In a nutshell : What is "Key Account Management" ?

1. KAM (Key Account Management) means creating a portfolio of customers by  selecting them carefully and organizing yourself to serve them as if each customer is a "market" by himself. 
2. Question :How do you select such customers ? Answer : You select those customers who will help you where you want to go. Caveat : You need to know first where you want to go yourself want to go : which markets ? with what positioning? based on what competence?
3. Question : How do you organize KAM ? Answer : By creating a specialist group within your company who, ideally, knows the customer's business as well - or even better - than the customer does. You must know his customers, his compulsions and his opportunities. You should be able to deploy all 5 marketing processes for such a customer. (I hope you remember what these processes are : market sensing, diagnosis and design of strategy, customer fulfillment, customer revenue acquisition and improvement driven by customer satisfaction measurement). If necessary you should be in a position to create a marketing plan for your customer as good as he can. Only when this is done will you earn the respect that a true partner deserves. Caveat : The primary consideration is whether the customer is really ready for a partnership mode and whether the benefits - financial and otherwise - to you are commensurate with the trouble you will need to take?
   
4. Speak in the buyer's problem language. The language of big problems is the language of time, money and risk. If you are speaking about product features, service guarantees and comparative analysis of your benefit, then be sure to list one-for-one with your competitor. Speak to the right level of buyer. You know you have to go higher to get executive sponsorship for bigger sales. This isn't new. The real issue is that it's not just sponsorship to be delegated to a lower level buyer. You need to stay with the executive sponsor through the entire process to get the sale done. That means focusing on his or her problem and staying on point.
   Focus on the early outcomes. Real improvements for your customers on bigger sales can be seen in the near-term. They are the currency of first steps and they give your buyers the necessary early results to encourage them and quiet potential detractors. This doesn't mean outrageous claims; it means measurable progress that can be observed early.
   Show how the change will take less than they fear. Big sales delay and die based upon fear, not for a lack of interest or anticipated benefit. Uncertainty is the grit in the gears of change. Spell out every step and show how you and your company will carry the load.
   Set the first step as NOW. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Don't sell past the next step in the process. Focus on what is necessary to be understood by you and your buyer from one step to the next. Accomplish the bigger sale one step at a time.
   Your record-breaking sale means pushing yourself to talk to bigger people about bigger problems, then showing the path for the buyer to see with confidence that each step will be safe, measurable and valuable.