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The differences between customer contact specialists and 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 a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer contact specialist has an average salary of $35,056, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a customer contact specialist include outbound calls, inbound calls and powerpoint. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Customer Contact Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $35,056 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $16.85 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 205,402 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| 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.
Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.
Customer contact specialists and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Contact Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $35,056 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $48,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Quincy, MA | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | Deloitte | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer contact specialist and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Contact Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer contact specialists' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Contact Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.0% Female, 65.0% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| 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, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |