Customer associate vs customer sales representative

The differences between customer associates and customer sales 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 customer associate and a customer sales representative. Additionally, a customer sales representative has an average salary of $38,744, which is higher than the $32,989 average annual salary of a customer associate.

The top three skills for a customer associate include sales floor, product knowledge and customer service. The most important skills for a customer sales representative are customer service, product knowledge, and customer sales.

Customer associate vs customer sales representative overview

	Customer Associate	Customer Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$32,989	$38,744
Hourly rate	$15.86	$18.63
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	191,027	303,801
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a customer associate do?

A customer associate is responsible for providing the best customer service by assisting the customers with their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving their complaints, processing replacements, and issuing refunds as needed. Customer associates also sell products and services to the customers, demonstrating product features, and identifying business opportunities to drive more revenues and profits for the business. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills to process orders and payments timely and accurately.

What does a customer sales representative do?

The primary role of customer service representatives is to help customers with questions and complaints. It is also their duties and responsibilities to provide customers with information about services and products, take and process orders, and process returns and modifications. They also store records of customer transactions and interactions and provide feedback on customer service efficacy. Customer service representatives must also ensure that they can give customer satisfaction and offer the best professional support.

Customer associate vs customer sales representative salary

Customer associates and customer sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Customer Associate	Customer Sales Representative
Average salary	$32,989	$38,744
Salary range	Between $21,000 And $51,000	Between $27,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	Los Angeles, CA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	California	Hawaii
Best paying company	Udemy	Merck
Best paying industry	Telecommunication	Finance

Differences between customer associate and customer sales representative education

There are a few differences between a customer associate and a customer sales representative in terms of educational background:

	Customer Associate	Customer Sales Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Customer associate vs customer sales representative demographics

Here are the differences between customer associates' and customer sales representatives' demographics:

	Customer Associate	Customer Sales Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%	Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 6.9% White, 54.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 24.4% Asian, 6.8% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between customer associate and customer sales representative duties and responsibilities

Customer associate example responsibilities.

Manage product queries, process orders and deliveries of medical devices to NHS and private hospitals in UK.
Collaborate with management to train new employees on company policies and procedures and manage customer concerns via LiveChat.
Provide troubleshooting steps to service apple products.
Answer phones, operate POS and collect payments of cash, credit/debit cards and checks.
Job duties include not only calls, but faxing, copying, outlook, multitasking.
Require to have above average language skills, phone, negotiating, collaboration, persuasion, innovation.

Customer sales representative example responsibilities.

Manage call center productivity levels by maintaining CSR schedule adherence.
Help customers if internet are running slow, if phone are not working, and also help to troubleshoot with them.
Practice good housekeeping methods and overall cleanliness.
Maintain cleanliness and organization of inventory within the assigned department.
Require to troubleshoot products and instruct customers on their proper use/warranty/options.
Work closely with sales director on scheduling, motivation of representations and setting up promotional events.

Customer associate vs customer sales representative skills

Common customer associate skills

Sales Floor, 24%
Product Knowledge, 22%
Customer Service, 13%
Phone Calls, 7%
Customer Calls, 3%
Outbound Calls, 3%

Common customer sales representative skills

Customer Service, 19%
Product Knowledge, 13%
Customer Sales, 9%
Cleanliness, 8%
Excellent Interpersonal, 6%
Social Media Marketing, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Customer Associate
Customer Associate vs Customer Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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