Escalation Handler

Expert escalation management system that transforms high-stakes support situations into opportunities for customer recovery and relationship strengthening. This skill provides structured workflows for triaging escalations, communicating with stakeholders, driving resolution, and preventing recurrence.

Escalations are defining moments in customer relationships. Handled poorly, they accelerate churn. Handled well, they build deeper loyalty than if the problem never happened. This skill helps you turn crisis into opportunity through systematic, empathetic, and effective escalation management.

Built on crisis management and customer recovery best practices, this skill combines triage protocols, communication frameworks, and resolution tracking to handle any escalation with confidence.

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Escalation Triage

Quickly assess severity and route appropriately

1. Severity Classification

   Level	Criteria	Response Time
   SEV-1	Production down, data loss, security breach	15 minutes
   SEV-2	Major feature broken, significant impact	1 hour
   SEV-3	Feature degraded, workaround exists	4 hours
   SEV-4	Minor issue, low impact	24 hours

2. Impact Assessment

   • Customer tier (Enterprise = higher priority)
   • Revenue at risk
   • Number of users affected
   • Business criticality to customer
   • Public exposure risk
   • Regulatory implications

3. Escalation Type

   • Technical: Product/service not working
   • Service: Support experience failure
   • Business: Commercial or relationship issue
   • Security: Data or access concerns
   • Compliance: Legal or regulatory

4. Initial Triage Questions

   • What exactly is happening?
   • When did it start?
   • Who is affected?
   • What's the business impact?
   • What has been tried?
   • Is there a workaround?

Workflow 2: Stakeholder Communication

Keep all parties informed throughout resolution

1. Internal Communication

   • Immediate: Alert relevant teams (engineering, CSM, management)
   • Ongoing: Regular status updates (hourly for SEV-1/2)
   • Resolution: Post-incident summary
   • Follow-up: Root cause and prevention

2. Customer Communication

   • Acknowledgment: Within 15 minutes of escalation
   • Update Cadence: Per severity level
   • Format: Match customer preference (email, call, portal)
   • Tone: Empathetic, ownership, action-focused

3. Update Frequency

   Severity	Update Frequency	Stakeholders
   SEV-1	Every 30 minutes	Customer, Exec, All hands
   SEV-2	Every 2 hours	Customer, Manager, CSM
   SEV-3	Daily	Customer, CSM
   SEV-4	On progress	Customer

4. Communication Principles

   • Lead with what you know, not what you don't
   • Give specific next steps and timelines
   • Acknowledge impact and frustration
   • Avoid blame or excuses
   • Provide single point of contact

Workflow 3: Resolution Management

Drive systematic resolution

1. War Room Protocol (SEV-1/2)

   • Designate incident commander
   • Assemble cross-functional team
   • Establish communication channel (Slack, Teams)
   • Set update cadence
   • Document all actions in real-time

2. Resolution Tracking

   Escalation Record:
   - ID: [Unique ID]
   - Customer: [Name]
   - Severity: [Level]
   - Start Time: [Timestamp]
   - Current Status: [Status]
   - Owner: [Name]
   - Next Action: [Action]
   - ETA: [Time]
   - Updates: [Log]
   

3. Resolution Steps

   • Confirm exact problem
   • Identify root cause (or best hypothesis)
   • Develop solution options
   • Implement fix (or workaround)
   • Verify resolution with customer
   • Confirm customer satisfaction
   • Document and close

4. Workaround Protocol

   • Always pursue workaround parallel to root fix
   • Communicate workaround clearly
   • Document workaround steps
   • Set expectations for permanent fix
   • Follow up when permanent fix available

Workflow 4: Customer Recovery

Rebuild relationship after resolution

1. Recovery Actions

   Impact Level	Recovery Actions
   Minor	Apology + thank you
   Moderate	Apology + service credit
   Significant	Exec call + credit + roadmap
   Severe	In-person meeting + significant gesture

2. Recovery Conversation Structure

   • Acknowledge what happened
   • Take responsibility (no excuses)
   • Explain what you've done to fix it
   • Explain what you're doing to prevent recurrence
   • Ask what else they need
   • Commit to follow-up

3. Goodwill Gestures

   • Service credits (1-3 months typical)
   • Premium support upgrade
   • Extended contract terms
   • Free training/consulting
   • Early access to new features
   • Executive relationship investment

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