Handling Escalations

Due to redundancies and built-in failsafe, urgent manners only come up occasionally. However, the following scenarios may arise where a request needs to be moved to a high-priority or a critical state.

Steps For Handling Urgent Matters

1. Stay Calm and Assure the Customer:

• Begin the interaction by calmly and professionally acknowledging the severity of the issue.

• Assure the customer that you're committed to resolving the problem quickly.

2. Gather Critical Information:

• Ask the customer for their account details or any relevant information to identify their system (version of Kinetic, customer-managed installation details, etc.)

• Encourage the customer to provide specific details about the issue and its impact on their business operations

• Ask questions about any changes that may have occurred

• Did their network go down?

• Did another system get updated?

3. Set Realistic Expectations:

• Inform customers about the escalation process and what they can expect regarding response and resolution times.

• Be honest about the steps that need to be taken to address the issue.

4. Escalate the Issue:

• Contact the appropriate internal teams or resources to escalate the issue. A majority of our production-down scenarios have involved working with the DevOps team. The Engineering team and the Consultant most familiar with this customer may need to be looped in.

• Communicate the urgency and impact of the situation to set expectations for the team and customers.

• Make the Customer Success Manager aware of the situation. They could back channel to keep the customer aware of progress and get a pulse on the business impact.

5. Keep the Customer Informed:

• Provide regular updates to the customer on the progress of the escalation.

• Ensure the customer knows any potential workarounds or temporary solutions, if available.

6. Document the Case:

• Maintain detailed records of the customer's issue, the steps taken to resolve it, and all communication with the customer.

• This documentation will be helpful for analysis and improvement in the future.

7. Test and Verify the Solution:

• Before presenting a solution to the customer, thoroughly test and verify it addresses the issue.

• Ensure that the customer's system is fully operational and confirm their issue is resolved.

8. Follow Up:

• After resolving the issue, follow up with the customer to ensure their system functions as expected.

• Ask for feedback and inquire if there are any additional concerns.

9. Continuous Improvement:

• After the escalation is closed, review the case with your team to identify areas for improvement in handling similar situations.

• Depending on the nature of the issue, coordinate implementing process changes or additional training to prevent similar incidents.

Remember, handling escalations is a challenging but essential part of customer support. It can be an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to customer satisfaction and showcase our organization's ability to respond effectively to critical issues. Always strive to exceed the customer's expectations in such situations.