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Client manager vs project manager

The differences between client managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, which is higher than the $88,768 average annual salary of a client manager.

The top three skills for a client manager include customer service, account management and client facing. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Client manager vs project manager overview

Client ManagerProject Manager
Yearly salary$88,768$91,578
Hourly rate$42.68$44.03
Growth rate5%8%
Number of jobs118,707167,116
Job satisfaction-4.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4647
Years of experience8-

What does a client manager do?

A client manager acts as a liaison between the company and its clients. You are expected to ensure client satisfaction and excellent customer service. Your duties typically include managing client relationships, delivering proposals, and developing account plans. In addition, you are responsible for improving customer experience, communicating with customers and answering their inquiries, and managing and resolving conflicts. As a client manager, you are expected to supervise clients and internal teams, lead the execution of projects, and to work with clients and partner agencies in developing business objectives.

What does a project manager do?

Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.

Client manager vs project manager salary

Client managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Client ManagerProject Manager
Average salary$88,768$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $59,000 And $132,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyBaker McKenzieThe Citadel
Best paying industryTechnologyTechnology

Differences between client manager and project manager education

There are a few differences between a client manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:

Client ManagerProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 70%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Client manager vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between client managers' and project managers' demographics:

Client ManagerProject Manager
Average age4647
Gender ratioMale, 47.8% Female, 52.2%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage7%10%

Differences between client manager and project manager duties and responsibilities

Client manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage team to achieve and maintain monthly KPI goals.
  • Lead successful CIO level customer sit turnaround at key strategic accounts.
  • Cloud base services for on premise and/or off premise SaaS and manage services.
  • Manage all KPI's and create strategic plans for improvement; manage and execute consultant events.
  • Develop a client base by offering security, storage & virtualization, application development and manage services.
  • Manage global account teams in the pursuit of new business opportunities through the RFP process and/or client presentations.
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Project manager example responsibilities.

  • Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
  • Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
  • Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
  • Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
  • Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
  • Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.
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Client manager vs project manager skills

Common client manager skills
  • Customer Service, 12%
  • Account Management, 10%
  • Client Facing, 8%
  • Client Service, 7%
  • Client Management, 5%
  • Healthcare, 5%
Common project manager skills
  • Project Management, 23%
  • Project Scope, 6%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
  • Status Reports, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%

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