accounts through to retaining and developing the relationship. The authors say whilst key accounts are mostly companies, there is no reason why the same principles cannot be used to sell complex products and services to high-worth individuals.
Many fictional but authentic case studies are used to help illustrate and reinforce the advice given and this is supplemented by many quotations from industry participants who comment on various topics and issues. In many ways, even those who do not have key account management responsibilities as part of their job could benefit from looking at this book if they get the chance, since some of the advice could still be beneficial to their sales and other managerial activities. More information can also be gathered from the various reference sources given at the end of each chapter, should be further or deeper reading be desired.
The authors also try and consider the future to see what future challenges may occur in the field of key account management. This is not just space-filling, since they did a similar exercise 20 years ago and as they show, quite a few of their forecasts bore fruit.
A very credible book that can be potentially very powerful indeed in the right hands.
The reader will understand and appreciate the importance and power of a key account for their business, a customer who not only orders a lot of product or service, but they also contribute to the growth of their supplier’s suppliers and underpin the business-at-large. Of course, they may order a lot, but servicing their needs and requirements can also cost a lot too, so the relationship must be properly managed, understood and focussed. It is a lot more than just prioritising their needs and ‘kissing butt’.
This is an excellent, considered book, distilling decades of real-world experience from the authors into something that can be beneficial for beginner or old-hand alike. The reader is taken through the whole process from winning key accounts through to retaining and developing the relationship. The authors say whilst key accounts are mostly companies, there is no reason why the same principles cannot be used to sell complex products and services to high-worth individuals.
Many fictional but authentic case studies are used to help illustrate and reinforce the advice given and this is supplemented by many quotations from industry participants who comment on various topics and issues. In many ways, even those who do not have key account management responsibilities as part of their job could benefit from looking at this book if they get the chance, since some of the advice could still be beneficial to their sales and other managerial activities. More information can also be gathered from the various reference sources given at the end of each chapter, should be further or deeper reading be desired.
The authors also try and consider the future to see what future challenges may occur in the field of key account management. This is not just space-filling, since they did a similar exercise 20 years ago and as they show, quite a few of their forecasts bore fruit.
A very credible book that can be potentially very powerful indeed in the right hands.
April 16, 2022
This is a good book that explains the benefits, responsibilities, details and risks of adopting a key account management strategy. There are tons of books on sales and selling but very few like this on account management rather than cold calling or closing techniques.
If you are a salesperson looking to move into a KAM role, or early in your career, this book is perfect as an introduction. There are some useful chapters on establishing, hiring and supporting KAMs and another on account based marketing, which compliments the content and emphasised the need for a holistic approach across teams for thr KAM model to work.
A useful book for KAMs, sales managers and those involved with selling to strategic accounts.
If you are a salesperson looking to move into a KAM role, or early in your career, this book is perfect as an introduction. There are some useful chapters on establishing, hiring and supporting KAMs and another on account based marketing, which compliments the content and emphasised the need for a holistic approach across teams for thr KAM model to work.
A useful book for KAMs, sales managers and those involved with selling to strategic accounts.
January 17, 2026
As an experienced AM for 5+ years, there wasn’t much in here that I didn’t know already. Was looking to learn a few things for the next step in my career, but I guess it comes down to what industry you’re in. I’d still recommend this for anyone looking to switch fields into general Account Management.
April 8, 2025
Lots of good and practical insights in an easily digestible style!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews