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The differences between service agents 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 service agent and an associate customer service representative. Additionally, an associate customer service representative has an average salary of $35,215, which is higher than the $29,769 average annual salary of a service agent.
The top three skills for a service agent include regular maintenance, customer service and credit card. The most important skills for an associate customer service representative are patients, outbound calls, and customer inquiries.
| Service Agent | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $29,769 | $35,215 |
| Hourly rate | $14.31 | $16.93 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 218,795 | 199,751 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A service agent is an individual whose primary function is to provide a friendly service to internal and external customers about the organization's products and services. An agent should be people-oriented, highly motivated with a positive and friendly attitude. Although an agent usually works in a call center, an agent can communicate in various ways, such as the telephone or often face to face. The minimum educational requirement of being a service agent is a high school diploma; however, the customer service experience is a plus.
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.
Service agents and associate customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Agent | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $29,769 | $35,215 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $38,000 | Between $26,000 And $46,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Vestas Blades America | Deutsche Bank |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a service agent and an associate customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Service Agent | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 35% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between service agents' and associate customer service representatives' demographics:
| Service Agent | Associate Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5% | Male, 35.1% Female, 64.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 20.6% Asian, 6.7% White, 54.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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% |