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The differences between instruments sales representatives and customer service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an instruments sales representative, becoming a customer service representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an instruments sales representative has an average salary of $129,809, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for an instruments sales representative include capital equipment, mixers and spine. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Instruments Sales Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $129,809 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $62.41 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | 4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 159,779 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
An Instruments Sales Representative is in charge of reaching out to potential clients and businesses, aiming to secure sales. They typically offer products and services to clients through calls, correspondence, or even face-to-face interactions, depending on their company of employment. They conduct market research and analysis to find business and client opportunities, identify and utilize marketing trends, generate leads, discuss product and payment details to clients, and develop sales strategies while adhering to its policies and regulations.
Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.
Instruments sales representatives and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Instruments Sales Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $129,809 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $93,000 And $179,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | - | Washington |
| Best paying company | - | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | - | Insurance |
There are a few differences between an instruments sales representative and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Instruments Sales Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | - |
Here are the differences between instruments sales representatives' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Instruments Sales Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 47 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.4% Female, 33.6% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 72.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 7% |