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The differences between customer service administrators and customer service 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 service administrator and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service administrator has an average salary of $35,824, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a customer service administrator include strong customer service, data entry and post sales. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Customer Service Administrator | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $35,824 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $17.22 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 247,315 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Customer service administrators supervise people in performing customer service and relations. They manage customer inquiries and oversee customer service representative needs and requirements. In carrying out their job, they function as the middlemen between customers and the company. Their job requires strong communication and clerical skills. They are expected to have a mindset focused on customers while being polite, helpful, and patient. Among their other responsibilities include sales promotion, answering phone calls, handling complaints and inquiries, and adherence to team goals and budget.
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 administrators and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Administrator | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $35,824 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $45,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fremont, CA | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Washington |
| Best paying company | Westinghouse Appliances Australia | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service administrator and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Administrator | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service administrators' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Service Administrator | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 21.5% Asian, 6.8% White, 54.5% 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 | 7% | 7% |