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The differences between customer service technicians 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 technician and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service technician has an average salary of $36,757, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a customer service technician include basic math, math and pathogens. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $36,757 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $17.67 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 282,953 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer service technician is professional personnel who answers calls and helps customers address technical problems and often travels to homes or businesses in order to repair or maintain products. He/She interacts with his/her customers through phone, face to face, by email, or live chat and provides information about the products that he/she maintains. A customer service technician requires to attain a high school diploma and may need talents such as communication and listening skills.
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 technicians and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $36,757 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newark, DE | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | GAVS Technologies | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a customer service technician and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service technicians' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.4% Female, 41.6% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.7% Asian, 6.7% White, 55.3% 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% |