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The differences between customer service agents and customer care advocates 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 agent and a customer care advocate. Additionally, a customer care advocate has an average salary of $33,219, which is higher than the $29,598 average annual salary of a customer service agent.
The top three skills for a customer service agent include check-in, reservations and inbound calls. The most important skills for a customer care advocate are patients, scheduling appointments, and data entry.
| Customer Service Agent | Customer Care Advocate | |
| Yearly salary | $29,598 | $33,219 |
| Hourly rate | $14.23 | $15.97 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 219,115 | 248,553 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Customer service agents are employees assigned to answer incoming calls to their company's service hotline. They are equipped with proper training on company products and policies so that they can assist customers. Agents answer customer's inquiries, guide them through steps that they may need to take, and take note of customer complaints. For unsatisfied customers, agents try their best to resolve the concerns or transfer the complaints to related departments. They also try to mitigate any problems that may arise. Customer service agents should be patient, and should also have good communication and problem-solving skills.
A customer care advocate is responsible for monitoring customer transactions, ensuring the highest customer service satisfaction by timely responses and complaint resolution. Customer care advocates recommend strategic procedures and training programs necessary for handling customer support. They manage customer concerns and conduct interviews to identify customer preferences and build other business opportunities to build a good reputation for the organization. A customer care advocate must have excellent communication and organizational skills to promote customer advocacy and determine the best customer service practices.
Customer service agents and customer care advocates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Agent | Customer Care Advocate | |
| Average salary | $29,598 | $33,219 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $37,000 | Between $24,000 And $44,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Santa Barbara, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Uline | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service agent and a customer care advocate in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Agent | Customer Care Advocate | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Bachelor's Degree, 37% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service agents' and customer care advocates' demographics:
| Customer Service Agent | Customer Care Advocate | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 35.5% Female, 64.5% | Male, 36.2% Female, 63.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 54.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 7.0% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |