A customer sales associate is tasked with handling and communicating with customers to secure sales in a retail store. They greet customers, respond to their questions, assist, and offer suggestions when necessary. Although most of the job role is customer satisfaction, they are responsible for cleaning and putting the sales floor in order by restocking shelves and arranging them to look presentable.

To become a customer sales associate, you need at least a high school diploma with at least a year of experience in a similar role. You must also possess communication, maths, interpersonal, attention to detail, computer, listening, and customer service skills. A customer sales associate must understand sales principles and customer service practices. You must also be able to operate work equipment. Furthermore, you must be able to work under pressure and work flexible shifts. Customer sales associates earn $29,097 in a year. Their salary ranges from $20,000 to $42,000.

What Does a Customer Sales Associate Do

There are certain skills that many customer sales associates have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, computer skills and listening skills.

Learn more about what a Customer Sales Associate does

How To Become a Customer Sales Associate

If you're interested in becoming a customer sales associate, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 41.0% of customer sales associates have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 3.1% of customer sales associates have master's degrees. Even though some customer sales associates have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Customer Sales Associate

Customer Sales Associate Career Paths

Average Salary for a Customer Sales Associate

Customer Sales Associates in America make an average salary of $37,024 per year or $18 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $49,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $27,000 per year.
Average Customer Sales Associate Salary
$37,024 Yearly
$17.80 hourly

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Roles and Types of Customer Sales Associate

The role of a customer sales associate includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general customer sales associate responsibilities:

  • Responds to customer questions concerning products, resolves a variety of customer service issues,
  • Include the following. Other duties may be assigned. Customer facing: (60%)actively engages with both counter customers
  • Knows and follows all safety requirements, including emergency evacuation; strives to maintain a safe work environment

There are several types of customer sales associate, including:

Customer Sales Representative

Role:

Customer sales representatives embody the company they work for in interactions with customers. They serve clients and research new market opportunities, keep their eyes on the competition, and do their best to maintain excellent customer relations.

Whether they work over the phone, contact the customers via email or present the products in person, customer sales reps are there to draw attention to great deals and must-have products. They answer questions and provide information, discuss pricing, and negotiate contracts.

In today's consumer society, buying things has gained significance that goes way beyond fulfilling a necessity. 70% of buyers hope to resolve a problem of theirs when they make a purchase, and a good customer sales representative will be there to walk them through the confusing and often intimidating maze of selecting the right product for the right problem.

  • Average Salary: $38,744
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Customer Sales Associate Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active customer sales associate jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where customer sales associates earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Customer Sales Associate Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California15,094$43,552
2Texas12,311$36,325
3Florida10,728$34,601
4New York8,654$36,840
5Pennsylvania7,467$38,688
6Illinois7,201$35,302
7Ohio6,587$35,952
8Georgia5,823$34,658
9North Carolina5,623$33,664
10Michigan5,421$37,664
11New Jersey5,190$40,851
12Virginia5,112$32,389
13Massachusetts4,624$41,668
14Indiana4,428$35,111
15Tennessee4,110$35,172
16Arizona3,578$41,505
17Wisconsin3,478$33,871
18Maryland3,467$43,703
19Minnesota3,405$35,995
20Missouri3,314$34,676
21South Carolina3,175$32,843
22Colorado2,975$42,141
23Washington2,962$38,304
24Alabama2,490$35,556
25Kentucky2,484$34,250
26Connecticut2,231$38,503
27Louisiana2,196$31,275
28Iowa2,013$35,978
29Oregon1,827$36,306
30Oklahoma1,817$35,795
31Utah1,775$34,330
32Kansas1,464$34,930
33Arkansas1,431$36,834
34New Hampshire1,419$38,116
35Mississippi1,399$32,929
36Maine1,169$40,496
37West Virginia1,046$30,620
38Nevada1,038$36,267
39New Mexico1,019$33,830
40Nebraska925$30,776
41Delaware860$37,811
42Idaho769$31,107
43Rhode Island648$35,640
44Montana449$33,112
45Vermont440$39,543
46North Dakota415$34,633
47South Dakota396$32,566
48Hawaii369$30,837
49Alaska246$33,919
50Wyoming236$39,047

Customer Sales Associate Education

Customer Sales Associate Majors

28.3 %

Customer Sales Associate Degrees

Bachelors

41.0 %

High School Diploma

25.4 %

Associate

21.4 %

Top Skills For a Customer Sales Associate

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.8% of customer sales associates listed sales floor on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and computer skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Customer Sales Associate Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Customer Sales Associate templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Customer Sales Associate resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Customer Sales Associate Demographics

Customer Sales Associate Gender Distribution

Male
Male
51%
Female
Female
49%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among customer sales associates, 49.4% of them are women, while 50.6% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among customer sales associates is White, which makes up 55.2% of all customer sales associates.

  • The most common foreign language among customer sales associates is Spanish at 60.5%.

Online Courses For Customer Sales Associate That You May Like

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Best States For a Customer Sales Associate

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a customer sales associate. The best states for people in this position are Maryland, California, Colorado, and Massachusetts. Customer sales associates make the most in Maryland with an average salary of $43,703. Whereas in California and Colorado, they would average $43,552 and $42,141, respectively. While customer sales associates would only make an average of $41,668 in Massachusetts, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Maine

Total Customer Sales Associate Jobs: 1,169
Highest 10% Earn:
$51,000
Location Quotient:
1.5

2. Arizona

Total Customer Sales Associate Jobs: 3,578
Highest 10% Earn:
$57,000
Location Quotient:
1.04

3. Michigan

Total Customer Sales Associate Jobs: 5,421
Highest 10% Earn:
$51,000
Location Quotient:
1.19
Full List Of Best States For Customer Sales Associates

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Top Customer Sales Associate Employers

Most Common Employers For Customer Sales Associate

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Schwan's$43,615$20.9764
2AT&T$40,951$19.6948
3Victoria's Secret$37,849$18.2045
4Best Buy$36,537$17.57103
5Bank of America$36,415$17.51106
6Macy's$35,883$17.2596
7Gap Inc.$34,671$16.6747
8The Home Depot$34,468$16.57126
9Walmart$34,385$16.53230
10Sears Holdings$33,996$16.34171

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