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The differences between customer assistants and customer service 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 customer assistant and a customer service specialist. Additionally, a customer service specialist has an average salary of $33,238, 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 specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $31,331 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $15.06 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 177,008 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| 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 specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
Customer assistants and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $31,331 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $38,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer assistant and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer assistants' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Customer Assistant | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.3% Female, 56.7% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| 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, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |