Office representative vs customer service representative

The differences between office representatives and customer service representatives can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an office representative, becoming a customer service representative takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, an office representative has an average salary of $32,535, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.

The top three skills for an office representative include patients, customer service and phone calls. The most important skills for a customer service representative are cleanliness, POS, and data entry.

Office representative vs customer service representative overview

	Office Representative	Customer Service Representative
Yearly salary	$32,535	$32,260
Hourly rate	$15.64	$15.51
Growth rate	-5%	-4%
Number of jobs	149,852	209,515
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	47	40
Years of experience	2	12

What does an office representative do?

Office Representatives are administrative professionals assigned to do various admin work in the office. They are in charge of managing communication lines, correspondences, and packages. They are often assigned to sort documents, update records, and file papers in the proper cabinets. Office representatives are considered front desk officers as well. They respond to inquiries by guests, direct guests to their meeting areas, and receive mail. They may also be assigned to manage meeting rooms and update appointment calendars. They should have good communication skills and should be service-oriented.

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.

Office representative vs customer service representative salary

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

	Office Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average salary	$32,535	$32,260
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $45,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	New York, NY	Des Moines, WA
Highest paying state	New York	Washington
Best paying company	Citi	Oracle
Best paying industry	Agriculture	Insurance

Differences between office representative and customer service representative education

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

	Office Representative	Customer Service Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	-

Office representative vs customer service representative demographics

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

	Office Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average age	47	40
Gender ratio	Male, 26.6% Female, 73.4%	Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 53.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	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	6%	7%

Differences between office representative and customer service representative duties and responsibilities

Office representative example responsibilities.

Manage the medical front office and coordinate business operations with physicians and legal staff for a busy MRI facility.
Manage correspondence and documentation for OSHA compliance and hold some accounts payable responsibilities by coding invoices for processing and payment.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Reconcile any EOB, insurance payment or discount errors.
Perform physician coding abstracting medical records with ICD-10, and CPT.
Post payments and enter charges utilizing appropriate ICD9 and CPT codes.

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.

Office representative vs customer service representative skills

Common office representative skills

Patients, 20%
Customer Service, 13%
Phone Calls, 8%
Patient Appointments, 7%
EMR, 5%
Excellent Interpersonal, 5%

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
Office Representative
Office Representative vs Customer Service Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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