During the last decade, the management of collaborative relationships with selected customers has attracted much attention among marketing researchers and practitioners alike. Communi­cation is the glue that holds relationships together. As an increasing number of supplying firms introduce key account management (KAM) systems to service their major accounts, it becomes crucial to understand the impact of key account managers’ communication on collaborative relationships. Based on a qualitative study among key account managers and a quantitative study among purchasing managers, this paper tests a framework for key account managers’ communication and its impact on customer-perceived value and satisfaction.