The role of a business relationship manager (BRM) is that of a strategic, senior-level business partner who shares ownership for business value results, as well as, business strategy. Even though BRMs come from different areas of business, the position requires the candidate to have a specific set of skills, such as strategic thinking, strong communication and influential relationship-building. Companies across every industry grow their business value by hiring business relationship managers. If you covet this position, you need to sharpen your skills. Also, you can boost your chances of being hired as a BRM by enrolling for Business Relationship Management Professional programme of Training Creatively and getting certified. Keep reading to know the responsibilities and duties of a business relationship manager.
Job description of a business relationship manager
As we have already mentioned before, a business relationship manager is a senior-level position. The BRM maintains executive-level relationships and is the single point of focus when it comes to converging functions like, HR. IT, finance and so on. The primary objective of a BRM is to break down the silos that are separating business functions in order to optimise cohesive effectiveness and jointly make strategic decisions. Today, successful organisations can converge business functions through the capability of a BRM. The end result is a drive toward a culture of innovation, creativity and value, and collaboration that reflects the strategy of the organisation as a whole.
BRMs function to advance and support business objectives. Additionally, they shape business demands into supply by:
- Improving value optimisation and communication
- Appropriating resources to enable the creation of business cases, idea documents and value plans
- Facilitating continuous improvements in all areas, as well as, in the people around them
BRMs key responsibilities and duties
Traditionally, the role of a BRM is focused on the customer and how the organisation supports the needs and expectations of the customers. In business relationship management, there is a growing trend to pay attention to other stakeholders from the perspective of a customer like special interest customer groups.
Relationship management involves analysis, systematic identification, management, improvement and monitoring of stakeholder relationships to improve and target mutually beneficial outcomes. Also, it is the responsibility of the BRM to maintain regular communication with stakeholders and ensure that their needs are addressed with empathy; and with consideration of the environment. Therefore, a BRM makes sure that stakeholder concerns, needs and complaints are addressed and understood.
The ITIL framework outlines the following responsibilities that are assigned to business relationship managers:
- Making sure that customers are always prioritised when there are any change or new products/services. Also, ensure that the priorities are aligned with the goals of the organisation.
- Ensuring that conflicting stakeholder requirements is immediately mediated and appropriately
- Taking care of escalations and complaints from stakeholders through a formal, yet sympathetic process
- Tracking technology and customer trends that could potentially impact service provision and customer perception.
Experience and skills needed to become a BRM
Business relationship management straddles both the business and IT world. So, if you wish to handle this role, you should have skills and knowledge of both, but you should be more business focused. This job role is best undertaken by someone who is a senior-level staff and has experience in working in both supporting and front-facing roles from technology and business worlds. The soft skills required to be a successful BRM are:
- Excellent communication skills
- Leadership qualities
- Collaboration
- Empathy and emotional intelligence
- Understanding and solving business problems
People or soft skills are a major requirement as the job role entails dealing with customers in a way that not only meets their needs, but also solves their concerns and problems.
So, if you want to become a business relationship manager, you can take a look at our certification courses that can help you add the needed feathers to your cap. Our courses are all certified and accredited by global examination institutes. You can leverage our online training facilities and be able to improve your skills by sitting in your house or anywhere. Our online classes are flexible and Training Creatively provides candidates everything they need to pass the examinations. From dedicated tutor support to course manuals and sample questions, we take care of everything.