Representative vs customer service representative

The differences between 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 representative and a customer service representative. Additionally, a representative has an average salary of $36,023, which is higher than the $32,260 average annual salary of a customer service representative.

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

Representative vs customer service representative overview

	Representative	Customer Service Representative
Yearly salary	$36,023	$32,260
Hourly rate	$17.32	$15.51
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	252,761	209,515
Job satisfaction	5	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	High School Diploma, 33%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	12	12

What does a representative do?

Representatives are lawmakers who represent the people in a specific district. They run for office to represent their districts in their hometown or their current place of living. Representatives are usually charismatic and good communicators. These characteristics are especially important during campaign and election periods. Representatives should be able to capture the hearts of the voters through their planned projects and advocacies. They are then elected by their constituents. Upon election, representatives author bills that will eventually be passed into law should it be approved by the majority of the congress. They also vote on the passage of bills authored by other representatives. They also participate in discussions and debates regarding different bills, issues, and laws. Representatives are expected to vote according to their conscience and in consideration of the voice of their constituents.

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.

Representative vs customer service representative salary

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

	Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average salary	$36,023	$32,260
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $55,000	Between $25,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Des Moines, WA
Highest paying state	New York	Washington
Best paying company	Google	Oracle
Best paying industry	Transportation	Insurance

Differences between representative and customer service representative education

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

	Representative	Customer Service Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	High School Diploma, 33%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Representative vs customer service representative demographics

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

	Representative	Customer Service Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 41.8% Female, 58.2%	Male, 30.5% Female, 69.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 20.9% Asian, 7.5% White, 54.4% 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 representative and customer service representative duties and responsibilities

Representative example responsibilities.

Manage fitting rooms and recover the department, while providing exceptional customer service and offering rewards and POS options.
Manage physical portfolio with necessary derivatives to mitigate risk within company guidelines.
Conduct telephone sales and interviews, compile and enter information into database, manage documents and insure customer satisfaction.
Review EOB denials, appeals and/or rebilling as appropriate.
Certify of all requirements, policies, and procedures, including MSB.
Take inbound phone calls from member and providers explaining the EOB denial and payments

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.

Representative vs customer service representative skills

Common representative skills

Cleanliness, 20%
Patients, 11%
Customer Issues, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Data Entry, 6%
Outbound Calls, 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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Representative
Representative vs Customer Service Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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