Representative vs customer support representative

The differences between representatives and customer support 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 support representative. Additionally, a customer support representative has an average salary of $37,404, which is higher than the $36,023 average annual salary of a representative.

The top three skills for a representative include cleanliness, patients and customer issues. The most important skills for a customer support representative are technical support, windows, and customer inquiries.

Representative vs customer support representative overview

	Representative	Customer Support Representative
Yearly salary	$36,023	$37,404
Hourly rate	$17.32	$17.98
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	252,761	243,140
Job satisfaction	5	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
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 support representative do?

A customer support representative is responsible for answering calls and correspondence, providing customer assistance in various technical issues, concerns, or difficulties. There are also instances when they must make calls to follow-up on the issues, or even sell products and services. Most of the time, a customer support representative has a certain quota to reach and works under a manager's supervision. Furthermore, it is essential to keep accurate records and report to managers or supervisors should there be any problems.

Representative vs customer support representative salary

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

	Representative	Customer Support Representative
Average salary	$36,023	$37,404
Salary range	Between $23,000 And $55,000	Between $29,000 And $47,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	Boston, MA
Highest paying state	New York	Alaska
Best paying company	Google	University of California, Berkeley
Best paying industry	Transportation	Finance

Differences between representative and customer support representative education

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

	Representative	Customer Support Representative
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 50%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	-	-

Representative vs customer support representative demographics

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

	Representative	Customer Support Representative
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 41.8% Female, 58.2%	Male, 47.0% Female, 53.0%
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, 10.9% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 20.1% Asian, 7.3% White, 55.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	7%	7%

Differences between representative and customer support 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 support representative example responsibilities.

Manage customer relationships using company CRM system, deliver post sales training on system, and offer additional assistance as needed.
Manage software maintenance renewal partner and assist with upselling additional and higher functionality licenses to increase revenue.
Coordinate and escalate efforts with adjacent operations and engineering groups to offer end-to-end solutions for customers with complex technical issues.
Track and measure all activity demonstrating the impact of CRR involvement.
Act as technical liaison and sell product into Telco and LAN markets.
Support internal users regarding installation of hardware, software and other windows application issues.

Representative vs customer support representative skills

Common representative skills

Cleanliness, 20%
Patients, 11%
Customer Issues, 10%
Customer Service, 10%
Data Entry, 6%
Outbound Calls, 3%

Common customer support representative skills

Technical Support, 10%
Windows, 8%
Customer Inquiries, 6%
Data Entry, 6%
Customer Support, 4%
Work Ethic, 4%

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Representative
Representative vs Customer Support Representative

Updated January 8, 2025

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