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The differences between customer service associates and customer service advisors 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 associate and a customer service advisor. Additionally, a customer service advisor has an average salary of $32,029, which is higher than the $31,709 average annual salary of a customer service associate.
The top three skills for a customer service associate include patients, sales floor and plumbing. The most important skills for a customer service advisor are taking care, strong customer service, and standard operating procedure.
| Customer Service Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Yearly salary | $31,709 | $32,029 |
| Hourly rate | $15.24 | $15.40 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 380,943 | 235,256 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Customer service associates are representatives of the company who are responsible for solving customer concerns. They provide exceptional service to clients to ensure that their problems are solved and that the relationship between the client and the company remains strong. Customer service associates are in-charge of processing transactions, maintaining a good working relationship between the client and the company, ensuring that the client remains loyal to the company, and working on the requests of the client. Through all of this, customer service associates must keep any information they may encounter confidential. They should also have time management skills, problem-solving skills, and customer service skills.
A customer service advisor is responsible for providing the best customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services offered by the organization. Customer service advisors assist customers with their needs by recommending product selection, offering new products and services, and informing the customers of promotional offers to generate revenues and increase profitability. They also resolve customers' issues, escalating high-level complaints to a customer service lead or supervisor for immediate resolution.
Customer service associates and customer service advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average salary | $31,709 | $32,029 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $40,000 | Between $26,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Fidelity Investments | Teledyne Technologies Incorporated |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service associate and a customer service advisor in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 35% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service associates' and customer service advisors' demographics:
| Customer Service Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 19.5% Asian, 6.6% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |