Customer service director vs customer service manager

The differences between customer service directors and customer service managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a customer service director and a customer service manager. Additionally, a customer service director has an average salary of $134,962, which is higher than the $61,487 average annual salary of a customer service manager.

The top three skills for a customer service director include customer satisfaction, customer support and continuous improvement. The most important skills for a customer service manager are strong customer service, payroll, and customer satisfaction.

Customer service director vs customer service manager overview

	Customer Service Director	Customer Service Manager
Yearly salary	$134,962	$61,487
Hourly rate	$64.89	$29.56
Growth rate	6%	6%
Number of jobs	158,016	313,110
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	47	44
Years of experience	6	6

What does a customer service director do?

A customer service director is primarily in charge of spearheading and overseeing the efforts in customer service operations. It is their duty to establish goals and guidelines that will usher the workforce in building strong and positive relationships with clients, develop strategies to optimize procedures, identify the strengths and weaknesses of current processes, implement solutions, and conduct research to find new business and client opportunities. Furthermore, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.

What does a customer service manager do?

Customer service managers are in charge of overseeing a group of customer service associates. They ensure that key metrics are met by the employees. These metrics usually include average handling time and customer satisfaction ratings. They also give coaching to employees who might need additional guidance in reaching team goals. Customer service managers are expected to have had experience on the operations floor to balance their role as a strategic leader and a people manager. They should have customer service skills, decision-making skills, and communication skills.

Customer service director vs customer service manager salary

Customer service directors and customer service managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Customer Service Director	Customer Service Manager
Average salary	$134,962	$61,487
Salary range	Between $94,000 And $191,000	Between $35,000 And $105,000
Highest paying City	Olympia, WA	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	Washington	New Jersey
Best paying company	VMware	KLA
Best paying industry	Health Care	Manufacturing

Differences between customer service director and customer service manager education

There are a few differences between a customer service director and a customer service manager in terms of educational background:

	Customer Service Director	Customer Service Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	University of Pennsylvania

Customer service director vs customer service manager demographics

Here are the differences between customer service directors' and customer service managers' demographics:

	Customer Service Director	Customer Service Manager
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0%	Male, 37.0% Female, 63.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 5.9% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 6.3% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	8%	10%

Differences between customer service director and customer service manager duties and responsibilities

Customer service director example responsibilities.

Manage basic call center KPIs as well as worked closely with sales relate to new promotions and issues.
Manage payroll hours to ensure maximum productivity.
Manage domestic and international logistics operations for a plastics manufacturer with 4 warehouses , 2 manufacturing plants and 5 third-party warehouses.
Create ERP system base validation process, diminishing shipping errors to rate of 1 in every 15K lines and 5.3 sigma.
Work with medicare and medicaid.
Identify serious flaws in ERP set-up and thus metrics used to guide the company.

Customer service manager example responsibilities.

Manage the accounts payable and accounts receivable dealing with the Michigan WIC program.
Ensure SLA compliance are achieved for all incident metrics as well as call resolution.
Manage installation and customization of ACD system and PBX for business office call center operations.
Develop and manage communications strategies, including Facebook, catalog production, email marketing, direct mail.
Lead efforts in developing and executing CRM with the team to identify areas of improvement within the departments.
Prioritize, delegate and accomplish multiple projects, as well as the ability to troubleshoot and resolve common problems.

Customer service director vs customer service manager skills

Common customer service director skills

Customer Satisfaction, 14%
Customer Support, 6%
Continuous Improvement, 6%
CRM, 4%
Project Management, 4%
Employee Development, 4%

Common customer service manager skills

Strong Customer Service, 15%
Payroll, 6%
Customer Satisfaction, 6%
Customer Complaints, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
ISO, 5%

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Customer Service Director
Customer Service Director vs Customer Service Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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