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The differences between sales associates and customer service advisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sales associate has an average salary of $32,167, which is higher than the $32,029 average annual salary of a customer service advisor.
The top three skills for a sales associate include customer service, sales floor and cash handling. The most important skills for a customer service advisor are taking care, strong customer service, and standard operating procedure.
| Sales Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Yearly salary | $32,167 | $32,029 |
| Hourly rate | $15.46 | $15.40 |
| Growth rate | - | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 579,849 | 235,256 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Average age | 41 | 40 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
Sales associates are responsible for promoting the company's goods or services. They are expected to provide exceptional customer service to prospective buyers. They should be familiar with all features of the company's products or services so that they can answer the customers' inquiries. Sales associates also assist customers in processing their checkouts, refunds, returns, and other needs. They should be customer-oriented, and they should have great communication skills. They should know how to sell their products or services to customers. They are considered the company's representatives on the ground.
A customer service advisor is responsible for providing the best customer service by responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the goods and services offered by the organization. Customer service advisors assist customers with their needs by recommending product selection, offering new products and services, and informing the customers of promotional offers to generate revenues and increase profitability. They also resolve customers' issues, escalating high-level complaints to a customer service lead or supervisor for immediate resolution.
Sales associates and customer service advisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Sales Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average salary | $32,167 | $32,029 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $47,000 | Between $26,000 And $39,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Barclays | Teledyne Technologies Incorporated |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a sales associate and a customer service advisor in terms of educational background:
| Sales Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 38% | Bachelor's Degree, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between sales associates' and customer service advisors' demographics:
| Sales Associate | Customer Service Advisor | |
| Average age | 41 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 38.4% Female, 61.6% | Male, 51.5% Female, 48.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 21.4% Asian, 6.9% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 12.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 54.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |