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The differences between lead customer service representatives and associate customer service 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 lead customer service representative and an associate customer service representative. Additionally, a lead customer service representative has an average salary of $36,097, which is higher than the $35,215 average annual salary of an associate customer service representative.
The top three skills for a lead customer service representative include cleanliness, cash handling and inventory control. The most important skills for an associate customer service representative are patients, outbound calls, and customer inquiries.
| Lead Customer Service Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $36,097 | $35,215 |
| Hourly rate | $17.35 | $16.93 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 192,052 | 199,751 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A lead customer service representative is responsible for managing a group of customer service staff to assist in daily operations and help with customer issues. Lead customer service representatives manage high-level customer complaints and provide immediate resolution and disputes. They implement strategies to ensure customer satisfaction, increase productivity, and achieve profitability goals. A lead customer service representative handles escalation and evaluates team member's performance. A lead customer service representative must have excellent communication and leadership skills to supervise the team and support the business' improvement plans.
An associate customer service representative is responsible for providing high customer service by assisting customers on their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor or tenured customer service representative. Associate customer service representatives also process orders and payments from the customers, replacing defective items, and issuing refunds as needed. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on handling data processing procedures to the database for reference to customer concerns.
Lead customer service representatives and associate customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Customer Service Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $36,097 | $35,215 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $58,000 | Between $26,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | Goldsboro, NC | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | New York | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | IBM | Deutsche Bank |
| Best paying industry | Insurance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a lead customer service representative and an associate customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Lead Customer Service Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between lead customer service representatives' and associate customer service representatives' demographics:
| Lead Customer Service Representative | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.1% Female, 67.9% | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 54.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |