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The differences between customer service representatives and specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a customer service representative, becoming a specialist takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a specialist has an average salary of $58,013, 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 specialist are patients, customer service, and work ethic.
| Customer Service Representative | Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $32,260 | $58,013 |
| Hourly rate | $15.51 | $27.89 |
| Growth rate | -4% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 209,515 | 358,433 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
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.
Specialists are employees who are responsible for specific tasks or activities in the department they are assigned to. The actions or tasks they work on are related to their educational background or work experiences. They are usually highly skilled in specializations related to the work they are assigned to. Specialists are also highly trained on the competencies that are required of their specialty. As such, they are focused on the skills and competencies that are needed to enhance their experience in their specific field further.
Customer service representatives and specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Representative | Specialist | |
| Average salary | $32,260 | $58,013 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $41,000 | Between $32,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | Des Moines, WA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Oracle | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | - |
There are a few differences between a customer service representative and a specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Representative | Specialist | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between customer service representatives' and specialists' demographics:
| Customer Service Representative | Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% | Male, 47.5% Female, 52.5% |
| 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, 11.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 11% |