Customer service representative vs customer sales representative

The differences between customer service representatives and customer sales 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 representative and a customer sales representative. Additionally, a customer sales representative has an average salary of $38,744, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.

The top three skills for a customer service representative include cleanliness, POS and data entry. The most important skills for a customer sales representative are customer service, product knowledge, and customer sales.

Customer service representative vs customer sales representative overview

	Customer Service Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Yearly salary	$32,260	$38,744
Hourly rate	$15.51	$18.63
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	209,515	303,801
Job satisfaction	4	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	12	12

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.

What does a customer sales representative do?

The primary role of customer service representatives is to help customers with questions and complaints. It is also their duties and responsibilities to provide customers with information about services and products, take and process orders, and process returns and modifications. They also store records of customer transactions and interactions and provide feedback on customer service efficacy. Customer service representatives must also ensure that they can give customer satisfaction and offer the best professional support.

Customer service representative vs customer sales representative salary

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

	Customer Service Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Average salary	$32,260	$38,744
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $41,000	Between $27,000 And $54,000
Highest paying City	Des Moines, WA	Santa Rosa, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Hawaii
Best paying company	Oracle	Merck
Best paying industry	Insurance	Finance

Differences between customer service representative and customer sales representative education

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

	Customer Service Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	Bachelor's Degree, 37%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Customer service representative vs customer sales representative demographics

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

	Customer Service Representative	Customer Sales Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%	Male, 44.9% Female, 55.1%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 24.4% Asian, 6.8% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

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

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.

Customer sales representative example responsibilities.

Manage call center productivity levels by maintaining CSR schedule adherence.
Help customers if internet are running slow, if phone are not working, and also help to troubleshoot with them.
Practice good housekeeping methods and overall cleanliness.
Maintain cleanliness and organization of inventory within the assigned department.
Require to troubleshoot products and instruct customers on their proper use/warranty/options.
Work closely with sales director on scheduling, motivation of representations and setting up promotional events.

Customer service representative vs customer sales representative skills

Common customer service representative skills

Cleanliness, 10%
POS, 7%
Data Entry, 6%
Sales Floor, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Home Health, 5%

Common customer sales representative skills

Customer Service, 19%
Product Knowledge, 13%
Customer Sales, 9%
Cleanliness, 8%
Excellent Interpersonal, 6%
Social Media Marketing, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Customer Service Representative
Customer Service Representative vs Customer Sales Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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