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Internal CS Escalation Process: Standard Operating Procedure

Objective: Centralise multi-channel support (Email, Phone, SMS) into a unified, visible escalation and reporting structure within HubSpot to eliminate manual fragmentation and improve response times.

 

1. Standardise the Entry Point

To ensure high-level visibility, every escalation must live as a HubSpot Ticket.

  • From Email: Use the existing ticket.
  • From Phone/SMS/Slack: If no ticket exists, the agent must create a new ticket manually.
    • Naming Convention: Escalation - [Customer Name] - [Brief Issue]
    • Association: Ensure the ticket is associated with the correct Contact/Company.

2. Before You Escalate: Add Your Ticket Comment

Before escalating, every ticket must have an internal comment that gives the Shift Lead full context at a glance — no back and forth, no reading through the full thread.

Your comment must cover all five points:

  • Issue: What is the customer's problem? (Be specific — include what happened, what they expected, and what the impact is.)
  • Investigated: What have you already checked or looked into?
  • Action Taken: What steps have you already taken to try to resolve this?
  • Blocker: What is stopping you from resolving it right now?
  • Required to Resolve: What do you need from the Shift Lead or Tech team to close this out?

💡 Tip: If you can anticipate a question the Shift Lead might ask — answer it in your comment upfront. This removes unnecessary back and forth and speeds up resolution.

✅ Example of a good ticket comment:

  • Issue: Customer contacted via email and phone regarding a TA order marked as OOS. She was unable to edit the order, the venue couldn't locate it in the system, and she paid full price without receiving her redeemed discount. She is requesting a refund on her first payment and for the discount to be applied.
  • Investigated: Reviewed Hub and email thread; confirmed payment attachment on file.
  • Action Taken: Acknowledged customer, confirmed issue details, held ticket pending escalation.
  • Blocker: Unable to process refund or apply discount at agent level.
  • Required to Resolve: Shift Lead approval to process refund and manually apply discount.

3. Categorise the Escalation (The "Trigger")

Agents will no longer use informal tags. To escalate, you must use the Escalation Type property on the ticket sidebar.

Action: Set the Escalation Type dropdown to:

  • Shift Lead: Use this for ALL escalations, including technical issues, Jira requests, approvals, complex resolutions, or urgent complaints.
  • Internal Note: Always @mention the Shift Lead in your comment to provide immediate context.

4. Visibility via "Escalation Lanes" (Help Desk Folders)

Once categorized as a Shift Lead escalation, tickets are automatically surfaced in the Help Desk folders. The Shift Lead will triage these and move them to the Tech lane if a Jira ticket is required.

  • 🔥 ALL OPEN ESCALATIONS: A master view of every active escalation.
  • ‼️ #CS-ESCALATE: The primary lane for Shift Lead triage and complex CS issues.
  • 🛠️ #TECH-ESCALATE: Dedicated lane for tickets the Shift Lead has confirmed as Jira-related/Technical.

Monitoring: The Shift Lead monitors these folders continuously. Agents should keep an eye on their escalated tickets for updates.

See: #escalate folders (LHS) and Escalate properties (RHS)

5. Handling Tech Escalations (Jira)

If the Shift Lead determines the issue requires technical intervention, the "Link and Log" method is used:

  • Step A: The Shift Lead (or Agent under SL guidance) creates the ticket in Jira.
  • Step B: Copy the Jira Ticket Key (e.g., TECH-123) into the Jira Reference property in HubSpot.
  • Step C: Update the HubSpot ticket status to "In Progress" (this ensures it remains visible in the active audit queue).

6. Closing the Loop

The Shift Lead will notify the agent via an internal comment once an escalation has been reviewed or actioned.

  • Option A (Agent Final Action): The Shift Lead provides the resolution/approval in the comments. The agent then sends the final response to the customer and closes the ticket.
  • Option B (Direct Resolution): If the Shift Lead resolves the issue directly with the customer, they will comment to notify the agent that the ticket is ready to be closed.

An escalation is only considered "Resolved" when:

  1. The resolution has been communicated to the customer.
  2. The Escalation Type is cleared.
  3. The ticket status is moved to Closed.