Key Account: Why Managing Key Clients Is Essential
4 April 2025What is the key account?
A key account represents a strategic client for a company—one that generates significant business volume and has a substantial impact on the growth and stability of the business. Key account management is therefore the set of strategies and activities required to manage and retain these customers, ensuring a long-term relationship and maximizing mutual value.
Who are key clients?
Key clients, or key accounts, are businesses or individual customer that, due to their revenue, market position, or growth potential, represent a strategic asset for the company. These clients often require personalized services, tailored offers, and a high level of attention.
From corporations that continuously purchase products or services to companies with significant influence in the target market and strategic partners for new business opportunities, key clients may require different treatment than normal partners. To manage these needs there is a special professional figure: the key account manager.
What does KAM stand for?
The acronym KAM stands for Key Account Manager, the professional responsible for managing key clients. The primary duty of a KAM is to build and maintain strategic relationships with key accounts, ensuring that the company meets their needs efficiently and effectively.
Their main responsibilities include analyzing the market to identify new growth opportunities with key clients; coordinating with various company departments to ensure impeccable service; creating customized offers; and negotiating profitable contracts.
How much does a key account earn?
The salary of a key account manager varies based on experience, industry, and the size of the company. On average, in Italy, a Key Account Manager can earn between €40,000 and €70,000 per year. In multinational corporations or highly profitable sectors (such as pharmaceuticals, IT, or luxury industries) salaries can exceed €100,000 per year, thanks to performance-based bonuses and incentives.
To become a key account manager, you need to enhance the skills and abilities already necessary for anyone who wants to work in the world of consulting, sales and customer relations.
Bologna Business School offers a dedicated program for sales professionals who aspire to become top consultants for their key accounts.
Understanding client needs and establishing long-term strategic relationships is the goal of the Open Program KAM – Strategic Customer Management. This part-time, online, three-day, English-language program is an immersive and practical training experience. Participants will learn to apply techniques, processes, and skills to develop sales plans that generate increasing profits, placing the key client at the center of their strategy.
Participants will learn to manage SMART objectives (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timebound), put into practice as measurable key process indicators, and to develop and manage a strategic plan for a key account of their choice.
BBS’s focus on knowledge that is always pragmatic and that responds to the real demands of the market finds full correspondence in this Open Program. With a faculty of distinguished experts from both B2B and B2C sectors, the program guarantees a series of high-value training sessions that enhance strategic skills for managing a company’s most important clients.
Key account management is a fundamental component for the sustainable growth of a company. Effective key account management allows not only to retain the most important customers, but also to increase turnover and improve the brand reputation. The role of key account manager is therefore increasingly in demand and well paid. The Open Program KAM – Strategic Customer Management of Bologna Business School is the fastest and smartest access key to a professional figure who can make the difference in the company.
