Untangling value-based customer management approaches in business markets: Value-based selling, customer success management, key account management

Abstract

Although there has been increasing research attention to value-based selling, customer success management, and key account management over the last decade, these concepts have largely been explored in independent streams of literature. As a result, the boundaries and relationships between these customer management approaches remain blurred, and their implementation in business practice often leads to unclear responsibilities and conflicts across organizational units, which may adversely affect customer satisfaction and loyalty. Drawing on recent conceptualizations of customer-perceived value in business markets that build an overarching goal shared by value-based selling, customer success management, and key account management, this article unravels the existing conceptual understandings of these approaches at the specific activity level. We develop an integrated conceptual model that not only articulates the three approaches' conceptual distinctions but also illuminates their interrelationships and complementarities. This study contributes theoretical insights, offers actionable management implications, and identifies promising avenues for future research. • Clarifies conceptual distinctions between value-based selling, customer success management, and key account management. • Uses customer-perceived value framework distinguishing expected value in use, experienced value, and relationship value. • VBS creates expected value propositions; CSM manages value realization; KAM builds long-term strategic relationships. • The conceptual model reveals complementarities among approaches and guides allocation of customer-facing responsibilities