Finally gain recognition for your Key Account Management skills
Professional Diploma in Key Account Management
Unleash your potential and embark on a transformative journey towards the Professional Diploma in Key Account Management. Elevate your career, amplify your impact, and become a recognised leader in your field.
Register now and commit to your professional growth as you work towards the Diploma.
What is the Professional Diploma in KAM?
The professional Diploma in Key Account Management is a qualification by Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
If you’re an experienced key account manager, this Diploma is your ticket to becoming a recognised leader in your field.
Apply today and give yourself a competitive edge.
Want to boost your credibility as a key account manager?
AKAM offers a new era of respect for your competencies with the Professional Diploma in Key Account Management, awarded through Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). It stands as a testament to your expertise, valued across industries and regions. By holding this prestigious designation, you join a league of distinguished professionals who proudly display ‘DipProKAM’ after their name.
The Diploma in KAM is designed for key account managers with substantial experience and pre-existing competencies.
It does not depend on a fixed course of study or attendance anywhere. AKAM recognises that understanding and competency can be gained in more than one way, through:
Learning by Doing
Peer Exchange
Formal Learning
Self-Study & Research
How can you explain your skills? AKAM’s competency profile for key account management provides the criteria for assessment. Describe your skills alongside each element of the competency profile and you won't go wrong.
Discover the path to recognition
Register
And pay 50% fee. Gain access to AKAM Member Resources and 8 online business discipline lectures
Send trial competency
Choose one. Receive expert feedback and guidance to help you present your remaining competencies
Competency Completion
Describe how your competencies meet AKAM’s stated key account manager profile
Competency Submission
And pay 50% fee. Experienced assessors review your report v AKAM’s key account manager profile
Gain the Professional Diploma in KAM
Receive your certificate and entitlement to use ‘’DipProKAM’ after your name
Fundamental supporting knowledge
Key account management involves leveraging adjacent business disciplines, though you may not be consciously aware of that. Because any proper qualification requires some acknowledgement of underlying theory, AKAM provides you with 8 online lectures to cover those basics.
- 1. Key Account Management: Dr Diana Woodburn, AKAM Chairman
- 2. Buying/Procurement: Dr Colin Scott, Grange Partnership
- 3. Selling/Business development: Niall Hayes, Technological University of Dublin
- 4. Marketing: Dr Lesley Murphy, Technological University of Dublin
- 5. Supply chain: Dr Simon Templar, Cranfield School of Management
- 6. Finance: Dr Kate Scott, Grange Partnership
- 7. Organisational behaviour: Dr Slava Dmitriev, Rennes Business School
- 8. Leadership: Dr Ashley Roberts, Warwick Business School
Make your skills tangible
Stand out as a top-tier Key Account Manager and unlock new career opportunities with the Professional Diploma in KAM. Gain awareness in key areas, develop your expertise and achieve recognition for what you can do and the value you offer. At last, you can have solid, independent evidence for your employers.
Includes 2 year AKAM membership with access to all events and resources
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Registration £750*
Optional mentoring for one trial competency; access to fundamental business discipline lectures and Member Resources; plus AKAM membership for 2 years. (*£350 for employees of Full or Programme corporate member organisations)
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Assessment and certification £750
Assessment fee on submission of 12 competencies and certificate for successful candidates (including employees of Full or Programme corporate member organisations). Must be submitted within 2 years of registration.
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Resubmissions: There may be a fee for resubmission of competencies not initially accepted
Frequently Asked Questions
The Professional Diploma is designed for key account managers who already have considerable experience. Its Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) acknowledges diverse, pre-existing learning opportunities and is therefore NOT a course. However, the series of 8 recorded lectures provides education in frequently missed but highly relevant areas.
AKAM’s competency profile for key account management provides the criteria for assessment. Describing your skills alongside each element of the competency keep you aligned with the assessor. You can also send ‘evidence’ in the form of material you have produced, like a strategic key account plan, minutes of a team meeting, communications to customers or internal people, etc. Including how you have applied KAM and other business discipline theory is encouraged, whether conscious or not at the time.
Four key areas are each described as 3 or 4 specific competencies (14 in total): Business and customer understanding, Selling and business development, Organisational effectiveness, and Relationships and interaction.
It’s not mandatory but you’ll find it really helpful. Sometimes it’s hard to recognise and express yourself and a mentor can really help by holding a mirror up to reflect your qualities. We suggest your boss or someone else who knows you well professionally.
Complete one competency, your choice of the 14 listed. Choose one of your strengths and submit it for feedback before tackling the others. If you haven’t quite nailed how to express your competencies, you can adjust your approach before spending time on the others.
Each competency area consists of 3 or 4 specific competencies. Aim for about 500 words per competency (totalling about 2000 words per overall competency area). Describe how and why you approach the requirement with examples of what you’ve done, supported by evidence where available (we understand you can’t evidence some competencies). This qualification is about you, don’t waste your words describing what your company does (except as part of ‘Understanding own company’.
Even if you acted inappropriately (i.e. incompetently) in a particular situation, you can still claim acquired competency if you now understand and can explain what you should have done differently and why.
Key account management is a wide-ranging, multi-functional role, hence the 14 competencies specified. But we understand certain competencies may not have been part of your job, so you are required to present 12 of the 14 competencies. You choose which two not to submit.
Start working towards recognition of your KAM abilities and knowledge now
Show the world what you can do
Take charge of your future by starting your journey towards the Professional Diploma today. You’ll learn more about yourself and grow as you work through the process.
