What is a Relationship Manager and How to Become a Great One?

For the businesses to run smoothly between the customers and the company, you need a certain person who fills in, as a bridge. That bridge in the customer success space is the relationship manager. He/She is usually from the sales team and acts as a liaison among the duo.

The designation of the relationship manager is mostly senior level, given to someone having quality experience, qualified qualifications, and requisite skills. The article today will walk you through the virtues of a relationship manager and how to become one.

• What is a Relationship Manager?
• Responsibilities of a Relationship Manager 
• Skills required for a Relationship Manager 
• How to become a Relationship Manager?
• Types of Relationship Managers

What is a Relationship Manager?

Basically, a relationship manager manages relationships with the clients of the company. In case of any technical glitches, your savior should be a relationship manager. They will help you deal with the circumstance and find you a relevant solution. Further, they will assist you with pertinent sales opportunities that come your way.

While some managers focus on working on the relationship angle and see that everyone’s need is met, some others are keen on developing sales plans based on the client’s needs.

As they are integral to a company’s policies and norms, they consistently strive to streamline a culture of collaboration and value. Further, this is what a healthy business strategy should be based on. And a relationship manager ensures that this takes place, right.

Responsibilities of a Relationship Manager 

• Building healthy and professional relations with your customers and prospects
• Mentoring the business leaders on how to improve the performance and grab even better results
• Notifying the sales team if there is an opportunity for upsell and cross-sell
• Creating roadmaps or an action plan for the quarter or year in advance
• Developing strategies that favor customer and company
• Communicating and aligning the business priorities of both the parties
• Addressing and resolving issues of the clients
• Encouraging stellar customer service practices
• Promoting a positive outlook for the company
• Collaborating and integrating creative ideas for aiding relationships

Skills required for a Relationship Manager 

Soft Skills

To be a relationship manager, where you build relationships for a living, it is of high pertinence that you pay heed to the soft skills segment. Moreover, a strong communicator breaks down silos and foster communication in the healthiest manner. Also, as the majority of your tasks include interacting with executive leaders and leading people, it is better if you have good communication skills.

Not that you need to have the gift of the gab, but acquiring the ability to building relationships with diplomacy and assertiveness is all that matters. Also, you must have the zeal to feed to customer needs. That is when the soft skills help you to attend well to clients and collide together as a team.

Hard Skills

As a relationship manager, acquiring only soft skills would not suffice. You must be an advanced thinker and have the technical know-how when it comes to numbers. Further, having a background in the customer success niche is presumably a benefit. Being tech-savvy helps you to a large extent as well.

How to become a Relationship Manager?

Becoming a relationship manager is neither too difficult nor too easy and it is definitely not going to cost you an arm and leg. For starters, it is better to have a legitimate degree, to begin with.

This could be a Bachelor’s degree too. It would be no problem as long it is in the same discipline needed, such as – finance, business, accounting, business administration, or economics. Again, it depends on the positions. Some of them demand a Master’s degree or MBA equivalent. So go figure.

Moreover, if you are starting as a fresher, you can find a good number of entry-level offers. Better yet, in almost all of the positions, having a little experience gives you the upper hand no matter what.

And if you have already attained substantial work experience, then a couple of senior-level or executive roles could be open for you. However, you need to know that everything depends on how well you execute and perform your role as a relationship manager.

Types of Relationship Managers

Business Relationship Managers

A business relationship manager delves into the internal communication aspect of a business unit. In simpler words, they look into the teams that check the price, purchases, cost facets, and budget. Additionally, they render fruitful information that elucidates the efficient utilization of the resources.

Primarily, this job helps to ascertain data on how well your business is performing. And you as a manager have to look into ways to analyze communications, affix personal issues, and negotiate offers whenever needed. This information can then be used to streamline company policies. A business relationship manager or BRM’s firm and foremost duty is to maintain a positive and healthy relationship between businesses.

Client Relationship Managers

A client relationship manager does the same work of building relations, but on basis of value and trust and not on price. When the factor of trust comes into play, the chances of churning away or picking another competition decreases. They work directly with the customers and help them out with their issues.

One of the other important aspects of a client relationship manager is studying emerging trends and identifying new sales opportunities. Not only that, they plan training and maintenance and aids the customers to get better benefits. Their job works in favor of both the clients as well as the company.

That’s a Wrap

It is quite needed to get good relationship management if you wish your business to run smoothly. It is all about communicating well, resolving conflicts, and managing your prospects. Further, for this, you should understand a customer from their perspective and realize their demands and desires. The better a relationship manager delves into the technical facets of a business, the easier it becomes for him to communicate and train his client.