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The differences between customer contact specialists and associate customer service 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 contact specialist and an associate customer service representative. Additionally, an associate customer service representative has an average salary of $35,215, which is higher than the $35,056 average annual salary of a customer contact specialist.
The top three skills for a customer contact specialist include outbound calls, inbound calls and powerpoint. The most important skills for an associate customer service representative are patients, outbound calls, and customer inquiries.
| Customer Contact Specialist | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $35,056 | $35,215 |
| Hourly rate | $16.85 | $16.93 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 205,402 | 199,751 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A Customer Contact Specialist interacts with customers in providing information in response to product and service inquiries. They manage and provide resolution to client complaints. They respond to customer queries accurately and in time through email or phone. Part of their responsibilities is to develop corporate reputation thru excellent customer service. Customer Contact Specialist also coordinates front-desk activities like redirecting phone calls.
An associate customer service representative is responsible for providing high customer service by assisting customers on their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor or tenured customer service representative. Associate customer service representatives also process orders and payments from the customers, replacing defective items, and issuing refunds as needed. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on handling data processing procedures to the database for reference to customer concerns.
Customer contact specialists and associate customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Contact Specialist | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $35,056 | $35,215 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $48,000 | Between $26,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | Quincy, MA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Deloitte | Deutsche Bank |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer contact specialist and an associate customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Contact Specialist | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer contact specialists' and associate customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Contact Specialist | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.0% Female, 65.0% | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 6.5% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |