Customer support associate vs customer care specialist

The differences between customer support associates and customer care 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 support associate and a customer care specialist. Additionally, a customer support associate has an average salary of $34,878, which is higher than the $32,427 average annual salary of a customer care specialist.

The top three skills for a customer support associate include data entry, strong customer service and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a customer care specialist are customer care, customer service, and outbound calls.

Customer support associate vs customer care specialist overview

	Customer Support Associate	Customer Care Specialist
Yearly salary	$34,878	$32,427
Hourly rate	$16.77	$15.59
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	242,521	260,027
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a customer support associate do?

A customer support associate's responsibilities revolve around assisting walk-in customers by answering inquiries, offering recommendations, issuing refunds, addressing complaints, and resolving it promptly and professionally. They may also provide support to clients through calls and correspondence, offering them products or services when necessary. There are also instances when they must perform follow-up calls, troubleshoot problems, and arrange appointments. Furthermore, as a customer support associate, it is essential to interact with clients in a friendly and efficient manner, ensuring customer satisfaction and quality service.

What does a customer care specialist do?

A customer care specialist is responsible for assisting the customers with their inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services offered by the organization. A customer care specialist must be detail-oriented, as well as have excellent communication and time-management skills in responding to the customers' needs while documenting the processes on a specific computer program. Customer care specialists are responsible for processing payments, replacing defective items, and initiating refunds as needed. They must resolve complaints accurately and efficiently to ensure customer satisfaction to keep a good reputation for the organization.

Customer support associate vs customer care specialist salary

Customer support associates and customer care specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Customer Support Associate	Customer Care Specialist
Average salary	$34,878	$32,427
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $48,000	Between $26,000 And $39,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Grand Forks, ND
Highest paying state	New Jersey	Hawaii
Best paying company	Adobe	Axogen
Best paying industry	Technology	Insurance

Differences between customer support associate and customer care specialist education

There are a few differences between a customer support associate and a customer care specialist in terms of educational background:

	Customer Support Associate	Customer Care Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 57%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Customer support associate vs customer care specialist demographics

Here are the differences between customer support associates' and customer care specialists' demographics:

	Customer Support Associate	Customer Care Specialist
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 34.1% Female, 65.9%	Male, 30.2% Female, 69.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 7.4% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 6.5% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between customer support associate and customer care specialist duties and responsibilities

Customer support associate example responsibilities.

Manage the use of DHL or FEDEX.
Achieve quarterly A/R objectives on a regular basis.
Negotiate freight rates and manage relationships with freight forwarders and shipping companies.
Organize company events and manage payroll.
Manage high volume weekly consultant payroll using PeopleSoft.
Create and track opportunities monitor using Microsoft CRM.

Customer care specialist example responsibilities.

Continue to manage a high volume of customer calls relate to HMO, PPO and POS concerns.
Provide unbias assistance to Medicaid providers with questions regarding Medicaid patient eligibility, medical claims statuses and other program questions.
Present PowerPoint presentations in a webinar format that introduce new features and enhancements to self- service, e-commerce portal.
Authenticate callers before providing personal health information to avoid breaking HIPAA guidelines.
Verify then analyze and troubleshoot customer's questions regarding student loan disbursement procedures and banking accounts.
Maintain working knowledge of numerous product lines as well as policies to effectively troubleshoot and/or replace defective products

Customer support associate vs customer care specialist skills

Common customer support associate skills

Data Entry, 10%
Strong Customer Service, 6%
Customer Satisfaction, 5%
CSA, 5%
Inbound Calls, 4%
Health Insurance, 4%

Common customer care specialist skills

Customer Care, 25%
Customer Service, 13%
Outbound Calls, 6%
Data Entry, 5%
Troubleshoot, 3%
Inbound Phone Calls, 3%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Customer Support Associate
Customer Support Associate vs Customer Care Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

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