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The differences between customer service assistants 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 assistant and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service assistant has an average salary of $33,862, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a customer service assistant include front end, customer service and service calls. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Customer Service Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $33,862 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $16.28 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 220,286 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A Customer Service Assistant is responsible for providing customer support by responding to inquiries and correspondence or transferring them to a particular department when necessary. The duties of a Customer Service Assistant will vary according to an assigned setting. However, it mostly revolves around answering calls, providing troubleshooting options, helping a customer navigate systems or applications, and filling out details. Furthermore, there are instances when a Customer Service Assistant must fulfill orders, process payments or refunds, and even sell services or products. All efforts are focused on attaining customer satisfaction.
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 assistants and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $33,862 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $42,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Helena, MT | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Montana | Washington |
| Best paying company | Fidelity Investments | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Government | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service assistant and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service assistants' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Service Assistant | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 29.7% Female, 70.3% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 22.8% Asian, 6.5% White, 52.1% 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% |