revfactory Escalation Flowchart — Escalation Design Methodology
A skill that enhances the escalation policy design capabilities of escalation-manager.
Target Agents
- escalation-manager — Designs systematic escalation policies
- response-specialist — Reflects escalation trigger conditions in responses
3-Tier Escalation Structure
L1: Frontline (First Response)
Assigned To: CS Agents (General)
Scope: FAQ, general inquiries, simple processing
Authority:
- Information guidance
- Basic account settings
- Small credits (under $50)
- Standard refund processing
Response SLA:
Chat 30 sec, Email 4 hours, Phone immediate
Resolution Target: 70-80% of all inquiries
L2: Specialist Support (Second Response)
Assigned To: Senior Agents, Technical Support
Scope: Technical issues, complex account problems, special requests
Authority:
- Technical investigation and resolution
- Medium credits (under $500)
- Exception processing approval
- Cross-department coordination
Response SLA:
Chat 2 min, Email 8 hours
Resolution Target: 80% of L1 unresolved cases
L3: Expert/Manager (Third Response)
Assigned To: Team Leaders, Development Team, Legal Team
Scope: Service outages, legal issues, VIP complaints
Authority:
- Large compensation decisions
- Service modification/patch requests
- Official apology issuance
- Legal response initiation
Response SLA:
Critical 1 hour, Normal 24 hours
Resolution Target: All unresolved cases
Issue Severity Classification
| Grade | Description | Example | SLA | Escalation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEV-1 (Critical) | Full service outage, data breach | Entire service down | 15 min response, 4 hr resolution | Immediate L3 + Executives |
| SEV-2 (Major) | Core feature failure, multiple users affected | Payments not working | 30 min response, 8 hr resolution | L3 if unresolved in 1 hr |
| SEV-3 (Moderate) | Partial feature failure, workaround available | Specific feature error | 4 hr response, 24 hr resolution | L1 or L2 |
| SEV-4 (Low) | Minor issue, inconvenience | UI display error | 24 hr response, 72 hr resolution | L1 |
Escalation Trigger Conditions
Automatic Escalation
L1 → L2 Triggers:
- Interaction exceeds 15 minutes
- Same issue inquired 3+ times
- Technical investigation required (log review, etc.)
- Customer requests supervisor
L2 → L3 Triggers:
- Unresolved for 24 hours
- Customer mentions on social media/press
- Legal action mentioned
- SEV-1/SEV-2 issue
- VIP/Enterprise customer
Emotion-Based Escalation
Emotion Level Assessment:
Green (Stable): Proceed with normal response
Yellow (Dissatisfied): Strengthen empathy, attempt L1 resolution
Red (Agitated): Immediate L2 escalation
Black (Threatening): Immediate L3 + Legal team alert
Detection Keywords:
Red: "Let me speak to your manager", "consumer protection", "lawsuit", "press"
Black: Threats, hacking mentions, personal attacks, threatening language
Escalation Process Flow
Customer Inquiry Incoming
|
+-- Auto-classification (keyword/customer grade)
|
+-- L1 Assignment
| +-- Resolved → Close + CSAT survey
| +-- Unresolved → Check triggers
| +-- Auto trigger → L2 assignment
| +-- Manual judgment → L2 request
|
+-- L2 Assignment
| +-- Resolved → Close + CSAT survey
| +-- Unresolved → L3 escalation
| +-- Technical issue → Development team
| +-- Legal issue → Legal team
| +-- Business → Team leader
|
+-- L3 Processing
+-- Resolved → Notify customer + follow-up management
+-- Unresolved → Executive report
SLA Matrix Template
| Channel | First Response | Update Frequency | Resolution Target |
|---------|---------------|------------------|-------------------|
| Chat | 30 sec | Real-time | 10 min |
| Phone | Immediate | Real-time | During call |
| Email | 4 hours | 24 hours | 48 hours |
| Social Media | 1 hour | 4 hours | 24 hours |
After Hours:
SEV-1/2: 24/7 response (on-call)
SEV-3/4: Next business day
Crisis Response Protocol (SEV-1)
T+0 min: Issue detected
→ Immediate Slack/phone alert
→ Assign owner
T+15 min: Initial assessment
→ Determine impact scope
→ Draft customer notice
T+30 min: Customer communication
→ In-app notice / Status page update
→ "We are aware of [issue] and are actively working to resolve it"
T+1 hour: Executive report
→ Impact scope, estimated resolution time, required resources
T+Resolution: Post-incident actions
→ Customer notice (resolution complete)
→ Determine compensation for affected customers
→ Post-mortem (5 Whys)