Customer knowledge processing and key account performance

The purpose of this paper is to identify the dimensions of customer knowledge processing (CKP) in the context of key account management (KAM), and to examine its relationship with the supplier's key account performance.

The findings of the paper are based on empirical survey data collected among large industrial firms in Finland.

The findings of the research show that CKP is a three‐dimensional construct made up of acquisition, dissemination, and utilization. The degree of acquisition and utilization are found to be significantly associated with the supplier's key account performance.

In order to improve key account, performance managers need to recognize customer interaction as a source of customer knowledge. In addition to acquiring knowledge about their customers, they also need to learn to utilize the knowledge residing in them in their customer‐value‐creation processes.

CKP is represented in this paper as a construct reflecting the processing of knowledge about and from specific strategically important key account customers. It is also perceived as a determinant of successful KAM.