Customer care professional vs customer care associate

The differences between customer care professionals and customer care 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 care professional and a customer care associate. Additionally, a customer care professional has an average salary of $34,566, which is higher than the $33,115 average annual salary of a customer care associate.

The top three skills for a customer care professional include customer service, patients and resourcefulness. The most important skills for a customer care associate are customer care, patients, and customer service.

Customer care professional vs customer care associate overview

	Customer Care Professional	Customer Care Associate
Yearly salary	$34,566	$33,115
Hourly rate	$16.62	$15.92
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	279,249	250,296
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a customer care professional do?

A customer care professional is in charge of assisting clients with their needs, ensuring efficiency and client satisfaction. They typically manage calls and correspondence where they respond to inquiries, provide technical support, address concerns, and resolve issues promptly and efficiently. They may also offer products or services, process payments or refunds, and enroll clients in company services. Furthermore, as a customer care professional, it is essential to maintain records of all transactions, reporting to managers should there be any complicated issues.

What does a customer care associate do?

A customer care associate's role focuses on providing customer support and service, ensuring optimal services and client satisfaction. Their responsibilities typically revolve around assisting walk-in customers by answering inquiries, offering recommendations or alternatives, and informing them of any promos or discounts. It is essential to devise strategies to identify customer needs, providing them as needed. Furthermore, a customer care associate may answer inquiries made through calls or correspondence, make reservations, handle complaints or concerns, and resolve them according to the company's policies and regulations.

Customer care professional vs customer care associate salary

Customer care professionals and customer care associates have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Customer Care Professional	Customer Care Associate
Average salary	$34,566	$33,115
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $43,000	Between $24,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	Olympia, WA	San Diego, CA
Highest paying state	Wisconsin	California
Best paying company	AIG	Centennial Bank
Best paying industry	Finance	Insurance

Differences between customer care professional and customer care associate education

There are a few differences between a customer care professional and a customer care associate in terms of educational background:

	Customer Care Professional	Customer Care Associate
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 40%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Customer care professional vs customer care associate demographics

Here are the differences between customer care professionals' and customer care associates' demographics:

	Customer Care Professional	Customer Care Associate
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 30.4% Female, 69.6%	Male, 30.1% Female, 69.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.6% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 6.2% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 6.7% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between customer care professional and customer care associate duties and responsibilities

Customer care professional example responsibilities.

Mentore new and struggling CSP's to help them reach and achieve their goals.
Continue to manage a high volume of customer calls relate to HMO, PPO and POS concerns.
Earn managements trust by serving as key CCP.
Answer phones, Microsoft word, PowerPoint, fax copy machines.
Mentor to other CSP's regarding claims and coverage, taking supervisor calls when necessary.
Assist other departments by heading projects, providing additional training for CCP who need specialize assistance.

Customer care associate example responsibilities.

Continue to manage a high volume of customer calls relate to HMO, PPO and POS concerns.
Verify HIPAA member information, update members account, expedite payments, explain health and dental plan benefits options.
Answer inbound calls assisting customers with billing questions, troubleshoot for customers, and assist customers with service plans and upgrading packages
Receive inbound provider calls at a call center regarding patients medical insurance benefits and eligibility, edit and process Medicare claims.
Provide superior customer service to inbound calls from DirecTV customers regarding their schedule service/install appointment.

Customer care professional vs customer care associate skills

Common customer care professional skills

Customer Service, 14%
Patients, 14%
Resourcefulness, 12%
Customer Loyalty, 11%
Custom Solutions, 6%
Broadband, 4%

Common customer care associate skills

Customer Care, 21%
Patients, 16%
Customer Service, 7%
Telephone Inquiries, 6%
Customer Support, 5%
Home Health, 3%

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Zippia Careers
Office and Administrative Industry
Customer Care Professional
Customer Care Professional vs Customer Care Associate

Updated January 8, 2025

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