Key Account vs. Other Sales Management Systems: Is There a Difference in Providing Customer Input During the New Product Development Process?

While the introduction of a new product or service carries considerable risk, incorporating customer input into the new product/service development (NPD) process increases the probability of commercial success. In their boundary spanning role, industrial (B-to-B) salespeople are well suited to serve as a conduit between customers and those inside their company who are largely responsible for the NPD process. The current study investigates the perceptions of sales managers and examines the role the sales force may play in the early stages of the NPD process. An empirical analysis is conducted to determine whether differences exist between organizations that employ key account management (KAM) systems and those that do not employ KAM systems. The findings of this study suggest that salespeople from KAM organizations are better suited to provide input into the NPD process than their non-KAM counterparts.