Strangely, it would appear that there is a dearth in the literature of pragmatic research into Customer Satisfaction and Key Account Management.  This gap has been identified by Rosen and Surprenant (1998).  As a consequence, it is not easy to gain a practical insight into how to establish and improve buyer / supplier interaction in the field.

The lack of ready recipes for key account management is disheartening but also represents an interesting area for continuing research. 

Fournier et al. (1998) exhort managers to ‘get out into the field’ (p. 50) if they wish to understand their customers’ real needs - before the breakdown in relationships ‘translates itself to the bottom line’ (p. 43).

With this in mind, I present several practical case studies in customer satisfaction and key account management.  Together I hope that they provide an insight into how a successful change programme in the field of customer relationships may be implemented.

Case 1 - KAM in a UK distribution service supplier 

Case 2 - KAM in the PET PreForm Industry

Case 3 - In preparation - to be posted in November 2008

References