Key account management (KAM) is not a sales initiative, it is a business-wide process that must be managed and supported from the top. Here we have a book or all those involved in the management of key accounts, but uncertain about how these important customers are identified, selected and managed. In a clean, direct style, Cheverton cuts to the quick and shows how to achieve the core objectives of KAM: retain existing customers in a competitive environment; grow through acquiring new long term contracts; achieve global 'preferred supplier' status; manage customers serviced by several departments in a consistent way; create a customer intimate business; achieve operational excellence. 'Managing the future' Cheverton says is the purpose of KAM: achieving a realistic balance between objectives, the market opportunity and the resources available. Global cases, tools, techniques and exercises are all features of this inspired little book.