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.
Representative responsibilities
A representative's responsibilities often include providing excellent customer support and dedication to corporate goals, as seen in resumes. This involves accurately entering data, effectively communicating with other departments, and maintaining office cleanliness. Eric Gjerdevig, Lecturer in Marketing and Director for the Center for Professional Selling and Sales Technology at North Dakota State University, advises representatives to focus on human-to-human skills, stating, "I think as technology advances very quickly with AI it's our human-to-human skills that will become rarer and more valuable over the coming years." This includes asking questions, listening, storytelling, and being empathetic.
Here are examples of responsibilities from real representative resumes:
- 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
- Conduct mediation and arbitration of contract disputes.
- Review correspondence relate to appeals and grievances.
- Contact alumni to raise money for the university
- Research and investigate on all administrative and clinical appeals.
- Contact alumni and residential contacts to raise money for various college programs
- Work heavily with submit patient medical records and consistently follow HIPAA guidelines.
- Research, troubleshoot and resolve customer problems regarding the preservation of foreclose properties.
- Review patient health information authorizations to verify that HIPAA privacy regulations are meet.
- Operate various windows base systems to update systems and customer information while utilizing problem skills.
Representative skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Representatives are proficient in Cleanliness, Patients, and Customer Issues. They’re also known for soft skills such as Computer skills, Customer-service skills, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Representatives that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Cleanliness, 20%
Demonstrated efficiency and reliability while performing various office tasks organized and maintained cleanliness of office environment.
- Patients, 11%
Screened uninsured patients and provided guidance on federal/state/charity programs they may qualify for to assist in meeting their financial obligations.
- Customer Issues, 10%
Administered feedback system targeted at responding and resolving customer issues regarding in-flight food and beverage services through establishing full accountability.
- Customer Service, 10%
Recognized as an asset with exceptional customer service and follow-through skills that significantly contributed to retaining clients.
- Data Entry, 6%
Performed administrative duties by way of accurate data entry, receiving and forwarding messages and effectively communicating with other departments.
- Outbound Calls, 3%
Provided customer service while interacting with current and potential customers daily through live-chat and inbound/outbound calls.
"cleanliness," "patients," and "customer issues" are among the most common skills that representatives use at work. You can find even more representative responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling representative duties is customer-service skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "representatives help companies retain customers by professionally answering questions and helping to resolve complaints." According to a representative resume, here's how representatives can utilize customer-service skills in their job responsibilities: "provided customer support in busy call center environments for public utility and insurance industry employers. "
Listening skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of representatives is listening skills. This skill is critical to many everyday representative duties, as "representatives must listen carefully to ensure that they understand customers in order to assist them." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "communicated with regional contacts to insure proper data entry of dental provider data. "
Patience. A big part of what representatives do relies on "patience." You can see how essential it is to representative responsibilities because "representatives should be patient and polite, especially when interacting with dissatisfied customers." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical representative tasks: "resolve all customer issues, demonstrating patience and courtesy in any circumstances. "
Problem-solving skills. Another crucial skill for a representative to carry out their responsibilities is "problem-solving skills." A big part of what representatives relies on this skill, since "representatives must determine solutions to customers’ problems." How this skill relates to representative duties can be seen in an example from a representative resume snippet: "managed quality communication, customer support and product resolution with each customer. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on representative job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in representative duties, since "customer service representatives must be able to provide clear information in writing, by phone, or in person." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day representative responsibilities: "provide customer support via telephone by performing effectively and professionally communication skills. "
The three companies that hire the most representatives are:
- H-E-B391 representatives jobs
- FedEx295 representatives jobs
- Circle K290 representatives jobs
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Compare different representatives
Representative vs. Associate customer service representative
An associate customer service representative is responsible for providing high customer service by assisting customers on their inquiries and concerns, as well as resolving and escalating high-level complaints to the supervisor or tenured customer service representative. Associate customer service representatives also process orders and payments from the customers, replacing defective items, and issuing refunds as needed. They must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially on handling data processing procedures to the database for reference to customer concerns.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, representative responsibilities require skills like "cleanliness," "data entry," "credit card," and "quality standards." Meanwhile a typical associate customer service representative has skills in areas such as "customer satisfaction," "customer care," "pos," and "medicare." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Associate customer service representatives tend to make the most money working in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $37,473. In contrast, representatives make the biggest average salary, $36,557, in the transportation industry.The education levels that associate customer service representatives earn slightly differ from representatives. In particular, associate customer service representatives are 3.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a representative. Additionally, they're 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Representative vs. Customer relations representative
A customer relations representative is responsible for providing the highest customer service by interacting with customers to respond to their inquiries and concerns, process their requests, and resolve their complaints. Customer relations representatives assist the customers with their needs by offering products and services according to their requirements and budget limitations. They may also sell newly launched products to the customers, discuss features and usability, and generate payments and delivery details. A customer relations representative must have excellent communication and organizational skills to maintain healthy business relationships with the customers to achieve the company's long-term goals and objectives.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real representative resumes. While representative responsibilities can utilize skills like "cleanliness," "patients," "sales floor," and "quality standards," customer relations representatives use skills like "customer relations," "team-oriented environment," "propane," and "customer retention."
Customer relations representatives earn a higher average salary than representatives. But customer relations representatives earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $42,057. Additionally, representatives earn the highest salaries in the transportation with average pay of $36,557 annually.customer relations representatives earn similar levels of education than representatives in general. They're 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Representative vs. Customer service representative
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.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a representative is likely to be skilled in "quality standards," "life insurance," "windows," and "inbound calls," while a typical customer service representative is skilled in "pos," "home health," "cash handling," and "math."
Customer service representatives earn the highest salary when working in the insurance industry, where they receive an average salary of $34,074. Comparatively, representatives have the highest earning potential in the transportation industry, with an average salary of $36,557.When it comes to education, customer service representatives tend to earn similar degree levels compared to representatives. In fact, they're 3.8% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Representative vs. Account services representative
An account services representative is responsible for responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding their financial accounts and statements. Account services representatives also offer new products and services from the financial institution, handling customers' complaints, assist in developing marketing strategies and promotional offers, and identify business opportunities to generate more revenues and attract potential clients. An account services representative must have excellent communication and customer service skills, processing their financial transactions, and resolve billing discrepancies.
Types of representative
Updated April 25, 2024
