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The differences between contact 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 contact representative and a customer service representative. Additionally, a contact representative has an average salary of $33,776, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a contact representative include customer service, technical assistance and sound judgment. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Contact Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $33,776 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $16.24 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 185,124 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| 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.
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.
Contact representatives and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Contact Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $33,776 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $42,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Washington |
| Best paying company | City of Seattle | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Government | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a contact representative and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Contact Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between contact representatives' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Contact Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.7% Female, 67.3% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| 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, 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% |