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The differences between contact agents and customer relations specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a contact agent and a customer relations specialist. Additionally, a customer relations specialist has an average salary of $37,827, which is higher than the $28,301 average annual salary of a contact agent.
The top three skills for a contact agent include customer service, phone calls and patients. The most important skills for a customer relations specialist are customer relations, data entry, and work ethic.
| Contact Agent | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $28,301 | $37,827 |
| Hourly rate | $13.61 | $18.19 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 209,089 | 215,862 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Contact agents are customer service professionals who handle emails, phone calls, and live chat messages. The agents assist customers with order inquiries, bills and payments, and support questions and complaints. These agents deal with technical support, inbound and outbound sales, and appointment bookings. They must ensure to handle an appropriate number of calls per day, resolve calls on the primary contact or refer them to the correct department, and log the call accurately against the customer's account.
A customer relations specialist is responsible for providing high-quality services for customers by responding to their inquiries and concerns and resolving complaints about the company's goods and services. Customer relations specialists update customer accounts on the database, recording their transactions accurately, and posting their payments timely. They may also sell new products and services to the clients, demonstrating features and usability, processing orders, and confirming delivery details. A customer relations specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain healthy business relationships with the customers.
Contact agents and customer relations specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contact Agent | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Average salary | $28,301 | $37,827 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $36,000 | Between $27,000 And $52,000 |
| Highest paying City | Milwaukee, WI | Columbia, MD |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Idaho Central Credit Union | Deloitte |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a contact agent and a customer relations specialist in terms of educational background:
| Contact Agent | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 42% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between contact agents' and customer relations specialists' demographics:
| Contact Agent | Customer Relations Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 33.4% Female, 66.6% | Male, 31.8% Female, 68.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.8% Asian, 6.6% White, 54.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 55.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |