If you’re an inbound call center manager, you can probably relate to the following customer “types:”

There’s the “Pokey Peruser,” the person who dials into the call center all the time, but never buys anything. This customer poses a serious challenge for the call center because they tend to eat up gobs of agent time with trivial, sometimes even downright silly, questions -- or sometimes just to “chat” with someone -- yet there’s no way to determine whether they will eventually, one day, start buying and turn out to be a worthwhile customer.

Then there’s the “Sporadic Spender.” Like the “Pokey Peruser,” the “Sporadic Spender” also tends to dial in with a lot of questions – yet they only buy something once in a blue moon – raising the question, how much costly live service should be devoted to this customer?

Then there’s the “Surging Shopper.” This is the customer that buys occasionally, yet based on their demographic could potentially become a very good regular or “premium” customer. You want to provide this customer with prompt and knowledgeable service, because they could one day be one of your best customers.

Then there’s the “Champion Customer.” This is the loyal and satisfied customer who always comes back for more. Thus they deserve the highest quality customer service you can provide, so as to ensure they remain loyal.

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