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The differences between customer service specialists and customer service 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 specialist and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service specialist has an average salary of $33,238, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
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 representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $33,238 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $15.98 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 223,323 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | High School Diploma, 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.
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.
Customer service specialists and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $33,238 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $42,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | Dell | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service specialist and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service specialists' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| 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, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |