Think of Amazon without customers, or maybe just think what Apple would do without iPhone/ Mac users. I believe it’s too hard to even contemplate. The ruthless business world, which is marred by stiff business competition and rapid technological developments, needs the support of a large customer base to support its functioning and operations.
The relevance of customers is huge for each and every business organization as it not only helps to improve profitability but also helps to establish a brand name.
This creates the need for a relationship manager (RMN) who acts as a bridge between the products/ services offered by an organization and the requirements or needs of the customers. It is a verbal position, wherein you will be required to communicate a lot. If you have relevant skills and interests, just make it your permanent profession and crack your upcoming interview by reading the interview questions mentioned below:
21 Best Interview Questions To Study
1. Decsribe Yourself In One Word.
This is a tricky personality evaluating question wherein you are required to summarize your whole personality into a single word.
Sample Answer
Sir, I see myself to be an “extrovert” and always communicate a lot with everyone. I never resist sharing my feelings and emotions with anyone. This even makes me a perfect match for this opening.
2. What Are The Different Ways Using Which Customers Can Be Contacted?
This question tests your understanding of practical working knowledge.
Sample Answer
Sir, there are several ways to contact customers. The most used methods are:
- Personal interactions over a telephone
- Email correspondence
- Sending flyers, brochures, and physical mails to client addresses
3. What Are The Various Consequences Of A Bad Customer Service?
This question requires you to state the several impacts that negative customer services have on your business.
Sample Answer
Sir, bad customer service is like a termite. It would eat out your business gradually until nothing is left. The various consequences are:
- Reduced or practically zero “word of mouth advertising”
- High rate of customer attrition
- Significant loss of business
- Lower conversion rate due to spoiled brand image
4. Differentiate Your Resonsibilities and Duties With That Of A Sales Representative.
The role of a relationship manager is different from that of a sales representative, however, both these job profiles are considered to be similar to each other. This question tests your understanding of your job profile.
Sample Answer
Sir, to simply say, the end of the sales representative is the beginning of the relationship managers. This is because the customers onboarded by them are retained, satisfied, and nurtured by the relationship managers by addressing all their queries and issues.
Further, we might not be involved in direct selling, but sometimes we are certainly required to persuade prospective customers into subscribing to our services or buying our products.
5. Share Some Of The Best Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software That Are Widely Used In The Industry.
This question tests your understanding of the different software used in the industry.
Sample Answer
Sure, Sir, These are:
- Zoho CRM
- Bitrix24
- Nimble
- Pipedrive
- Ontraport
6. What Is Your Understanding Of The Five Phases Of The Customer Life Cycle? Can You Explain Them In Brief?
This question tests your core domain knowledge in relation to customer management.
Sample Answer
Sir, a customer moves through several phases in his journey, which starts from a customer need to the phase where s/he advocates your products to other customers. The five phases are:
| Name of the different phases | Explanation |
| Reach | The organizations use marketing materials (flyers, brochures, advertisements, banners, etc) to reach the prospective customers |
| Acquire | Making the prospective customers understand the dynamics of the products with a view to converting them |
| Develop | Establishing a relationship with the consumers after their first purchase by collecting feedback and opinions |
| Retain | The customers are constantly apprised of new products and offers through marketing efforts |
| Advocate | The customers are made loyal, and taken to a point, wherein they become advocates of the company’s product and engage in “word of mouth advertising” |
7. Assume A Situation In Which A Few Of Our Customers Have Teamed Up and Are Expressing Their Grievances Vehemently. How Will You Handle This Situation?
This is a situation-based interview question, wherein you are required to react in a positive manner. Just show your optimistic side and prepare an encouraging response.
Sample Answer
Sir, customers are the undisputed kings. They serve as the basis for the existence of every company and must be served at all times. In the instant situation, firstly, it is necessary to calm the grieving customers down and then actively listen to all their queries and issues. Post this, a relationship manager must use his or her critical thinking abilities and deliver a perfect resolution.
8. Share A Real Workplace Moment When You Misbehaved With The Clamouring Customer(s).
This is a tricky situation-based question, as you are required to share an event in which you got frustrated and misbehaved with the customers of the company. You just can’t be diplomatic by simply saying that “I never faced such a situation” and will be needed to give a detailed answer.
Sample Answer
Sir, relationship managers are also humans and have feelings as well as emotions. It is true that we practice high levels of patience and strive to handle every situation calmly. But, sometimes the irritation and frustration overwhelm us. I remember an instance when a customer pin-pointed me and made some personal comments. That really irked me and I lost my temper.
9. What Are The Qualities That An Ideal Relationship Manager Must Possess? Share The Best Five.
This question checks how much you understand your job role.
Sample Answer
Sir, the role of a relationship manager is more of a communicative role in which s/he is required to engage in meaningful conversations with the customers of the company. This requires an RMN to possess several qualities, which are:
- Persuasive
- Detail oriented
- Critical thinker
- Quick witted
- Patient
10. In An Established Business Organization Like Ours, We Always Believe In Following An Egalitarian Approach and Employ Human Resources From Diverse Backgrounds. Will You Be Able To Mix Up and Give Your Best In Such A Work Environment?
Most business organizations nowadays are ethnically and culturally diverse. They employ people from different religions, backgrounds, castes, and creeds. Thus, working as per the organizational standards in such a diverse work atmosphere is a common expectation. Always answer this question positively.
Sample Answer
Sir, working with peers and colleagues that are from different religions and follow a different culture is in itself exciting and motivating, wherein you will get an opportunity to meet new people from different countries. I can certainly thrive in such a diverse work environment and even deliver my best.
11. What Are Your Views In Relation To “Change Management”. Can You Adjust Yourself As Per The Changing Business Rules, Policies and Environment?
This question tests your views in relation to flexibility and adaptability.
Sample Answer
Sir, change is the law of nature. A person who does not move with time and remains stubborn is always isolated and left behind. I am a committed individual and always prefer to move along with the changes made by the management.
It is true that “change management” pushes you out of your comfort zone, but, being a progressive individual, I have always remained adaptable and highly flexible to the different needs of the manegement.
12. Describe About A Time When You Performed A Task Like A Novice When You Had No Prior Knowledge and Understanding Of It.
This is a personality evaluating question that requires you to state the manner in which you handle tasks that are new to you and you are not aware of the manner in which you have to perform them.
Sample Answer
Sir, I admit that corporate jobs are challenging. There are always some tasks that are new to you and you have not got any training for them. I remember a similar situation when I was asked to use the management software and update the customer details in it.
I had never used that software, and it was really tough for me to update data. However, I never quit, used a few self-help books, software manuals, and aced this new task.
13. What Are Your Views In Relation To “Overthinking”? Is It A Weakness?
Being a relationship manager you are supposed to persuade customers and establish excellent rapport with them. This sometimes makes an RMN engage in overthinking. This question requires you to analyze it.
Sample Answer
Sir, in my humble opinion, “overthinking” is certainly a weakness. It is a state of mind wherein you are just processing your thoughts at an unprecedented fast speed, which ultimately renders no result. This is just a waste of human efforts and I always strive to protect myself from it by being relevant.
14. What Do You Mean By Confidentiality Of Business Information? How Can You Protect Its Sanctity?
As a relationship manager, you will certainly have several pieces of critical information in your possession. Thus, an interviewer through this question requests you to share several ways using which you can protect confidential information from getting leaked.
Sample Answer
Sir, the protection of secret business information is a must. The trade secrets, practices, and other valuable information is the intellectual property of the organization and is owned by the stakeholders. The best way for employees to protect their sanctity is by just mindlessly following the established guidelines related to the flow of communication. Further, be assured that I will never leak any such information to any of our customers or rivals.
15. Employees Need Constant Motivation To Perform and Deliver What is Expected From Them. What Motivates You To Work?
It is a proven fact that the life of corporate employees is not less than that of a machine. They wake up every morning, eat their innocent breakfast as fast as they can, catch the public transport and just toil at their workplace. This daily routine commands a lot of discipline and patience, which is possible only through effective motivation.
Thus, through this question, an interviewer requests you to share the motivational factors that prompt you to work hard at your workplace and beat the monotony. Since all these factors are personal in nature and are influenced by your living circumstances, just be genuine, and never narrate any generic answer.
16. Our Legacy Is Created By Our Talented and Hardworking Employees. Thus, We Always Hire The Best Human Resources. So, What Can You Offer Us That None Of The Other Candidates Can?
To combat the rapid rise in the level of competition, the level of interview questions has also been notched up. This question is a beautiful presentation of the regular interview question, “What are your strengths?”. To prepare an ideal response for this question, just follow the following steps:
- Analyze the job description issued to you by your employer
- Write down on a piece of paper all the major requirements of the job in short sentences
- Identify the qualities that will satisfy those requirements
- Use these identified qualities and prepare a perfect response
17. The Role Of A Relationship Manager Would Require You To Regularly Engage Into Persuasive Conversations With The Customers. When Done On A Daily Basis This Can Lead To Stress and Anxiety. Can You Handle This Pressure?
Stress management is a common expectation of business organizations. This is primarily because of the notion that a stressed employee will not be able to meet the established standards, as well as, cut a sorry figure most of the time. Hence, an interviewer is always interested in knowing about the various strategies adopted by you to manage your stress levels at the workplace.
Deep breathing, meditation, yoga, and positive pep talk are considered to be some of the techniques to bust work-related stress.
18. In The Life Of Corporate Employees, There Are Always Times When You Are Not Able To Deliver, Despite Putting Your Best Effort. How Do You Handle This Workplace Related Failure?
Success is the most desired emotion. Humans have a natural tendency to struggle to get successful so as to experience the feeling of exhilaration and jubilation that soothes us like a cold drink in blistering summers.
However, success is a journey and you just cannot store or preserve it. In tough times, employees crave success and this puts their work under scrutiny. When uncontrolled, this pushes them towards depression. Hence, every interviewer is interested in understanding the various techniques using which you manage your workplace failure and simply get out of this mess.
19. As A Developed Business Organization, We Will Require You To Perform Several Business Tasks In A Single Day. All Of These Will Have Deadlines That Are Needed To Be Achieved. Will You Be Able To Achieve Them?
This question requires you to state your prioritization technique, using which you are able to arrange your work in a specific order. This could be anything from ordering your tasks on the basis of time consumption, difficulty level, or maybe urgency level. As an ideal response to this question, just state whatever works for you, and justify your selection by narrating a real-life work experience.
20. Almost All The B2C As Well As B2B Business Organizations Require Relationship Managers. What Prompted You To Choose Us As Your Employer?
Job seekers are busy people. They simply apply from organization to organization, in search of better career opportunities and job prospects. Hence, through this question, an interviewer wants to check your level of seriousness towards the company you are getting interviewed with.
Browse the official website of the company and note down all their achievements, accomplishments, and historical facts. Just compile everything together and draft a structured response.
21. Do You Have Any Questions For Us?
It is common for the interviewers to conclude an interview session through this question. This requires you to state a few of your relevant doubts and apprehensions that you might be having in regards to the business organization. While answering this question, just think of all the issues and problems that you think you will face while working for the company.
Frame appropriate questions for those problems and pose them in front of your interviewer. For a better understanding just read out the sample questions mentioned below.
Sample Questions
- What are the various incentives and allowances that are offered by the company to its employees?
- Sir, can you tell me about the various anti-harassment policies that are implemented by the company to safeguard its employees from possible instances of harassment.
- Please share a list of all the paid holidays offered by the company to its employees.
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (For Relationship Manager interview):
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053482220300620
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/16094069211073222
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