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The differences between customer assistants and customer service associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a customer assistant and a customer service associate. Additionally, a customer service associate has an average salary of $31,709, which is higher than the $31,331 average annual salary of a customer assistant.
The top three skills for a customer assistant include reservations, customer assistance and customer service. The most important skills for a customer service associate are patients, sales floor, and plumbing.
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $31,331 | $31,709 |
| Hourly rate | $15.06 | $15.24 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 177,008 | 380,943 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer assistant is responsible for providing the best customer service, handling customer inquiries, managing complaints, and processing requests depending on the clients' needs. Customer assistants must have exceptional communication skills and the knowledge of the goods and services the company offers to accommodate customers on their concerns. A customer assistant should also have a good grasp on marketing processes to sell products, take orders, and develop sales pitches to potential customers to drive revenues, increase profitability, and maintain good customer feedback.
Customer service associates are representatives of the company who are responsible for solving customer concerns. They provide exceptional service to clients to ensure that their problems are solved and that the relationship between the client and the company remains strong. Customer service associates are in-charge of processing transactions, maintaining a good working relationship between the client and the company, ensuring that the client remains loyal to the company, and working on the requests of the client. Through all of this, customer service associates must keep any information they may encounter confidential. They should also have time management skills, problem-solving skills, and customer service skills.
Customer assistants and customer service associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Associate | |
| Average salary | $31,331 | $31,709 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $38,000 | Between $24,000 And $40,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | California |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Fidelity Investments |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer assistant and a customer service associate in terms of educational background:
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer assistants' and customer service associates' demographics:
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Associate | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.3% Female, 56.7% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 7.2% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 6.6% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |