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The differences between call center associates and customer service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a call center associate and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service representative has an average salary of $32,260, which is higher than the $31,363 average annual salary of a call center associate.
The top three skills for a call center associate include patients, inbound calls and customer service. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Call Center Associate | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $31,363 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $15.08 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 198,167 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Call center associates are professionals who are responsible for taking inbound and outbound customer calls and handle responsibilities that include account inquiries, customer complaints, or product and support issues. These associates are required to provide quality assistance and customer service so that they can receive positive reviews from their customers. They must assist customers with technical support issues, which include updating product documentation and training materials. Call center associates must also accurately identify their customers' needs and objectives so that they can achieve the organization's sales goals.
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.
Call center associates and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Call Center Associate | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $31,363 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $43,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Albany, NY | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | Spectrum | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a call center associate and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Call Center Associate | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 39% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between call center associates' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Call Center Associate | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.0% Female, 65.0% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 57.1% 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 | 7% | 7% |