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The differences between customer service representatives and sales associates can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a customer service representative has an average salary of $32,260, which is higher than the $32,167 average annual salary of a sales associate.
The top three skills for a customer service representative include cleanliness, POS and data entry. The most important skills for a sales associate are customer service, sales floor, and cash handling.
| Customer Service Representative | Sales Associate | |
| Yearly salary | $32,260 | $32,167 |
| Hourly rate | $15.51 | $15.46 |
| Growth rate | -4% | - |
| Number of jobs | 209,515 | 579,849 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| Years of experience | 12 | - |
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.
Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.
Customer service representatives and sales associates have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Representative | Sales Associate | |
| Average salary | $32,260 | $32,167 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $41,000 | Between $21,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Des Moines, WA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New York |
| Best paying company | Oracle | Barclays |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a customer service representative and a sales associate in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Representative | Sales Associate | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service representatives' and sales associates' demographics:
| Customer Service Representative | Sales Associate | |
| Average age | 40 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% |
| 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, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |