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The differences between customer associates 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 associate and a customer service associate. Additionally, a customer associate has an average salary of $32,989, which is higher than the $31,709 average annual salary of a customer service associate.
The top three skills for a customer associate include sales floor, product knowledge and customer service. The most important skills for a customer service associate are patients, sales floor, and plumbing.
| Customer Associate | Customer Service Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $32,989 | $31,709 |
| Hourly rate | $15.86 | $15.24 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 191,027 | 380,943 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
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.
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 associates and customer service associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Associate | Customer Service Associate | |
| Average salary | $32,989 | $31,709 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $51,000 | Between $24,000 And $40,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Udemy | Fidelity Investments |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer associate and a customer service associate in terms of educational background:
| Customer Associate | Customer Service Associate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer associates' and customer service associates' demographics:
| Customer Associate | Customer Service Associate | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| 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, 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% |