It may seem unnecessary to hire both a Public Relations Manager and a Client manager for your company. Do they not both maintain a good relationship with clients and keeping a firm hold on the company image? It may not make sense to pay two salaries in place of one from a company perspective, especially when it seems that both positions fulfill the same purpose.
Although a client manager and a PR manager indeed work towards a joint goal of ensuring a favorable company image, the truth is that they do not play the same role. In fact, they are both diversely specialized roles that are equally important for a company’s success. This article will tell you the key differences between a PR manager and a client manager, and why you need to start opening applications for them if you have not already!
Client Managers
For a successful business, two things are essential: keeping your clients happy and your customers satisfied. These two key components largely determine the brand’s image and long-term success. Client managers are the mediators between clients and the company. They ensure good customer service, and they directly communicate with clients on behalf of the company: delivering proposals, accounts, and more information concerning the client, all come under the responsibility of the client manager. Therefore, a client manager must have a firm grasp of finances and accounting and the ability to form long-term relationships with new and recurring clients. A client manager will likely have a business, sales, or accounting qualification and have excellent communication and management skills.
PR Managers
On the other hand, PR managers take on a more image-based and public communications route to maintain a firm’s positive image. PR managers develop communications strategies and content to create a favorable impression of the company to current and promising clients and customers. They maintain good media relations, pitch stories to different outlets, monitor KPIs, produce content for events, online design content, and more. All of this contributes to and formulates a beneficial image of the company. Therefore, a public relations manager has a creative job that requires staying up-to-date with the latest media and marketing trends and tropes, comparing with competitors, and constant communication with media outlets. Therefore, a PR manager’s qualifications will be areas in communications, journalism, or Public relations itself. They will also need excellent communication skills and plenty of experience in the field, being attentive to the ever-changing marketing world.
As we can see, a client manager and a PR manager serve different purposes in a company structure. One focuses on personal client-company relationships, and the other on a company’s public image. In turn, both will ensure client and customer satisfaction, albeit in very different ways. A business must ensure that its personal and public relations with its clients are stable, which is why the two roles separate and yet equally important.
We hope that this article can shed some light on the varying positions essential to keep in your business. Has our article changed how you feel about client versus PR managers, or do you still believe that they are the same job? Let us know your thoughts below!
