Collections, customer service vs customer service representative

The differences between collectionss, customer service and customer service 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 collections, customer service and a customer service representative. Additionally, a collections, customer service has an average salary of $32,870, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.

The top three skills for a collections, customer service include strong customer service, customer service and payment arrangements. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.

Collections, customer service vs customer service representative overview

	Collections, Customer Service	Customer Service Representative
Yearly salary	$32,870	$32,260
Hourly rate	$15.80	$15.51
Growth rate	-8%	-4%
Number of jobs	161,544	209,515
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	46	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a collections, customer service do?

A collections customer service or collections agent is the person who is in charge of collecting past-due bill payments. Collections agents establish a list of individuals who failed to make their payments. They organize the list based on the severity of their delinquency. It is their task to find the location of the customers through background checks, credit bureau information, and loan documents. Those who are interested in this job should develop skills in intuition, quick thinking, problem-solving, and communication.

What does a customer service representative do?

Customer service representatives are the first point of contact of the customers, acting as the frontiers of the company and help in driving customer loyalty and retention by leaving a great impression and resolving all of their concerns. They accommodate customer queries by providing useful and comprehensive information about any products or services. Some would use that as an opportunity to market and promote more sales. The most challenging issues they use to handle are customer complaints and processing of refunds and returns. They also assist in basic troubleshooting or accounts and payment setup with the use of specific guidelines or step by step procedures. At most, they help and solve customer issues on their own, but sometimes they would need support from supervisors or other departments.

Collections, customer service vs customer service representative salary

Collectionss, customer service and customer service representatives have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Collections, Customer Service	Customer Service Representative
Average salary	$32,870	$32,260
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $39,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Danvers, MA	Des Moines, WA
Highest paying state	Virginia	Washington
Best paying company	University of California	Oracle
Best paying industry	Automotive	Insurance

Differences between collections, customer service and customer service representative education

There are a few differences between a collections, customer service and a customer service representative in terms of educational background:

	Collections, Customer Service	Customer Service Representative
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 33%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Collections, customer service vs customer service representative demographics

Here are the differences between collectionss, customer service' and customer service representatives' demographics:

	Collections, Customer Service	Customer Service Representative
Average age	46	40
Gender ratio	Male, 29.3% Female, 70.7%	Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 59.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 21.2% Asian, 6.3% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	8%	7%

Differences between collections, customer service and customer service representative duties and responsibilities

Collections, customer service example responsibilities.

Monitor all assign accounts by reviewing the client's aging, manage all potential bad debit, DSO, aging.
Provide excellent verbal, written, oral communication skills, attend ongoing training of collections and FDCPA regulations and guidelines.
Provide excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and customer service skills via telephone.
Research accounts to verify credits and debits make are accurately post against supporting documents showing timely reflect within the FDCPA guidelines.
Prevent impending loss and increase profitability through negotiation and enforcement of schedule collection campaigns.
Submit additional information request by insurance companies such as medical records, primary/secondary insurance explanation of benefits (EOB).

Customer service representative example responsibilities.

Manage and plan escalations; assure HIPPA guidelines are followed for confidentially and privacy.
Maintain cleanliness and safety and assist patients as necessary.
Operate POS system and maintain exceptional and consistent customer service.
Exercise proofreading and basic math skills to maintain quality control over documents process
Work in customer service department entering information into customer relationship management (CRM).
Develop highly empathetic client relationships and earn reputation for exceeding good customer service rep goals.

Collections, customer service vs customer service representative skills

Common collections, customer service skills

Strong Customer Service, 45%
Customer Service, 12%
Payment Arrangements, 5%
Credit Card Payments, 4%
Delinquent Accounts, 4%
Past Due Accounts, 3%

Common customer service representative skills

Cleanliness, 10%
POS, 7%
Data Entry, 6%
Sales Floor, 6%
Customer Service, 5%
Home Health, 5%

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Office and Administrative Industry
Collections, Customer Service
Collections, Customer Service vs Customer Service Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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