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The differences between business assistants and customer service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a business assistant, becoming a customer service representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a business assistant has an average salary of $42,247, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a business assistant include customer service, patients and data entry. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Business Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $42,247 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $20.31 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 98,348 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 50 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
A business assistant is responsible for supporting various office functions, performing administrative and clerical duties to ensure efficient and smooth business operations, and provide high-quality services to the customers and business partners. Business assistants handle data processing procedures, writing business transaction reports, and coordinating with suppliers and third-party vendors for any requests made by the company. They welcome visitors, verify their appointments, and direct them to the appropriate personnel or department for their business concerns. A business assistant also schedules a meeting, assist in accounting and human resources tasks, and support the executives on corporate decisions.
Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.
Business assistants and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Business Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $42,247 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $60,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | Washington |
| Best paying company | Whitney Museum of American Art | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a business assistant and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Business Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | - |
Here are the differences between business assistants' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Business Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 50 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 28.1% Female, 71.9% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |