Telesales representative vs customer support representative

The differences between telesales representatives and customer support 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 telesales representative and a customer support representative. Additionally, a telesales representative has an average salary of $65,894, which is higher than the $37,404 average annual salary of a customer support representative.

The top three skills for a telesales representative include customer service, inbound calls and lead generation. The most important skills for a customer support representative are technical support, windows, and customer inquiries.

Telesales representative vs customer support representative overview

	Telesales Representative	Customer Support Representative
Yearly salary	$65,894	$37,404
Hourly rate	$31.68	$17.98
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	221,315	243,140
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a telesales representative do?

A telesales representative, also known as a telemarketer, is a salesperson whose duties focus on communicating with potential and existing clients through calls, aiming to secure sales and build positive customer relationships. They offer products and services, set appointments, answer inquiries, discuss product and service specifications, process orders and payments, and even assist customers in issues and concerns. Moreover, a telesales representative also conducts research and assessments to find leads for potential sales opportunities, contacts existing customers, keep records, and provides optimal services to ensure client satisfaction.

What does a customer support representative do?

A customer support representative is responsible for answering calls and correspondence, providing customer assistance in various technical issues, concerns, or difficulties. There are also instances when they must make calls to follow-up on the issues, or even sell products and services. Most of the time, a customer support representative has a certain quota to reach and works under a manager's supervision. Furthermore, it is essential to keep accurate records and report to managers or supervisors should there be any problems.

Telesales representative vs customer support representative salary

Telesales representatives and customer support representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Telesales Representative	Customer Support Representative
Average salary	$65,894	$37,404
Salary range	Between $46,000 And $93,000	Between $29,000 And $47,000
Highest paying City	Iowa City, IA	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	Iowa	Alaska
Best paying company	Oracle	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between telesales representative and customer support representative education

There are a few differences between a telesales representative and a customer support representative in terms of educational background:

	Telesales Representative	Customer Support Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 41%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Telesales representative vs customer support representative demographics

Here are the differences between telesales representatives' and customer support representatives' demographics:

	Telesales Representative	Customer Support Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 46.1% Female, 53.9%	Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.4% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 55.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 7.3% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between telesales representative and customer support representative duties and responsibilities

Telesales representative example responsibilities.

Contact medicare eligible recipients to sell medicare advantage plans through in-home meetings, community seminars and direct telesales.
Exceed expectations in cross-selling and upselling on all inbound and outbound calls.
Solicit cross-selling and upselling opportunities to new prospects and current customers.
Upgrade current customers who have Comcast services through outbound telephone solicitation.
Counter customer objections by remaining knowledgeable of Comcast and its competitor's services and initiatives.
Demonstrate superb organizational and multitasking abilities

Customer support representative example responsibilities.

Manage customer relationships using company CRM system, deliver post sales training on system, and offer additional assistance as needed.
Manage software maintenance renewal partner and assist with upselling additional and higher functionality licenses to increase revenue.
Coordinate and escalate efforts with adjacent operations and engineering groups to offer end-to-end solutions for customers with complex technical issues.
Track and measure all activity demonstrating the impact of CRR involvement.
Act as technical liaison and sell product into Telco and LAN markets.
Support internal users regarding installation of hardware, software and other windows application issues.

Telesales representative vs customer support representative skills

Common telesales representative skills

Customer Service, 17%
Inbound Calls, 9%
Lead Generation, 8%
Closes Sales, 7%
Customer Interaction, 7%
Telemarketing, 6%

Common customer support representative skills

Technical Support, 10%
Windows, 8%
Customer Inquiries, 6%
Data Entry, 6%
Customer Support, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%

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Telesales Representative
Telesales Representative vs Customer Support Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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