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The differences between service managers and general 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 manager and a general manager. Additionally, a service manager has an average salary of $74,009, which is higher than the $71,581 average annual salary of a general manager.
The top three skills for a service manager include POS, performance reviews and cash handling. The most important skills for a general manager are customer service, cleanliness, and food safety.
| Service Manager | General Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $74,009 | $71,581 |
| Hourly rate | $35.58 | $34.41 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 341,785 | 442,690 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 4.25 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
A general manager is responsible for handling the overall operations in the business. General managers manage the staff tasks efficiently, monitor the productivity and efficiency of the work environment, implement new strategies to improve the business performance, recognize the team's best efforts, and effective allocation of budget resources. A general manager must have excellent communication, decision-making, and critical-thinking skills to identify areas of improvement in handling customer complaints, connecting with vendors and other lines of businesses that will direct the company towards its successful objectives.
Service managers and general managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Manager | General Manager | |
| Average salary | $74,009 | $71,581 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $116,000 | Between $40,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Latham & Watkins | NVIDIA |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a service manager and a general manager in terms of educational background:
| Service Manager | General Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between service managers' and general managers' demographics:
| Service Manager | General Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% | Male, 70.7% Female, 29.3% |
| Race ratio | 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% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |