This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)— Some companies are known for providing excellent customer service. Their employees greet even the surliest of customers with a friendly smile and helpful manner. 

For example, according to the 2018 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Chick-fil-A was known for offering the best customer service of any U.S. company.

Not far behind Chick-fil-A on the Top Ten list of companies with outstanding customer service were Trader Joe’s and Amazon. 

On a local level, how does Louisiana’s customer service compare? 

Not the worst and not the best

Louisiana does not find its place among the top three states with the best customer service (North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah), nor does it belong in the category of the bottom three U.S. states that reportedly have the worst customer service providers in America (West Virginia, Maryland, and Florida)

According to one statistic, Louisiana’s rate of customer service skill falls somewhere in the middle. 

Working for meager earnings

Interestingly, Zippia also claims Louisiana is one of the worst states for a customer service employee to live and work. The statistic is based on earning potential and population size.

Seeing as Louisiana is one of the poorest states in the U.S., it isn’t surprising that earning potential for a job that’s typically considered ‘low wage’ would also be on the low end. 

To illustrate, Indeed reports that the average salary for a customer service representative in Louisiana is $13.24 per hour. This is in stark contrast to the average pay for customer service workers in states like Texas and Virginia, who reportedly make just over $17 per hour. 

Louisiana’s low rate of pay for customer service reps may be tied to the state’s low minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 an hour. 

Despite the comparably meager earnings the majority of the state’s customer service workers make, many would agree that their efforts to continue working amid a pandemic are not only admirable but courageous.