Phone representative vs customer service representative

The differences between phone representatives 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 phone representative and a customer service representative. Additionally, a phone representative has an average salary of $42,827, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.

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

Phone representative vs customer service representative overview

	Phone Representative	Customer Service Representative
Yearly salary	$42,827	$32,260
Hourly rate	$20.59	$15.51
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	222,650	209,515
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a phone representative do?

A Phone Representative answers customer calls, complaints, and inquiries professionally. They handle and resolve customer complaints related to its services/products and product/service sales. Besides processing applications, orders, and forms requested by customers, Phone Representatives also update customers about the products/services information. These professionals record customer complaints, inquiries, feedback, and actions taken. They develop and maintain mutually beneficial and professional relationships with each customer. Moreover, they create and maintain cordial relationships with all new customers.

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.

Phone representative vs customer service representative salary

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

	Phone Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average salary	$42,827	$32,260
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $68,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Norco, CA	Des Moines, WA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Press Ganey	Oracle
Best paying industry	Health Care	Insurance

Differences between phone representative and customer service representative education

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

	Phone Representative	Customer Service Representative
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 37%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Phone representative vs customer service representative demographics

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

	Phone Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 34.6% Female, 65.4%	Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 5.5% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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	7%	7%

Differences between phone representative and customer service representative duties and responsibilities

Phone representative example responsibilities.

Conduct telephone sales and interviews, compile and enter information into database, manage documents and insure customer satisfaction.
Provide status of medical claims and explain EOB's.
Research and resolve incorrect payments, EOB rejections and other issues with accounts.
Answer inbound provider calls to help with billing Medicaid claims and benefits and eligibility issues.
Update alumni on current happenings in university life and act as a liaison between past and current students.
Contact hundreds of alumni and their families by telephone and raise thousands of dollars to improve school facilities and maintain school grounds

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.

Phone representative vs customer service representative skills

Common phone representative skills

Customer Service, 27%
Outbound Calls, 13%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Inbound Phone Calls, 7%
Troubleshoot, 6%
Computer System, 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
Phone Representative
Phone Representative vs Customer Service Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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