Client relations managers are key figures in fostering strong, positive, and lasting relationships between a company and its clients. They play a pivotal role in understanding client needs, addressing concerns, and ensuring overall satisfaction. Client relations managers work collaboratively with various departments to align services with client expectations and contribute to the overall success and growth of the business.
Excludes customer experience managers. Excludes people working with short-term customers in the hospitality, recreation or entertainment industry.
The following job titles also refer to client relations manager:
consumer relations manager customer service representative customer service manager customer service executive client service manager client manager client service representative client relationship manager
Client relations managers typically work in office settings, engaging with clients through in-person meetings, phone calls, and digital communication channels. The role may involve occasional travel to meet with key clients, attend industry events, or participate in conferences. The working conditions can be dynamic, requiring adaptability to different client personalities, industry sectors, and evolving business needs.
A bachelor’s degree in business, communications, or a related field is commonly required for client relations manager positions. Strong interpersonal, communication, and negotiation skills are essential. Practical experience in client relations, customer service, or account management is valuable, and many client relations managers advance into the role after gaining relevant experience. Continuous learning, staying updated on industry trends, and participating in professional development opportunities contribute to the ongoing success of client relations managers in building and maintaining strong client partnerships.
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
Client relations manager is a Skill level 4 occupation.
This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of client relations manager.
Public relations: The practice of managing all aspects of the image and perception of a company or individual among stakeholders and the society at large.
Corporate social responsibility: The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders.
Product comprehension: The offered products, their functionalities, properties and legal and regulatory requirements.
Communication principles: The set of commonly shared principles in regard to communication, such as active listening, establishing rapport, adjusting the register, and respecting the intervention of others.
These skills are necessary for the role of client relations manager.
Guarantee customer satisfaction: Professionally handle customer expectations, anticipating and addressing their needs and desires. Provide flexible customer service to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Create solutions to problems: Solve problems that arise in planning, prioritising, organising, directing/facilitating action and evaluating performance. Use systematic processes of collecting, analysing, and synthesising information to evaluate current practice and generate new understandings about practice.
Communicate with customers: Respond to and communicate with customers in the most efficient and appropriate manner to enable them to access the desired products or services, or any other help they may require.
Advise on public relations: Advise business or public organisations on public relations management and strategies in order to ensure efficient communication with target audiences, and proper conveying of information.
Perform customers’ needs analysis: Analyse the habits and needs of customers and target groups to devise and apply new marketing strategies and sell more goods more effectively.
Manage staff: Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.
Identify customer’s needs: Use appropriate questions and active listening in order to identify customer expectations, desires and requirements according to product and services.
Develop professional network: Reach out to and meet up with people in a professional context. Find common ground and use your contacts for mutual benefit. Keep track of the people in your personal professional network and stay up to date on their activities.
Manage customer service: Manage the delivery of customer service including activities and approaches that play a vital part in customer service by seeking and implementing improvements and developments.
Build business relationships: Establish a positive, long-term relationship between organisations and interested third parties such as suppliers, distributors, shareholders and other stakeholders in order to inform them of the organisation and its objectives.
Manage accounts: Manage the accounts and financial activities of an organisation, supervising that all the documents are correctly maintained, that all the information and calculations are correct, and that proper decisions are being made.
Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of client relations manager. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Business management principles: Principles governing business management methods such as strategy planning, methods of efficient production, people and resources coordination.
Customer service: Processes and principles related to the customer, client, service user and to personal services; these may include procedures to evaluate customer’s or service user’s satisfaction.
Data protection: The principles, ethical issues, regulations and protocols of data protection.
Customer relationship management: The customer-oriented management approach and basic principles of successful customer relations that focus on interactions with customers such as technical support, customer services, after-sales support and direct communication with the customer.
Sales strategies: The principles concerning customer behaviour and target markets with the aim of promotion and sales of a product or a service.
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of client relations manager. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Implement marketing strategies: Implement strategies that aim to promote a specific product or service, using the developed marketing strategies.
Study sales levels of products: Collect and analyse sales levels of products and services to use this information for determining the quantities to be produced in the following batches, customer feedback, price trends, and the efficiency of sales methods.
Perform business analysis: Evaluate the condition of a business on its own and about the competitive business domain, performing research, placing data in the context of the business needs and determining areas of opportunity.
Handle customer complaints: Administer complaints and negative feedback from customers in order to address concerns and where applicable provide a quick service recovery.
Deliver a sales pitch: Prepare and deliver an understandably constructed sales talk for a product or a service, identifying and using persuasive argumentation.
Analyse business processes: Study the contribution of the work processes to the business goals and monitor their efficiency and productivity.
Contact customers: Contact customers by telephone in order to respond to inquiries or to notify them of claim investigation results or any planned adjustments.
Measure customer feedback: Evaluate customer’s comments to determine whether customers feel satisfied or dissatisfied with the product or service.
Keep records of customer interaction: Record details of inquiries, comments, and complaints received from customers, as well as actions to be taken.
Perform customer management: Identify and understand the customer’s needs. Communicate and engage with stakeholders in designing, promoting and evaluating services.
Manage contracts: Negotiate the terms, conditions, costs and other specifications of a contract while ensuring they comply with legal requirements and are legally enforceable. Oversee the execution of the contract, agree on and document any changes.
Plan marketing campaign: Develop a method to promote a product through different channels, such as television, radio, print and online platforms, social media with the aim to communicate and deliver value to customers.
Collect customer data: Collect customer data such as contact information, credit card or billing information; gather information to track down purchase history.
Analyse business requirements: Study clients’ needs and expectations for a product or service in order to identify and resolve inconsistencies and possible disagreements of involved stakeholders.
Communicate with customer service department: Communicate with customer service transparently and collaboratively; monitor how service is operating; relay real-time information to customers.
Collaborate in the development of marketing strategies: Work together with a group of professionals to develop marketing strategies performing market analysis and financial viability while staying aligned with the company’s goals.
Implement sales strategies: Carry out the plan to gain competitive advantage on the market by positioning the company’s brand or product and by targeting the right audience to sell this brand or product to.
Achieve sales targets: Reach set sales goals, measured in revenue or sold units. Reach the target within a specific timeframe, prioritise sold products and services accordingly and plan in advance.
Analyse customer service surveys: Analyse results from surveys completed by passengers/customer; analyse results to identify trends and draw conclusions.
Supervise sales activities: Monitor and oversee the activities related to the ongoing sales in the shop to ensure that sales goals are met, assess areas for improvement, and identify or solve problems that customers could encounter.
Train employees: Lead and guide employees through a process in which they are taught the necessary skills for the prospective job. Organise activities aimed at introducing the work and systems or improving the performance of individuals and groups in organisational settings.
Monitor customer service: Ensure all employees are providing excellent customer service in accordance to company policy.
Make strategic business decisions: Analyse business information and consult directors for decision-making purposes in a varied array of aspects affecting the prospect, productivity and sustainable operation of a company. Consider the options and alternatives to a challenge and make sound rational decisions based on analysis and experience.
Perform market research: Gather, assess and represent data about target market and customers in order to facilitate strategic development and feasibility studies. Identify market trends.
