Escalation

What is a call escalation?

Escalation, also called call escalations or supervisor escalation, is the process of raising customer complaints to agents with higher positions to resolve.

When the first-hand customer service representative is not able to resolve customer complaints, it is then raised to tier-2 agents or supervisors who can give better solutions to the problems.

Customers tend to be on the verge of their emotions when seeking escalations; thus, the senior agent or supervisor who will handle the escalating tensions should always be prepared.

Professionalism and courtesy are required when dealing with irate customers.

What is an escalation process?

A call escalation process is in place to clarify the boundaries and channels of decision-making throughout an organization.

It helps sales representatives solve a customer’s problems quickly and with clarity.

Designed around the whole customer service operations, this process outlines a path that allows the customer service reps to make decisions that reflect the rules of the management.

It minimizes the time it takes to escalate decisions that are beyond their scope of authority.

An efficient call escalation process helps minimize service delays, drives employee accountability, and saves both the customers’ and reps’ time and energy.

With a defined system on how to deal with client escalations, customer support agents can act faster and reduce the severity of the situation.

Why should you handle call escalation properly

Escalation in customer calls happens for a few reasons. It could be due to the customer service agent’s lack of knowledge.

At the same time, angry customer tends to escalate their issues to a higher authority that they think could handle their situation better.

An escalated call affects a call center’s crucial metrics. This includes average handling time, first call resolution, and net promoter score. Once left unresolved, it could make companies lose their patrons.

Call escalations must be resolved and controlled early to increase customer satisfaction on the company’s part, which can further improve customer retention.

De-escalation techniques

De-escalating calls could take lots of practice to manage.

Here are a few de-escalation techniques call centers can use to handle tension and conflict during a call effectively:

Create a call center escalation matrix

An escalation matrix is a standard roadmap indicating the order of departments to which a call will go. At the same time, it indicates when a call will be escalated to a higher level.

Having a proper matrix can help companies organize which and when calls should be escalated and handled by another department.

Form a call center escalation team

Most call centers have an escalation team that is tasked solely with escalation management. They are comprised of escalation supervisors with well-versed customer service skills and superior problem-solving skills.

It’s best to have a call escalations team that will handle a call first before a higher authority to de-escalate a call more easily and increase customer satisfaction.

At the same time, an escalation team also helps avoid having a higher authority involved in a call, keeping their focus on crucial business aspects.

Remain calm

As much as possible, call center agents should be trained to handle escalated calls properly. For starters, they should be able to remain calm and not match the customer’s emotions.

Rather, teach them to apologize and empathize with their clients during a call.

Practice active listening

Angry customers are best handled through active listening. Call center agents should know how to listen carefully when a customer voices their concerns.

Uninterrupted listening is the simplest and most respectful way agents can handle customer calls, especially for de-escalation.

Go the extra mile in resolving issues

Lastly, customers would be delighted when agents go the extra mile to solve their issues.

There are times when agents and the escalation team should make an additional effort to calm their customers.

Not only that, going the extra mile also improves customer experience on the caller’s part.

Managing call escalations

Escalations are expected to be controlled or restrained and are considered essential in the business processing industry (BPO).

The best customer service outsourcing companies should be brimming with fully-equipped professionals who can handle complaints and find immediate resolutions for the client.

One should expect to work with people who have been given proper training and handled by experienced team managers who can brush off escalations easily and with the highest level of restraint and professionalism.

Outsource Accelerator has over 5,000 articles, 350+ podcast episodes, and a comprehensive directory with 3000 BPOs… all designed to make it easier for clients to learn more about managing an outsourcing team and ensuring that escalations are handled properly.