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The differences between customer specialists and sales associate and customer services 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 sales associate and customer service. Additionally, a customer specialist has an average salary of $38,371, which is higher than the $28,654 average annual salary of a sales associate and customer service.
The top three skills for a customer specialist include customer transactions, client facing and phone calls. The most important skills for a sales associate and customer service are customer service, plumbing, and sales associates.
| Customer Specialist | Sales Associate And Customer Service | |
| Yearly salary | $38,371 | $28,654 |
| Hourly rate | $18.45 | $13.78 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 202,965 | 298,588 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | High School Diploma, 34% |
| 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.
Sales and customer service associates are employees who are responsible for closing out sales deals and attending to customer needs. They are in charge of selling company goods and services to potential clients, often citing the common needs of prospective clients to ensure sales. They also handle customer inquiries and complaints and try their best to mitigate any problems that would arise. They are expected to be experts on company products to ensure that they can provide the best service to customers. Sales and customer service associates should have strong interpersonal skills, customer service skills, and communication skills.
Customer specialists and sales associate and customer services have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Specialist | Sales Associate And Customer Service | |
| Average salary | $38,371 | $28,654 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $66,000 | Between $21,000 And $38,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Bellevue, WA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Connecticut |
| Best paying company | AbbVie | GEICO |
| Best paying industry | - | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a customer specialist and a sales associate and customer service in terms of educational background:
| Customer Specialist | Sales Associate And Customer Service | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | High School Diploma, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer specialists' and sales associate and customer services' demographics:
| Customer Specialist | Sales Associate And Customer Service | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 42.5% Female, 57.5% | Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2% |
| 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, 10.9% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 22.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |