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The differences between customer relations specialists 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 relations specialist and a customer sales representative. Additionally, a customer sales representative has an average salary of $38,744, which is higher than the $37,827 average annual salary of a customer relations specialist.
The top three skills for a customer relations specialist include customer relations, data entry and work ethic. The most important skills for a customer sales representative are customer service, product knowledge, and customer sales.
| Customer Relations Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $37,827 | $38,744 |
| Hourly rate | $18.19 | $18.63 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 215,862 | 303,801 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer relations specialist is responsible for providing high-quality services for customers by responding to their inquiries and concerns and resolving complaints about the company's goods and services. Customer relations specialists update customer accounts on the database, recording their transactions accurately, and posting their payments timely. They may also sell new products and services to the clients, demonstrating features and usability, processing orders, and confirming delivery details. A customer relations specialist must have excellent communication and organizational skills to ensure customer satisfaction and maintain healthy business relationships with the customers.
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 relations specialists and customer sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Relations Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $37,827 | $38,744 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $52,000 | Between $27,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | Columbia, MD | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Deloitte | Merck |
| Best paying industry | Automotive | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer relations specialist and a customer sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Relations Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer relations specialists' and customer sales representatives' demographics:
| Customer Relations Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 31.8% Female, 68.2% | Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 7.5% White, 55.5% 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% |