How to use Gorgias rules to prioritize VIP customers automatically (2025 Guide)

Let's be honest, in ecommerce, some customers are more valuable than others. Your VIPs, the ones who consistently shop with you and sing your praises, are the lifeblood of your business. So why would you make them wait in the same generic support queue as a first-time visitor with a simple question?

While Gorgias is a great tool for managing customer service, setting it up to give your best customers the white-glove treatment they deserve takes a bit of thought.

This guide will walk you through setting up Gorgias rules to prioritize VIP customers automatically. We'll start with the basics of building these workflows inside Gorgias, then get real about the limitations you'll likely hit as you grow. Finally, we’ll look at a more powerful AI solution that works with your helpdesk to really up your VIP game.

What are Gorgias and Gorgias rules?

Before we get into the nuts and bolts, let's make sure we're on the same page.

What is Gorgias?

Gorgias is a customer service helpdesk designed for ecommerce brands, especially those using platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, and Magento. It pulls all your customer conversations from email, live chat, social media, and more into one neat dashboard. Its real superpower is how tightly it connects with ecommerce platforms, letting your agents see a customer's entire order history right next to their support ticket.

A screenshot of the Gorgias user interface, which helps with using Gorgias rules to prioritize VIP customers automatically.

What are Gorgias rules?

Gorgias rules are the automation engine under the hood. They use a simple "if this, then that" logic to handle incoming tickets without anyone having to lift a finger. You can set up rules to tag tickets, assign them to the right people, send quick auto-replies, and a lot more.

A typical rule has three pieces:

1. A trigger: The thing that kicks off the rule (like a new ticket arriving).

2. Conditions: The specific criteria a ticket has to meet (for example, the message contains the word "refund" or the customer has more than 5 Shopify orders).

3. Actions: The job the rule actually does (like adding a "VIP" tag or sending the ticket to your senior support team).

The Gorgias interface for setting up "if-then" commands, a key part of creating Gorgias rules to prioritize VIP customers automatically.

How to set up Gorgias rules to prioritize VIP customers automatically

Giving your best customers faster support is a surefire way to keep them happy and coming back. According to Gorgias's own data, repeat customers can bring in 300% more revenue%20Long%Dterm%20value%20comes%20from%20repeat%20customers) than new shoppers. By using Gorgias rules, you can build a simple system to spot these customers and bump them to the front of the line.

Here’s a pretty standard way to get this done.

Step 1: Define what "VIP" means for your brand

First things first, you need to decide who qualifies as a VIP. This will be different for every business. Thanks to the Gorgias and Shopify connection, you can use real shopping data to make this call.

Some common ways to define a VIP are:

• Total spend: Customers who've spent over a certain amount (say, $500).

• Number of orders: Customers who've placed a handful of orders (maybe 3 or more).

• Specific product purchases: Customers who bought a particular high-value item.

For this walkthrough, let's say a VIP is anyone who has spent over $500 with you.

The Shopify integration view within Gorgias, showing how to use customer data for Gorgias rules to prioritize VIP customers automatically.

Step 2: Create the VIP rule

Alright, let's build the rule. In your Gorgias dashboard, you’ll head to Settings -> Rules and create a new rule that looks something like this:

• WHEN: "Ticket created"

• IF (all of the following):

  • "Ticket channel" IS NOT "internal note"

  • "Customer (Shopify)" -> "Total spent" IS "greater than" "500"

• THEN:

  • "Add tag" -> "VIP"

  • Optional: "Assign agent" -> "[Your top agent]" or "Assign team" -> "[Priority Support Team]"

Step 3: Create a special view for VIP tickets

A rule that just adds a tag is a good start, but it doesn't really change your team's day-to-day. The next move is to create a "View," which is basically a custom inbox. This new view will be the priority queue your team keeps an eye on.

Go to Tickets -> Views -> Create View. Set it up to show all open tickets that have that shiny new "VIP" tag. You can drag this view to the top of your sidebar so it's the first thing your agents see. Now, anytime a customer who has spent over $500 writes in, their ticket gets tagged and pops right into this priority inbox. Easy peasy.

The limitations of Gorgias rules

Setting up a few Gorgias rules is a fantastic first step. But as your business gets bigger and your support tickets get trickier, you'll pretty quickly find the edges of what these built-in rules can handle.

A narrow definition of "VIP"

What if your most important customer isn't the one who spends the most? Maybe they're an influencer in your niche, a brand ambassador who champions you on social media, or just someone who gives you incredibly useful feedback. Gorgias rules can only see the data from their direct integrations, like with Shopify. They have no idea that a customer is on your "key accounts" list in a Google Sheet. This narrow view means you could easily be giving standard service to someone who is genuinely a VIP.

Rule management gets messy

One rule for VIPs is simple. But what about rules for returns, exchanges, damaged products, and angry customers? Before you know it, you have dozens of rules that can step on each other's toes. Trying to figure out why a ticket got a certain tag becomes a headache, and changing one rule might break three others. The whole system can become a tangled web that's a pain to manage.

No safe way to test rules

Probably the biggest headache with a complex rule system is that you can't test it. The moment you create or edit a rule, it's live. If you mess something up, you could have hundreds of tickets being sent to the wrong person or getting the wrong auto-reply. There's no "practice mode" to see how your changes would have affected past tickets. This makes improving your automation feel more like a gamble than a strategy.

A better way: Add a flexible AI layer to Gorgias

Instead of ripping out your helpdesk and starting over, you can just add an intelligent AI layer right on top. This is where a tool like eesel AI fits in. It connects directly to Gorgias and your other apps, giving you the power and flexibility that the native rules are missing, without the pain of switching systems.

See the full picture with unified knowledge

Unlike Gorgias, eesel AI isn't stuck with just your helpdesk or ecommerce data. You can connect it to over 100 sources, from past tickets and your help center to Google Docs, Confluence, and even your team's Slack channels.

This means you can build a much smarter and more accurate picture of who your VIPs are. eesel AI can learn to spot a VIP based on:

• Past conversations: It can tell when a customer has a history of positive interactions or has given great feedback.

• Internal docs: It can check a "key accounts" list you keep in a Google Doc.

• Custom logic: It can even do complex things, like checking a customer's points balance in your loyalty app through an API call.

A view of how a tool like eesel AI connects to multiple knowledge sources, improving how Gorgias rules prioritize VIP customers automatically.

Go beyond simple tags with custom AI actions

With eesel AI's AI Agent, you can do a lot more than just tag and assign tickets. You can build out entire workflows. For instance, when a ticket from a VIP comes in, the AI Agent could:

1. Draft a personal reply: It learns your brand's tone from your past tickets, so it sounds just like your team.

2. Look up info in real-time: It can check on the latest shipping status directly from Shopify.

3. Take multiple actions: It can tag the ticket "VIP" and "Urgent," assign it to the right agent, and leave an internal note summarizing the whole thing for them.

You just can't get that level of coordination with Gorgias rules alone.

Test everything with powerful simulations

This might be the best part. Before you turn your AI Agent on, you can run it on thousands of your old Gorgias tickets in a totally safe environment. You get back a detailed report showing you exactly what would have happened:

• How the AI would've replied to each ticket.

• The exact resolution rate you can expect.

• Where your knowledge base has gaps that are leading to wrong answers.

This lets you tweak your setup until it's perfect and launch it feeling confident, knowing exactly how it's going to perform. It turns automation from a guessing game into a predictable tool.

The simulation mode in an AI tool, which is a safer way to test Gorgias rules to prioritize VIP customers automatically.

A quick look at pricing: Gorgias vs. eesel AI

Gorgias pricing

Gorgias's pricing is built around the number of "billable tickets" you handle each month. For example, their Pro plan is $300/month for 2,000 tickets if you pay yearly. Their AI features are an add-on, and you pay for each "automated interaction" (around $0.90 to $1.00 each). This can make your costs pretty unpredictable, especially during a busy holiday season. If you automate a lot of tickets, those fees can pile up and give you a nasty surprise on your monthly bill.

eesel AI pricing

eesel AI's pricing is much more straightforward. Plans come with a generous monthly bucket of "AI interactions" (which can be a reply or another action), and there are no extra fees per resolution. The Team plan starts at $239/month for 1,000 interactions and includes everything, like the AI Agent and Copilot. This simple pricing means you don't get punished for having a successful month with a high volume of tickets.

Start with rules, scale with AI

Gorgias rules are a great starting point for any ecommerce brand looking to dip their toes into automation. They offer a simple way to give your VIPs a little extra attention. But to build a support system that's truly smart, scalable, and reliable, you'll eventually need more firepower. By adding a flexible platform like eesel AI to your Gorgias setup, you can get deeper insights, more powerful automations, and the peace of mind that comes from being able to test everything first.

Ready to see what a real AI workflow could do for your VIPs? You can sign up and get started with eesel AI in just a few minutes and even run a simulation on your own Gorgias ticket history to see the results for yourself.