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The differences between customer service specialists and customer service trainers 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 trainer. Additionally, a customer service specialist has an average salary of $33,238, which is higher than the $32,452 average annual salary of a customer service trainer.
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 trainer are customer care, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Trainer | |
| Yearly salary | $33,238 | $32,452 |
| Hourly rate | $15.98 | $15.60 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 223,323 | 235,862 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| 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 trainer is responsible for training new and experienced customer service staff, providing them with the best strategies and techniques to handle customers' inquiries and concerns. They also resolve customer complaints and ensure customer satisfaction, building good customer relationships, maintaining the company's reputation, and increasing revenues. Customer service trainers schedule training classes, provide engaging activities, and monitor trainees' progress through call testing and role-playing activities. A customer service trainer must have excellent knowledge of the customer service industry, as well as exceptional communication skills to teach trainees' effectively and efficiently.
Customer service specialists and customer service trainers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Trainer | |
| Average salary | $33,238 | $32,452 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $42,000 | Between $25,000 And $40,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Tacoma, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Dell | Salesforce |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Telecommunication |
There are a few differences between a customer service specialist and a customer service trainer in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Trainer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 43% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service specialists' and customer service trainers' demographics:
| Customer Service Specialist | Customer Service Trainer | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% | Male, 32.8% Female, 67.2% |
| 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, 10.6% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 6.8% White, 56.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |