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The differences between customer support specialists and customer support representatives 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 specialist and a customer support representative. Additionally, a customer support specialist has an average salary of $39,470, which is higher than the $37,404 average annual salary of a customer support representative.
The top three skills for a customer support specialist include customer support, phone calls and compassion. The most important skills for a customer support representative are technical support, windows, and customer inquiries.
| Customer Support Specialist | Customer Support Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $39,470 | $37,404 |
| Hourly rate | $18.98 | $17.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 259,592 | 243,140 |
| Job satisfaction | 1 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
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.
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 support specialists and customer support representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Support Specialist | Customer Support Representative | |
| Average salary | $39,470 | $37,404 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $55,000 | Between $29,000 And $47,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Micron Technology | University of California, Berkeley |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a customer support specialist and a customer support representative in terms of educational background:
| Customer Support Specialist | Customer Support Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between customer support specialists' and customer support representatives' demographics:
| Customer Support Specialist | Customer Support Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.4% Female, 62.6% | Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |