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The differences between customer assistants and sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales associate has an average salary of $32,167, 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 sales associate are customer service, sales floor, and cash handling.
| Customer Assistant | Sales Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $31,331 | $32,167 |
| Hourly rate | $15.06 | $15.46 |
| Growth rate | -4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 177,008 | 579,849 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 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.
Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.
Customer assistants and sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Assistant | Sales Associate | |
| Average salary | $31,331 | $32,167 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $38,000 | Between $21,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | New York |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Barclays |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a customer assistant and a sales associate in terms of educational background:
| Customer Assistant | Sales Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer assistants' and sales associates' demographics:
| Customer Assistant | Sales Associate | |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| 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, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |