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The differences between customer specialists and customer support 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 specialist and a customer support specialist. Additionally, a customer support specialist has an average salary of $39,470, which is higher than the $38,371 average annual salary of a customer specialist.
The top three skills for a customer specialist include customer transactions, client facing and phone calls. The most important skills for a customer support specialist are customer support, phone calls, and compassion.
| Customer Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $38,371 | $39,470 |
| Hourly rate | $18.45 | $18.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 202,965 | 259,592 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 1 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
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 support specialist is responsible for assisting a customer's inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services the organization offers. Customer support specialists handle customer issues and resolve them promptly, escalating high-level complaints to the immediate supervisors. A support specialist will also replace products or process payment refunds as needed. Their goal is to maintain the highest customer satisfaction and keep a good reputation for the company while driving revenues and increasing profitability. A customer support specialist must have outstanding communication skills, as well as the ability to multi-task to record customer complaint cases while providing resolution.
Customer specialists and customer support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $38,371 | $39,470 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $66,000 | Between $28,000 And $55,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | Rhode Island |
| Best paying company | AbbVie | Micron Technology |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a customer specialist and a customer support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer specialists' and customer support specialists' demographics:
| Customer Specialist | Customer Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.5% Female, 57.5% | Male, 37.4% Female, 62.6% |
| 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, 11.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.9% Asian, 7.2% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |