Miami Beach, FL, May 22, 2024 — The Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA) honored Noel Capon, R.C. Kopf Professor of International Marketing at Columbia University Business School, with a lifetime achievement award at the 2024 SAMA Annual Conference.
The award recognizes Capon’s unparalleled legacy and profound impact on the SAMA community, celebrating his enduring commitment to advancing knowledge and transforming the practice of strategic account management.
As the recipient of the inaugural award, Capon and his legacy will always be reflected in the honor. The trophy will be given out periodically as contributions merit and will forever be known as “The Professor Noel Capon Award.”
“Noel is someone whose contribution to SAMA is beyond measure,” said Geoff Williams, SAMA’s then interim President and CEO. “He’s a longtime guru in the world of marketing strategy, sales, and strategic account management. This is a well-deserved lifetime achievement award. On behalf of SAMA, thanks for all you have given to our community.”
Capon’s extraordinary career spans over four decades, marked by pioneering research and profound insights shaping — if not building — the landscape of strategic account management. For the last five years, he has served on the SAMA Board, but Capon has been a longtime contributor to the community through his 40+ books, 80+ articles and book chapters, plus SAMA’s Velocity magazine articles and conference presentations.
“Noel’s influential contributions, from groundbreaking publications in the Harvard Business Review to innovative teaching methodologies, have brought academia — sometimes kicking and screaming — into understanding the business importance of sales and strategic account management,” said Williams.
The award presentation also included a video of colleagues congratulating Capon, featuring Mike Ahern, C.T. Bauer Chair in Marketing and Research Director of the Sales Excellence Institute at the University of Houston, and Hitendra Wadhwa, Founder of the Mentora Institute and Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School.
“I want to shine a light on a remarkable individual whose dedication to the fields of sales management and key account management have really left an indelible mark,” said Ahern. “Noel Capon isn’t just an academic. He’s a visionary, a mentor, and a friend.”
“Noel, it gives me such great joy and it’s such an honor to be fêting you here for your lifetime of contributions and commitments to this community,” said Wadhwa. “I have the fondest of memories of that very first moment where I stepped into the portals of Columbia about 22 years ago. You took me into your fold, into your office, and offered me the opportunity to teach ‘Pricing Strategies’ as my very first class at Columbia. And then over the years, [you] mentored me and guided me at such pivotal moments.”
In accepting the award, Capon revealed the driving force behind his career and many publications.
“I believe that the strategic management job is one of the most important [jobs] in your companies,” he said. “I’d just like to wish you all the best of luck in what is a highly important, but very difficult and challenging job. Hopefully, you have learned a lot from this SAMA conference […] and take it back to your organizations, so you continue to meet your objectives. Thank you very much.”
On June 18-19, Capon will lead a two-day interactive program, Growing and Managing Global Customers. The program offers an in-depth look at the fundamental business models and the strategic account management evolution for accounts in an interconnected global world. Attendees will get the insights and tools needed to implement a comprehensive approach to improve global account relationships.
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