Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between service agents and customer service 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 service agent and a customer service specialist. Additionally, a customer service specialist has an average salary of $33,238, 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 specialist are customer service, strong customer service, and cleanliness.
| Service Agent | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $29,769 | $33,238 |
| Hourly rate | $14.31 | $15.98 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -4% |
| Number of jobs | 218,795 | 223,323 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| 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 specialists are employees who are responsible for providing the best customer experience to customers, usually for after-sales transactions. They attend to customers' inquiries and provide answers to their questions on products or services that the company offers. They also address customer complaints and help mitigate the concerns by offering solutions such as instructions on how to fix defects, or processing replacements or refunds. Customer service specialists also listen to customer feedback and ensure that these are logged properly so that proper departments will be able to receive them.
Service agents and customer service specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Agent | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average salary | $29,769 | $33,238 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $38,000 | Between $26,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Vestas Blades America | Dell |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between a service agent and a customer service specialist in terms of educational background:
| Service Agent | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 36% | Bachelor's Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between service agents' and customer service specialists' demographics:
| Service Agent | Customer Service Specialist | |
| Average age | 40 | 40 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.5% Female, 38.5% | Male, 32.0% Female, 68.0% |
| 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, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.0% Asian, 6.8% White, 55.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |