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The differences between customer service specialists and customer service advisors 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 specialist and a customer service advisor. Additionally, a customer service specialist has an average salary of $33,238, which is higher than the $32,029 average annual salary of a customer service advisor.
The top three skills for a customer service specialist include customer service, strong customer service and cleanliness. The most important skills for a customer service advisor are taking care, strong customer service, and standard operating procedure.
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Yearly salary | $33,238 | $32,029 |
| Hourly rate | $15.98 | $15.40 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 223,323 | 235,256 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Customer service specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
A customer service advisor is responsible for providing the best customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services offered by the organization. Customer service advisors assist customers with their needs by recommending product selection, offering new products and services, and informing the customers of promotional offers to generate revenues and increase profitability. They also resolve customers' issues, escalating high-level complaints to a customer service lead or supervisor for immediate resolution.
Customer service specialists and customer service advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average salary | $33,238 | $32,029 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $42,000 | Between $26,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Dell | Teledyne Technologies Incorporated |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service specialist and a customer service advisor in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service specialists' and customer service advisors' demographics:
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% | Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |