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The differences between service advisors and 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 service advisor and a customer service representative. Additionally, a service advisor has an average salary of $46,308, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.
The top three skills for a service advisor include customer service, product knowledge and basic math. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Service Advisor | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $46,308 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $22.26 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 222,424 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Service Advisors specialize in customer service in a car dealership or automotive shop. Acting as a front-desk representative, it is the Service Advisor's responsibility to greet clients and offer assistance, provide necessary and accurate information to customers regarding the automotive issues and needed repairs, respond to inquiries, and introduce the clients to the available mechanics. Moreover, Service Advisors must inform clients regarding the costs and warranties, keep the clients updated with the status of the repairs, coordinate with suppliers, and as well as manage the schedule of the mechanics.
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.
Service advisors and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Advisor | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $46,308 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $26,000 And $79,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Washington |
| Best paying company | BP America Inc | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a service advisor and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Service Advisor | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 33% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between service advisors' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Service Advisor | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.4% Female, 30.6% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 21.1% Asian, 6.1% White, 56.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 7% | 7% |