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The differences between customer service administrative assistants and customer service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a customer service administrative assistant, becoming a customer service representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a customer service administrative assistant has an average salary of $33,741, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a customer service administrative assistant include data entry, purchase orders and payroll. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Customer Service Administrative Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $33,741 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $16.22 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -8% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 93,535 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 50 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
A customer service administrative assistant is responsible for responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, alongside performing administrative tasks as required. Customer service administrative assistants must escalate high-level complaints to the appropriate department, organize client meetings, process business letters, assist with developing promotional offers and marketing materials, and research potential clients. They also manage inventories and request stock supplies, create expense reports, and update customer records in the database. A customer service administrative assistant must have excellent customer service skills, as well as the ability to multitask and work under pressure and strict deadlines.
Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.
Customer service administrative assistants and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Administrative Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $33,741 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $40,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Everett, WA | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Uline | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service administrative assistant and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Administrative Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | - |
Here are the differences between customer service administrative assistants' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Service Administrative Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 50 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 10.7% Female, 89.3% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |