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The differences between retention specialists and customer engagement specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a retention specialist and a customer engagement specialist. Additionally, a customer engagement specialist has an average salary of $41,014, which is higher than the $37,175 average annual salary of a retention specialist.
The top three skills for a retention specialist include customer service, outbound calls and powerpoint. The most important skills for a customer engagement specialist are brand awareness, wine, and customer service.
| Retention Specialist | Customer Engagement Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $37,175 | $41,014 |
| Hourly rate | $17.87 | $19.72 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 199,631 | 217,031 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A retention specialist is responsible for devising strategies to maintain a healthy relationship with clients. They are primarily in charge of negotiating and securing contract renewals, handling issues and corrective measures for customer satisfaction, utilizing feedback to improve services, and maintaining a healthy rapport to strengthen the client base. Furthermore, as a retention specialist, it is essential to perform calls and correspondence, keep records of all transactions, and coordinate with work-staff.
A client engagement specialist is in charge of devising strategies to build positive relationships with clients that will translate to sales. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify client needs, finding new sales leads and opportunities, and coordinating with team members. They must also reach out to clients through calls, correspondence, or face-to-face interaction to offer products and services, discuss specifications, secure sales, process payments, and perform follow-up calls. Moreover, a client engagement specialist must answer inquiries and address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently.
Retention specialists and customer engagement specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Retention Specialist | Customer Engagement Specialist | |
| Average salary | $37,175 | $41,014 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $48,000 | Between $25,000 And $64,000 |
| Highest paying City | Los Angeles, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Adobe | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a retention specialist and a customer engagement specialist in terms of educational background:
| Retention Specialist | Customer Engagement Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 42% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between retention specialists' and customer engagement specialists' demographics:
| Retention Specialist | Customer Engagement Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.0% Female, 63.0% | Male, 32.7% Female, 67.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.0% White, 55.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 18.4% Asian, 6.1% White, 59.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |