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The differences between customer specialists and customer service administrative assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a customer specialist, becoming a customer service administrative assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a customer specialist has an average salary of $38,371, which is higher than the $33,741 average annual salary of a customer service administrative assistant.
The top three skills for a customer specialist include customer transactions, client facing and phone calls. The most important skills for a customer service administrative assistant are data entry, purchase orders, and payroll.
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Administrative Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $38,371 | $33,741 |
| Hourly rate | $18.45 | $16.22 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 202,965 | 93,535 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 40 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 2 |
A customer specialist is responsible for assisting customers with their needs and concerns about the products and services offered by the company, addressing their inquiries timely and accurately. Customer specialists evaluate the customers' issues and provide immediate solutions through remote communication. In some cases, a customer specialist may send technical staff to the customer's location for problems that cannot be resolved over the phone or e-mail. They also take orders from the customers, process their payments, and explain the features and functions of the product.
A customer service administrative assistant is responsible for responding to customers' inquiries and concerns, alongside performing administrative tasks as required. Customer service administrative assistants must escalate high-level complaints to the appropriate department, organize client meetings, process business letters, assist with developing promotional offers and marketing materials, and research potential clients. They also manage inventories and request stock supplies, create expense reports, and update customer records in the database. A customer service administrative assistant must have excellent customer service skills, as well as the ability to multitask and work under pressure and strict deadlines.
Customer specialists and customer service administrative assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Administrative Assistant | |
| Average salary | $38,371 | $33,741 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $66,000 | Between $28,000 And $40,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Everett, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Washington |
| Best paying company | AbbVie | Uline |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer specialist and a customer service administrative assistant in terms of educational background:
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Administrative Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between customer specialists' and customer service administrative assistants' demographics:
| Customer Specialist | Customer Service Administrative Assistant | |
| Average age | 40 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.5% Female, 57.5% | Male, 10.7% Female, 89.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 7.5% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.0% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |