Capon goes on to look at how an account manager should size up competitors’ presence, suggesting that he or she should know the answer to these questions at divisional level within the customer: "What are our various market shares at the key account? How does that compare to our competitors?"

He also looks at satisfaction surveys and suggests that, whilst they are useful, "when supplier firms lose business, typically the key account is not unsatisfied with the supplier firm!"  Often a satisfied customer will switch suppliers because of a better price and, for Capon, the crucial issue is the drivers behind the decisions made by the key account.  This again is analysed in detail.

It is perhaps disappointing to find that the measurement of the profitability of key accounts is consigned to a five-page appendix, particularly when Capon admits in the first paragraph that "systems for measuring customer or account profitability are more rare (than systems measuring product profitability)".  Given that we are all in the value creation game, isn’t accurate measurement of vital importance?  And shouldn’t it be the measurement we seek to use for all our actions?

Key Account Management and Planning by Noel Capon is published by The Free Press, ISBN 0-7432 1188-X, Price $45.00.