Commercial director to client relations manager
A commercial director already meets 23% of what the client relations manager role asks for. The move turns on 22 required skills not yet in the profile.
80.4/ 100
1 How much of what a client relations manager is expected to do is already part of a commercial director’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the client relations manager role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A client relations manager role treats 6 of its required skills as things a commercial director already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- analyse consumer buying trends
- build business relationships
- develop professional network
- fix meetings
- manage staff
- product comprehension
What stands in the way is 22 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 15 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A client relations manager role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a commercial director background worth leading with.
- already held communicate with customer service department communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held deliver a sales pitch communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held analyse consumer buying trends information skills
- already held customer relationship management business, administration and law
- already held achieve sales targets communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held fix meetings management skills
All 15 carried skills, including the 6 the client relations manager role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 45 missing skills fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn identify customer's needs required
- still to learn advise on public relations required
- still to learn build trust required
- still to learn communicate with customers required
- still to learn create solutions to problems required
- still to learn liaise with managers required
- still to learn maximise sales revenues required
- still to learn perform customers’ needs analysis required
- optional, not held contact customers optional
- optional, not held implement sales strategies optional
- optional, not held teach customer service techniques optional
- optional, not held collaborate in the development of marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held handle customer complaints optional
- still to learn manage customer service required
- still to learn supervise the management of an establishment required
- still to learn identify new business opportunities required
- still to learn manage accounts required
- still to learn supervise work required
- optional, not held supervise sales activities optional
- optional, not held make strategic business decisions optional
- optional, not held monitor customer service optional
- optional, not held plan health and safety procedures optional
- optional, not held plan marketing campaigns optional
- still to learn corporate social responsibility required
- still to learn corporate sustainability required
- still to learn public relations required
- still to learn relationship marketing required
- optional, not held sales strategies optional
- optional, not held business management principles optional
- still to learn guarantee customer satisfaction required
- still to learn follow company standards required
- optional, not held perform customer management optional
- still to learn business communication required
- still to learn communication principles required
- still to learn knowledge base required
- optional, not held data protection optional
1 further area in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a client relations manager role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 corporate social responsibility study this
- 02 corporate sustainability study this
- 03 guarantee customer satisfaction practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 15 skills that carry over
- already held analyse consumer buying trends skill
- already held build business relationships skill
- already held develop professional network skill
- already held fix meetings skill
- already held manage staff skill
- already held product comprehension knowledge
- already held achieve sales targets skill
- already held communicate with customer service department skill
- already held customer relationship management knowledge
- already held customer service knowledge
- already held deliver a sales pitch skill
- already held implement marketing strategies skill
- already held manage contracts skill
- already held perform market research skill
- already held train employees skill
The 1 learning area not shown above
- optional, not held collect customer data optional
- optional, not held analyse business plans optional
- optional, not held analyse business processes optional
- optional, not held analyse business requirements optional
- optional, not held analyse customer service surveys optional
- optional, not held keep records of customer interaction optional
- optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
- optional, not held perform business analysis optional
- optional, not held study sales levels of products optional
23 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held collect customer data optional
- optional, not held contact customers optional
- optional, not held data protection optional
- optional, not held implement sales strategies optional
- optional, not held sales strategies optional
- optional, not held supervise sales activities optional
- optional, not held teach customer service techniques optional
- optional, not held analyse business plans optional
- optional, not held analyse business processes optional
- optional, not held analyse business requirements optional
- optional, not held analyse customer service surveys optional
- optional, not held business management principles optional
- optional, not held collaborate in the development of marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held handle customer complaints optional
- optional, not held keep records of customer interaction optional
- optional, not held make strategic business decisions optional
- optional, not held measure customer feedback optional
- optional, not held monitor customer service optional
- optional, not held perform business analysis optional
- optional, not held perform customer management optional
- optional, not held plan health and safety procedures optional
- optional, not held plan marketing campaigns optional
- optional, not held study sales levels of products optional
17 held skills the client relations manager role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role align efforts towards business development skill
- not needed by the target role commercial law knowledge
- not needed by the target role e-commerce systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role integrate new products in manufacturing skill
- not needed by the target role international business knowledge
- not needed by the target role manage sales channels skill
- not needed by the target role manage sales teams skill
- not needed by the target role manage tender processes skill
- not needed by the target role manage yield skill
- not needed by the target role market pricing knowledge
- not needed by the target role prepare cost-plus pricing models skill
- not needed by the target role pricing strategies knowledge
- not needed by the target role project management knowledge
- not needed by the target role recruit employees skill
- not needed by the target role risk management knowledge
- not needed by the target role use analytics for commercial purposes skill
- not needed by the target role use theoretical marketing models skill
10 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn corporate social responsibility required
- still to learn corporate sustainability required
- still to learn business communication required
- still to learn communication principles required
- still to learn knowledge base required
- still to learn public relations required
- still to learn relationship marketing required
- optional, not held data protection optional
- optional, not held sales strategies optional
- optional, not held business management principles optional
Common questions about this move
Can a commercial director become a client relations manager?
Yes, and it is a career change move. A commercial director already covers 23% of what a client relations manager is expected to do: 15 skills carry over, 6 of which the client relations manager role treats as required.
What skills does a commercial director need to become a client relations manager?
22 required skills are missing, plus 23 optional ones. They fall into 7 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is corporate social responsibility.
How hard is the move from commercial director to client relations manager?
Its learning distance is 80.4 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.