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The differences between customer sales specialists and customer support specialists 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 support specialist. Additionally, a customer sales specialist has an average salary of $44,173, which is higher than the $39,470 average annual salary of a customer support specialist.
The top three skills for a customer sales specialist include product knowledge, sales floor and customer service. The most important skills for a customer support specialist are customer support, phone calls, and compassion.
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $44,173 | $39,470 |
| Hourly rate | $21.24 | $18.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 417,148 | 259,592 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 1 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| 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.
A customer support specialist is responsible for assisting a customer's inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services the organization offers. Customer support specialists handle customer issues and resolve them promptly, escalating high-level complaints to the immediate supervisors. A support specialist will also replace products or process payment refunds as needed. Their goal is to maintain the highest customer satisfaction and keep a good reputation for the company while driving revenues and increasing profitability. A customer support specialist must have outstanding communication skills, as well as the ability to multi-task to record customer complaint cases while providing resolution.
Customer sales specialists and customer support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $44,173 | $39,470 |
| Salary range | Between $35,000 And $55,000 | Between $28,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | - | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | - | Micron Technology |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a customer sales specialist and a customer support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer sales specialists' and customer support specialists' demographics:
| Customer Sales Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 50.3% Female, 49.7% | Male, 37.4% Female, 62.6% |
| 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, 11.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 7.2% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |