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The differences between service leads and service managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a service lead and a service manager. Additionally, a service lead has an average salary of $83,844, which is higher than the $74,009 average annual salary of a service manager.
The top three skills for a service lead include food service, food safety and exceptional client. The most important skills for a service manager are POS, performance reviews, and cash handling.
| Service Lead | Service Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $83,844 | $74,009 |
| Hourly rate | $40.31 | $35.58 |
| Growth rate | -4% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 52,336 | 341,785 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 47 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A service lead is an individual who manages a team of customer service staff members to support a company's customer service activities. Service leads help staff members respond directly to customers who need assistance through phone calls or emails and provide a quick resolution to the issues and concerns. In case a team member is unable to resolve customer issues, service leads are required to identify a solution to the customer query or direct them to another department. Service leads must also conduct periodic evaluations of team members to discuss performance and note their improvement areas.
Service managers are employees who oversee the departments related to providing services to customers. They ensure that service delivery agreements are met by employees in the department. Service managers meet with stakeholders to set service delivery metrics and department goals. They then create strategies to reach these metrics and goals. They are responsible for cascading such goals and metrics to their employees and ensuring that the employees understand what they need to do. Service managers should have a deep understanding and appreciation of the company and its business so that they can create strategies that are in line with the company's identity. They should also be familiar with the customer profiles of the company. Service managers are also responsible for creating department reports and sharing these with stakeholders.
Service leads and service managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Lead | Service Manager | |
| Average salary | $83,844 | $74,009 |
| Salary range | Between $49,000 And $142,000 | Between $47,000 And $116,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Meta | Latham & Watkins |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a service lead and a service manager in terms of educational background:
| Service Lead | Service Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 53% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | California State University - Bakersfield | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between service leads' and service managers' demographics:
| Service Lead | Service Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 48.1% Female, 51.9% | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 5.8% White, 60.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 10% |