Insert Statement From DropDown

I have an asp page which runs an update into our mysql database.
The only problem I have is that a user selects a customer from a
dropdown (this is database fed), and I require the selected item to be
loaded into the db.
All I can get in the database is the first part of
their name upto the first space ?
i.e. if the selected item from the dropdown is A B Knowles, the
database entry is 'A'

cust = request.form("customername")

I have tried adding ' " & cust & " ' for the insert statement

What do I need to do to fix this minor glitch.