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The differences between contact representatives and associate 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 contact representative and an associate customer service representative. Additionally, an associate customer service representative has an average salary of $35,215, which is higher than the $33,776 average annual salary of a contact representative.
The top three skills for a contact representative include customer service, technical assistance and sound judgment. The most important skills for an associate customer service representative are patients, outbound calls, and customer inquiries.
| Contact Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $33,776 | $35,215 |
| Hourly rate | $16.24 | $16.93 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 185,124 | 199,751 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
As a contact representative, you will mostly work at agencies that oversee programs involving benefits, pensions, privileges, or taxes. This job involves a lot of interaction and aids in administrative and technical support to individuals and businesses primarily in person or through telephone inquiries. Moreover, contact representatives provide needed information and assistance to the public by answering a broad range of inquiries regarding the complexity of the laws, regulations, and other related administrative. The main purpose of contact representative work is to answer to a variety of inquiries.
An associate customer service representative is responsible for providing high customer service by assisting customers on their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor or tenured customer service representative. Associate customer service representatives also process orders and payments from the customers, replacing defective items, and issuing refunds as needed. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on handling data processing procedures to the database for reference to customer concerns.
Contact representatives and associate customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contact Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $33,776 | $35,215 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $42,000 | Between $26,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | City of Seattle | Deutsche Bank |
| Best paying industry | Government | Finance |
There are a few differences between a contact representative and an associate customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Contact Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between contact representatives' and associate customer service representatives' demographics:
| Contact Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.7% Female, 67.3% | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.4% Asian, 6.5% White, 56.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |