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Customer Service Associate Vs Customer Service Representative

The differences between customer service associates 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 associate and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service representative has an average salary of $32,260, 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 representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.

Customer service associate vs customer service representative overview

Customer Service AssociateCustomer Service Representative
Yearly Salary$31,709$32,260
Hourly rate$15.24$15.51
Growth Rate-4%-4%
Number Of Jobs380,943209,515
Job Satisfaction54
Most Common DegreeBachelor's Degree, 35%High School Diploma, 33%
Average Age4040
Years Of Experience1212

What does a Customer Service Associate do?

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.

What does a customer service representative do?

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 associate vs customer service representative salary

Customer service associates and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

Customer Service AssociateCustomer Service Representative
Average Salary$31,709$32,260
Salary RangeBetween $24,000 And $40,000Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest Paying CityRichmond, CADes Moines, WA
Highest Paying StateCaliforniaWashington
Best Paying CompanyFidelity InvestmentsOracle
Best Paying IndustryFinanceInsurance

Differences between customer service associate and customer service representative education

There are a few differences between a customer service associate and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:

Customer Service AssociateCustomer Service Representative
Most Common DegreeBachelor's Degree, 35%High School Diploma, 33%
Most Common MajorBusinessBusiness
Most Common College--

Customer service associate vs customer service representative demographics

Here are the differences between customer service associates' and customer service representatives' demographics:

Customer Service AssociateCustomer Service Representative
Average Age4040
Gender RatioMale, 38.4% Female, 61.6%Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%
Race RatioBlack 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, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage7%7%

Differences between customer service associate and customer service representative duties and responsibilities

Customer Service Associate Example Responsibilities.

  • Manage and calculate daily cash deposits and prepare daily payroll ledgers.
  • Manage cash balances and inventory stock accurately; ensure cleanliness of all work stations and guarantee excellent customer service.
  • Use excellent phone and customer service etiquette while navigating through multiple windows simultaneously.
  • Provide excellent customer service to hundreds of satisfy customers, bag groceries with speed and efficiency
  • Perform upselling on every call.
  • Train in flight emergencies, hazardous materials and CPR.
  • Show More

Customer Service Representative Example Responsibilities.

  • Manage and plan escalations; assure HIPPA guidelines are followed for confidentially and privacy.
  • Maintain cleanliness and safety and assist patients as necessary.
  • Operate POS system and maintain exceptional and consistent customer service.
  • Exercise proofreading and basic math skills to maintain quality control over documents process
  • Work in customer service department entering information into customer relationship management (CRM).
  • Develop highly empathetic client relationships and earn reputation for exceeding good customer service rep goals.
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Customer service associate vs customer service representative skills

Common Customer Service Associate Skills
  • Patients, 41%
  • Sales Floor, 12%
  • Plumbing, 10%
  • Quality Customer Service, 6%
  • Front End, 3%
  • CSA, 3%
Common Customer Service Representative Skills
  • Cleanliness, 10%
  • POS, 7%
  • Data Entry, 6%
  • Sales Floor, 6%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Home Health, 5%

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