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The differences between customer support representatives 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 support representative and a customer service specialist. Additionally, a customer support representative has an average salary of $37,404, which is higher than the $33,238 average annual salary of a customer service specialist.
The top three skills for a customer support representative include technical support, windows and customer inquiries. The most important skills for a customer service specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Customer Support Representative | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $37,404 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $17.98 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 243,140 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A customer support representative is responsible for answering calls and correspondence, providing customer assistance in various technical issues, concerns, or difficulties. There are also instances when they must make calls to follow-up on the issues, or even sell products and services. Most of the time, a customer support representative has a certain quota to reach and works under a manager's supervision. Furthermore, it is essential to keep accurate records and report to managers or supervisors should there be any problems.
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 support representatives and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Support Representative | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $37,404 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $47,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | University of California, Berkeley | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer support representative and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Support Representative | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer support representatives' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Customer Support Representative | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 7.3% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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% |