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The differences between customer support specialists and sales support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a customer support specialist, becoming a sales support specialist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a sales support specialist has an average salary of $50,782, which is higher than the $39,470 average annual salary of a customer support specialist.
The top three skills for a customer support specialist include customer support, phone calls and compassion. The most important skills for a sales support specialist are customer service, sales support, and powerpoint.
| Customer Support Specialist | Sales Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $39,470 | $50,782 |
| Hourly rate | $18.98 | $24.41 |
| Growth rate | -4% | 4% |
| Number of jobs | 259,592 | 238,995 |
| Job satisfaction | 1 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 40 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 4 |
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 sales support specialist is primarily responsible for performing clerical tasks to support a sales team. Typically, they gather sales leads and data, produce progress reports and presentations, maintain records of all transactions, and liaise with different accounting personnel. A sales support specialist may respond to calls and inquiries, resolving customers' complaints and concerns promptly and professionally. Furthermore, one may arrange meetings and appointments with clients, develop sales strategies for profit growth, and process orders, all while ensuring customer satisfaction.
Customer support specialists and sales support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Customer Support Specialist | Sales Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $39,470 | $50,782 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $55,000 | Between $31,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Micron Technology | Microsoft |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a customer support specialist and a sales support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Customer Support Specialist | Sales Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 49% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | SUNY College of Technology at Alfred |
Here are the differences between customer support specialists' and sales support specialists' demographics:
| Customer Support Specialist | Sales Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.4% Female, 62.6% | Male, 36.1% Female, 63.9% |
| 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, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 6% |