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The differences between customer sales 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 sales specialist and a customer sales representative. Additionally, a customer sales specialist has an average salary of $44,173, which is higher than the $38,744 average annual salary of a customer sales representative.
The top three skills for a customer sales specialist include product knowledge, sales floor and customer service. The most important skills for a customer sales representative are customer service, product knowledge, and customer sales.
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $44,173 | $38,744 |
| Hourly rate | $21.24 | $18.63 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 417,148 | 303,801 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer sales specialist aims to secure sales and reach sales targets. To make this possible, they conduct extensive market research and analysis, generate leads for clients and business opportunities, develop sales pitches, create marketing materials and strategies, and reach out to clients to offer services and products. In some businesses, a customer sales specialist may also engage directly with customers to demonstrate products or to assist them with their needs.
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 sales specialists and customer sales representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Average salary | $44,173 | $38,744 |
| Salary range | Between $35,000 And $55,000 | Between $27,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Santa Rosa, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | - | Merck |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer sales specialist and a customer sales representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer sales specialists' and customer sales representatives' demographics:
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Sales Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.3% Female, 49.7% | Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.6% White, 55.2% 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% |