I am grateful to each of the seniors at ANZ, Standard Chartered, Citibank, and for the last eight years at PwC, for trusting me as an important client interface and solution-building person. Almost 35 years of client interface experience is all about what I am today.

In the western world, all successful organisations boast as a client-centric or client-driven or lately client-obsessed organisations where relationship management with all stages of decision-making or idea generators means the most.

Today's customers have their minds on their money and their money is on their mobile devices. From prequalifying for a loan via a smartphone to exploring things to buy, customers have fully embraced the convenience that the digital age has brought to them.

Because of the ever-changing customer demands and increasing competition, banks and every other industry need to adopt a modern, customer-focused approach to service, making the importance of relationship management more valuable than ever.

Relationship management encompasses all the strategies, techniques and practices that organisations use to manage client and customer communication throughout the customer lifecycle. This enables organisations to strengthen customer loyalty and provide a single point of service for a range of different products and services.

A customer of a bank, for example, may start out with a simple checking or savings account, but successful relationship management involves a personal or corporate banker, offering products designed to help customers attain financial goals while increasing revenue for the institution.

Organisations that have encashed from successful relationship management have been seen to take a consultative approach with customers, getting to know their current situation and needs, and adapting to changes in their financial or business lives. Cross-selling is the modus operandi of relationship managers (RMs).

RMs really need to be a jack of all trades. Unlike product specialists who can stay focused on their product, an RM must know about every single product that the client is using and is likely to use in the future because the world is changing. In this regard, knowing about the organisation's relationship with the client is obviously mandatory. However, it's not just sufficient to know only about the client.

For a client relationship to sustain, it is critical to know about the entire industry they operate in. With clients increasingly opting for online solutions as opposed to in-person experiences, strategising a way to foster long-term relationships can be difficult for many organisations. Showing clients that the organisation is listening to them and making efforts to improve their experience is a strategic way to promote loyalty.

Relationship management doesn't only nurture existing relationships. It also helps organisations attract and gain new customers. Thus, it is a powerful tool that comes in handy in converting potential customers into new and lifetime ones.

Relationship management is not just about managing only the client, but the internal teams as well. RMs are the ones who get the call from a client if something goes awry. And then RMs are the ones who are expected to fix it. This usually involves coordinating with dozens of people, including analysts, one of the numerous product teams, compliance, the back office and so on.

An RM must get things done or risk losing the business. Thus, there is a need to position RMs as cornerstones for successful client relations, so a smooth feedback-input loop with product development, marketing and management teams becomes the seamless circle of the future.

The author is an economic analyst