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Background Note
| HBS Case Collection
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1988
Close Encounters of the Four Kinds: Managing Customers in a Rapidly Changing Environment
by
Benson P. Shapiro
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Abstract
Describes four kinds of selling: 1) transaction, 2) systems, 3) major account management, and 4) strategic account relationships. Explains the advantages, disadvantages, and risks of each. The second half is devoted to a discussion of strategic account relationships which embody importance, intimacy, and longevity for both the vending and the buying companies.
Keywords: Customer Relationship Management;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Social Psychology;