How to Design Escalation Pathways That Really Work

Escalations are often viewed as a failure point in the customer journey. However, the need for escalation itself is rarely the problem. Rather, poorly designed escalation is, resulting in the painfully familiar “pass the parcel” experience.

So how do you design escalation pathways that really work? We asked our contact centre experts to find out what it takes to deliver all-round better outcomes for agents and customers alike.

Stop Treating Escalations as a Taboo Topic

The first step is a mindset shift. When you try to stamp out escalations or even to ignore the fact that they are happening, the subject quickly becomes taboo and agents become unsure about how or when to escalate (because they are afraid to ask!) – resulting in inconsistencies across the contact centre.

However, when you can openly talk about how escalations are just part of day-to-day contact centre life and even often essential, you can start having far more productive conversations about how to handle them.

After all, customers don’t always reach the right person first time, and some issues require specialist knowledge, higher authority, or even a different skill set. The goal, therefore, should not be to eliminate escalation and pretend it isn’t happening – but to design it properly.

“First and foremost, organizations really need to understand and accept that escalation is necessary.

We can’t automate and script everything, so we’ve got to be clear on what triggers an escalation and how agents can easily find the next person to escalate this through to.” – Michael Clark, Co-Founder and Principal Consultant of CXTT Consulting.

Quite simply, escalation exists for a reason, and when leaders operate in denial and assume everything should be resolved at the frontline, this creates friction when issues inevitably exceed an agent’s scope.

Empower Your Agents to Help Cut Down on Unnecessary Escalations

That being said, not all escalations are necessary! Yes (as stated above), some issues have genuine need to be passed through to another agent, but many others may simply be due to gaps in training, permissions, or tools.

When designing smoother escalation pathways, therefore, it’s important to make this distinction and look for opportunities to empower agents with better training and expanded permissions first. All to help resolve more queries at the first point of contact and reduce avoidable escalations.

“When we overhauled our escalations process, we started by looking into all of the queries that were being escalated for the wrong reasons – where agents simply didn’t have the right access or knowledge to resolve it.

To help address this, we focused on boosting empowerment and making sure that every agent had the right tools and knowledge to do their job well – even through to reviewing their goodwill budget and setting new sign-off limits.

As part of this process, we also explored where AI could assist with decision trees and permissions to create more transparency about when it really was time to escalate a call.” – Gareth Brophy, Vice President of Customer Experience and Back Office Capabilities at The DDC Group.

Make Sure Every Agent Knows When to Escalate a Call

This brings us to another important point that it is well worth investing time in making sure every agent fully understands when an escalation is genuinely required.

And quite frankly, the sooner the better, as the quicker each agent can recognize that they aren’t the right person for the customer to talk to, the faster they can pass them through to someone who can – reducing resolution times and all-round frustration for customers.

So set aside time to define clear scenarios and make sure all of your agents understand what triggers an escalation in your operation – from high-value cases to emotional interactions – so you can proactively build confidence and consistency in your frontline’s decision-making.

For tips and advice to make sure every transfer is handled as efficiently as possible, read our article: How to Stop Call Transfers Ruining Your CX

Always Carry the Context of the Conversation Across to the Next Agent

It’s not just about getting the customer through to the right person either. It’s about making sure the context of their interaction comes along for the ride too – as warm transfers are vital to maintaining continuity.

For example, supporting the transfer with CRM notes, conversation transcripts, and sentiment and interaction history can all help to ensure the next agent can pick up seamlessly.

Language matters too. The problem is that the term “escalation” can create negative perceptions – for both customers and agents. Reframing it as connecting the customer with the right expert changes the tone entirely.

After all, when positioned correctly, escalation should be a step forward in resolution, a sign of taking the issue seriously, and a commitment to getting it right.

Keep a Close Eye on What’s Happening Across Your Contact Centre

That being said, any escalation is still a moment of vulnerability in the customer journey. So, be sure to keep a close eye on what’s happening across your contact centre, as escalations are often under-analysed on a busy floor.

Without this visibility, you risk missing vital chances to boost both efficiency and customer experience.

This is where key metrics – such as transfer rate, escalation resolution time, and repeat contact rates – can all help you to build a clearer picture of what’s going on and where there’s opportunity for improvement.

“You really need to do some digging to analyse what’s happening with transfers across your contact centre as it can be very complex – from understanding what’s being transferred due to knowledge gaps, to how much is being passed through to a specialist, or even to a manager to intervene with an emotionally charged complaint.

Once you have a clearer picture, you can then start to look at the training and skills required to help better manage the situation.” – Nerys Corfield, Director of Injection Consulting Limited.

And make sure there’s clear ownership every step of the way – as one of the biggest risks in escalation design is fragmentation, where issues get passed from team to team – each adding little value.

By contrast, a strong escalation process ensures accountability for resolution and minimal additional hand-offs.

Embrace Escalations as Part of the Customer Journey

Ultimately, the most effective leaders don’t just try to blindly eliminate escalations across their contact centre.

Instead, they embrace escalations as part of the customer journey and focus on making them as efficient as possible.

After all, when that happens, escalations stop being a problem and start becoming part of the solution.

What Have You Tried to Better Manage Escalations in Your Contact Centre?

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With thanks to the following people for sharing their thoughts for this article:

• Gareth Brophy, Vice President of Customer Experience and Back Office Capabilities at The DDC Group
• Michael Clark, Co-Founder and Principal Consultant of CXTT Consulting
• Nerys Corfield, Director of Injection Consulting Limited

If you are looking for more information to improve customer service in your contact centre, read these articles next:

• How to Design an Escalation Matrix for Call Centre Agents
• How to Protect Your Agents From Customer Abuse
• How to Handle Escalation Calls

Author: Megan Jones
Reviewed by: Jo Robinson