A customer business manager serves as a contact for a company's customers and works to meet his employer's sales goals. College education is usually required to become a customer business manager as is business experience that is relevant to the company with which you seek employment. You will likely need a range of skills as well, including those that involve working with and leading others. Computer, sales, and time-management skills also are usually important.
Often, employers require job applicants to have bachelor's degrees to land this job. The type of bachelor's degree you choose, however, will depend on the industry in which you will seek employment, and in many industries, a business degree is suitable for this job. If, however, you plan to enter a science, health, or engineering company in this position, a different background may be desirable. For instance, if you hope to become a customer business manager for a pharmaceutical company, an employer may consider your application more carefully if you have a science-related college degree.
In addition to a college degree, you will most likely need a significant amount of experience to become a customer business manager. Exact experience requirements, however, will usually depend on the employer with which you seek a job. Often, however, employers specify a minimum of five years of experience for this position. When you are newly graduated from college, you probably won't be able to immediately enter the field in this position. Instead, you might start out in an entry-level position in your chosen industry and gradually build the skills and experience you need to become a customer business manager.
As you are working on the experience you need to become a customer business manager, you may do well to build interpersonal and leadership skills at the same time. Both are critical to your ability to land the job you want and succeed in it. Employers will want to know that you can get along well with others, including subordinate staff members, other mangers, and customers and clients. They will also want to know that you can effectively lead and encourage other members of the organization toward the company's goals.
You may also do well to develop organizational, time-management, and computer skills as you work toward becoming a customer business manager. Employers will want to know that you can stay organized and prioritize tasks even when no one is reminding you to do so. Demonstrating that you can meet deadlines and stay ahead of a heavy workload is also critical for this position. Additionally, knowledge of and skill with computers, business-related software, and commonly used business technologies may help you impress prospective employers.
