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The differences between product support 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 a product support representative, becoming a customer service representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a product support representative has an average salary of $36,865, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a product support representative include customer service, technical support and product knowledge. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Product Support Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $36,865 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $17.72 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | 10% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 125,112 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 42 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
Product support representatives are skilled employees who are responsible for performing tasks related to product support services. These representatives must provide excellent customer service as well as technical and product support by responding to phone calls and emails of their customers. They must advise their customers on preventative maintenance and configurations that may negatively affect product performance. Product support representatives are also required to document all activities and communications about problems related to product support services and report them with the development team for solutions.
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.
Product support representatives and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Support Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $36,865 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $56,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Trenton, NJ | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Rhode Island | Washington |
| Best paying company | Kronos Incorporated | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | - | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a product support representative and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Product Support Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 61% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | - |
Here are the differences between product support representatives' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Product Support Representative | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 42 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.0% Female, 35.0% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 10.0% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | 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 | 11% | 7% |