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The differences between service agents 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 agent and a customer service representative. Additionally, a customer service representative has an average salary of $32,260, 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 a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.
| Service Agent | Customer Service Representative | |
| Yearly salary | $29,769 | $32,260 |
| Hourly rate | $14.31 | $15.51 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 218,795 | 209,515 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| 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.
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 agents and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Agent | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average salary | $29,769 | $32,260 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $38,000 | Between $25,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Des Moines, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Washington |
| Best paying company | Vestas Blades America | Oracle |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a service agent and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:
| Service Agent | Customer Service Representative | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | High School Diploma, 33% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between service agents' and customer service representatives' demographics:
| Service Agent | Customer Service Representative | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5% | Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5% |
| 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, 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% |