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The differences between customer representatives and customer support 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 representative and a customer support representative. Additionally, a customer support representative has an average salary of $37,404, which is higher than the $37,351 average annual salary of a customer representative.
The top three skills for a customer representative include phone calls, windows and technical support. The most important skills for a customer support representative are technical support, windows, and customer inquiries.
| Customer Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $37,351 | $37,404 |
| Hourly rate | $17.96 | $17.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 220,778 | 243,140 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer service representative is an individual person who establishes communication between customers and the organization by answering questions, resolve complaints, and address emergency issues about the products and services he/she sells. He/She must possess an approachable personality, a passion for customer service, and work with his/her fellow workmates. The minimum educational requirement for a customer service representative is a high school diploma; however, a candidate must complete on-the-job training. A Customer Service Representative should also possess excellent communication and problem-solving skills.
A customer support representative is responsible for answering calls and correspondence, providing customer assistance in various technical issues, concerns, or difficulties. There are also instances when they must make calls to follow-up on the issues, or even sell products and services. Most of the time, a customer support representative has a certain quota to reach and works under a manager's supervision. Furthermore, it is essential to keep accurate records and report to managers or supervisors should there be any problems.
Customer representatives and customer support representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Average salary | $37,351 | $37,404 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $55,000 | Between $29,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Urban Honolulu, HI | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Alaska |
| Best paying company | IBM | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Transportation | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer representative and a customer support representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer representatives' and customer support representatives' demographics:
| Customer Representative | Customer Support Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 36.7% Female, 63.3% | Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 22.8% Asian, 7.4% White, 52.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 7.3% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |