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The differences between call center representatives 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 representative and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service representative has an average salary of $32,260, which is higher than the $31,549 average annual salary of a call center representative.
The top three skills for a call center representative include strong customer service, customer service and patients. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Call Center Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $31,549 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $15.17 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 133,579 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | 3 | 4 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Call center representatives are employees who take customer calls in the company's contact center. They answer incoming calls related to their account. Call center representatives are trained on the company's products, policies, and guidelines. They are expected to know the ins and outs of every company product under their account before they are assigned to the operations floor. Once they are deemed efficient enough to handle calls, they begin to take customer inquiries and try to resolve them during the call. Call center representatives are expected to follow company policies and procedures and to meet the goals set by the company.
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 representatives and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Call Center Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $31,549 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $39,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a call center representative and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Call Center Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 37% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between call center representatives' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Call Center Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 27.4% Female, 72.6% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.1% White, 55.7% 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% |