Sharing over 20 years’ experience as a customer-centric leader, Maurizio Mallia explains how to get started with building a Customer Escalation Team.
6 Steps to Empower Your Team to Manage Critical Issues
Creating an escalation team requires a very structured approach.
The key is to empower the team to manage critical issues, resolving them efficiently and minimizing customer churn.
Here are 6 key steps to follow to build a Customer Escalation Team:
- Identify Critical Issues – Determine what issues need escalation beyond common procedures.
- Dedicated Team – Build a specialized team with the necessary know-how to deal with escalations.
- Provide Specialized Training – Ensure comprehensive training, particularly emphasizing the soft skills vital for conflict resolution.
- Define a Clear Escalation Path – Establish a well-defined process for handling escalated issues from start to resolution.
- Empower Decision-Making – Give autonomy to the team to resolve issues quickly and focus on FCR- First Contact Resolution – KPIs.
- Implement a Feedback Loop – Continuously analyse escalation trends, collaborating with key stakeholders to identify improvement areas and address underlying causes effectively.
Beware Ignoring Feedback and Hindering Process Improvements
Keen to get started?
Good luck – just try to avoid these common mistakes:
- Limiting Autonomy – Restricting team decision-making prolongs escalations needlessly.
- Overlooking Feedback – Ignoring feedback and not sharing it with the wider company hinders process improvements.
- Unclear Processes – Ambiguous escalation pathways can lead to delays in issue resolutions.
- Training Gaps – Insufficient refresher training on product knowledge and empathy skills hampers problem-solving abilities.
By being mindful of these pitfalls, you can help ensure the success of a well-trained and empowered escalation team – with a higher chance of handling complex issues efficiently and maintaining customer satisfaction.
A Customer Escalation Team Is Absolutely Vital
A Customer Escalation Team in a contact centre is absolutely vital for both customer satisfaction and resolving issues speedily and efficiently:
- Improve Customer Retention – Resolving issues quickly can turn frustrated and angry customers into loyal advocates.
- Enhance Customer Experience – Rapid resolution prevents dissatisfaction and mitigates complaints that could significantly impact customers’ experiences.
- Handle Complex Issues – Some challenges demand specialized attention exceeding your typical procedures for resolving the issue in hand.
- Safeguard Brand Reputation – Promptly addressing escalated concerns prevents negative reviews on platforms like Trustpilot, safeguarding the brand’s positive image and reinforcing positive word of mouth.
Written by: Maurizio Mallia, with over 20 years’ experience as a customer-centric leader
If you want to find out more about handling call escalations, or de-escalating a call, read these articles next:
Author: Guest Author
Reviewed by: Megan Jones
Published On: 5th Jan 2024 - Last modified: 9th Jan 2024
Read more about - Guest Blogs, Customer Service, CX, Feedback, Maurizio Mallia, Team Management
