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The differences between customer service technicians and customer service specialists 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 specialist. Additionally, a customer service technician has an average salary of $36,757, which is higher than the $33,238 average annual salary of a customer service specialist.
The top three skills for a customer service technician include basic math, math and pathogens. The most important skills for a customer service specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $36,757 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $17.67 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 282,953 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| 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 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 technicians and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $36,757 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Newark, DE | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | GAVS Technologies | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer service technician and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer service technicians' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Customer Service Technician | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 58.4% Female, 41.6% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| 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, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |