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The differences between customer service advocates and customer service 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 service advocate and a customer service specialist. Additionally, a customer service specialist has an average salary of $33,238, which is higher than the $33,000 average annual salary of a customer service advocate.
The top three skills for a customer service advocate include strong customer service, social work and appointment scheduling. The most important skills for a customer service specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Customer Service Advocate | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $33,000 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $15.87 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 211,969 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer service advocate is responsible for prioritizing customer satisfaction in a company or business. Most of the time, they reach out to clients and perform follow-up calls to secure sales, devise strategies and programs to improve support operations, handle correspondence, and monitor all inquiries to ensure that all issues get resolved on time. Furthermore, as a customer service advocate, it is essential to develop corrective measures on complex matters, coordinate with staff, and adhere to all regulations.
Customer service specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
Customer service advocates and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Advocate | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $33,000 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $39,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Danvers, MA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Committee for Public Counsel Services | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer service advocate and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Advocate | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service advocates' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Customer Service Advocate | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 25.6% Female, 74.4% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |