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If your contact center is experiencing a high number of issues and escalations, which is causing frustration for customers and a decrease in overall satisfaction. It can lead to increased workload and stress for contact center agents, who are struggling to keep up with the volume of requests and resolve them in a timely manner.
This high volume of issues and escalations is can result in negative consequences for both customers and contact center agents. Customers will be unhappy with the level of service they are receiving, and contact center agents will feel overwhelmed and unable to effectively handle the volume of requests.
In order to address the high number of issues and escalations in the contact center, it is necessary to identify the root causes and implement solutions to address them. This may include improving training for contact center agents, implementing new technologies or processes to streamline request handling, or identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the current system. By addressing the root causes of the issues and escalations, it will be possible to improve the customer experience and reduce the workload and stress on contact center agents.

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Issues and escalations management is an important component of service delivery. It involves the processes and procedures that organizations use to identify, prioritize, and resolve issues that arise during the delivery of services to customers. Effective issues and escalations management is critical for ensuring that service delivery is timely, efficient, and meets the needs of customers. This section will provide an overview of issues and escalations management, including its key components, benefits, and best practices.

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What Is Issues And Escalation Management, And Its Purpose Within An Organization

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Issues and escalations management is the process of identifying, prioritizing and resolving issues that arise during the delivery of services to customers. This process is designed to ensure that service delivery is timely, efficient, and meets the needs of customers.

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Issues and escalations management aims to provide organizations with a structured approach to dealing with issues and problems that may arise during service delivery. Organizations can improve the quality of their service delivery and enhance customer satisfaction by identifying and resolving issues in a timely and effective manner.

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Effective issues and escalations management can also help organizations reduce the risk of service disruptions and minimize the impact of issues on their operations. By having a clear and well-defined process for dealing with issues, organizations can ensure that they can quickly and effectively address problems as they arise, minimizing the potential for service disruptions and other negative impacts.

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When issues associated with requests are not resolved in a manner that is satisfactory to the Requester of the issue, an escalation may be initiated resulting in senior executives and multiple people being unnecessarily involved. How the escalation is responded to and acted upon can have a significant impact on the client relationship.

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Consumers of the IT service will inevitably raise issues regarding the quality of the service or misalignment with the expectations. Regardless of the type of issue that is raised or by whom, how the IT teams respond to the issue will determine if an escalation is generated.

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Escalations can come from many sources, for various issues, and at any time of the day. Having an issues and escalation management system that is defined, agreed to by all parties, well understood, and executed as per the design, will ensure that not only real escalations are raised and sent to the right person/group to act upon, but that unnecessary time and effort is not wasted dealing with the escalation versus resolving the issue.

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For example, escalating that a request is not responded to or resolved in a particular amount of time, when the SLA may indicate that the response and resolve times are within the contractual levels. Alternatively, sending an escalation to a C-level executive when the escalation path could be four levels below that.

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Escalations may result from various types of issues such as:
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• Issues surrounding response times to requests (Not responding quickly)

• Issues with resolution times for requests (Taking too long)

• Issues with the quality of work

• Issues with the final deliverable

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Why Are Issues And Escalations Management Important To An Organization

Issues and escalations management is important to an organization because it helps to ensure that any problems or concerns that arise are promptly identified and addressed. Issues and escalations management involves establishing processes and procedures for identifying, tracking and resolving problems or issues that arise within the organization. This can include things like defining who is responsible for addressing different types of issues, establishing escalation procedures for when issues cannot be resolved at the local level, and regularly reviewing the status of open issues to ensure that they are being resolved in a timely manner.

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Effective issues and escalations management can help organizations prevent small problems from becoming larger, more serious issues. By identifying and addressing problems early, organizations can avoid costly disruptions or other negative impacts on their operations. Additionally, effective issues and escalations management can help organizations maintain the trust and confidence of their clients, partners, and stakeholders by demonstrating that the organization is committed to addressing any problems or concerns that may arise.

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Overall, issues and escalations management is important because it helps organizations prevent problems from becoming larger and more serious and to maintain the trust and confidence of their stakeholders. This can help organizations to operate more effectively and efficiently and can support their long-term success.

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How To Establishing An Issues And Escalation Management Process:

Identify the stakeholders: The first step in establishing an issues and escalation management process is to identify all of the stakeholders who will be involved in the process. This may include customers, employees, vendors, and other parties who may be affected by issues during service delivery.

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Develop a set of policies and procedures: Once the stakeholders have been identified, the next step is to develop a set of policies and procedures for dealing with issues and escalations. These policies and procedures should outline the process for identifying, prioritizing and resolving issues, as well as the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder.

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Communicate the policies and procedures: After the policies and procedures have been developed, the next step is to communicate them to all stakeholders. This may involve providing training and other support to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

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Implement the policies and procedures: The next step is to implement the policies and procedures in order to put the issues and escalation management process into action. This may involve establishing systems and processes for identifying and tracking issues, as well as for communicating and resolving issues.

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Monitor and evaluate the process: Finally, the organization should regularly monitor and evaluate the issues and escalation management process to ensure that it is effective and that it is meeting the needs of all stakeholders. This may involve conducting regular audits and reviews, as well as making adjustments to the process as needed.

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Establishing An Issues And Escalation Management Process Can Provide A Range Of Benefits:

Improved customer satisfaction: By identifying and resolving issues quickly and effectively, organizations can improve the quality of their service delivery and enhance customer satisfaction. This can help to build customer loyalty and increase customer retention.

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Enhanced efficiency and cost savings: Effective issues and escalation management can also help organizations improve their efficiency and reduce costs. Organizations can avoid service disruptions and other costly incidents by identifying and addressing issues before they become major problems.

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Increased accountability and transparency: An issues and escalation management process can also help increase the organization's accountability and transparency. By clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder, organizations can ensure that everyone is held accountable for their actions and that all stakeholders are involved in the process.

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Reduced risk: Finally, effective issues and escalation management can help organizations to reduce their overall risk. By identifying and addressing potential problems before they become significant issues, organizations can minimize the potential for service disruptions and other negative impacts on their operations.

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Here Are Some Tips For Establishing An Issues And Escalation Management Process:

Identify all stakeholders: The first step in establishing an issues and escalation management process is to identify all of the stakeholders who will be involved in the process. This may include customers, employees, vendors, and other parties who may be affected by issues during service delivery.

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Develop clear policies and procedures: The next step is to develop a set of clear and concise policies and procedures for dealing with issues and escalations. These policies and procedures should outline the process for identifying, prioritizing and resolving issues, as well as the roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder.

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Communicate the policies and procedures to all stakeholders: After the policies and procedures have been developed, it is important to communicate them to all stakeholders. This may involve providing training and other support to ensure everyone understands their roles and responsibilities.

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Implement the policies and procedures: The next step is to implement the policies and procedures in order to put the issues and escalation management process into action. This may involve establishing systems and processes for identifying and tracking issues, as well as for communicating and resolving issues.

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Monitor and evaluate the process regularly: Finally, the organization should monitor and evaluate the issues and escalation management process to ensure that it is effective and meeting the needs of all stakeholders. This may involve conducting regular audits and reviews, as well as making adjustments to the process as needed.

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When issues associated with requests are not resolved in a manner that is satisfactory to the Requester of the issue, an escalation may be initiated resulting in senior executives and multiple people being unnecessarily involved. How the escalation is responded to and acted upon can have a significant impact on the client relationship.

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How To Implement An Issues And Escalation Management Process:

Consumers of the IT service will inevitably raise issues regarding the quality of the service or misalignment with the expectations. Regardless of the type of issue that is raised or by whom, how the IT teams respond to the issue will determine if an escalation is generated.

Escalations can come from many sources, for various issues, and at any time of the day. Having an issues and escalation management system that is defined, agreed to by all parties, well understood, and executed as per the design, will ensure that not only real escalations are raised and sent to the right person/group to act upon, but that unnecessary time and effort is not wasted dealing with the escalation versus resolving the issue.

For example, escalating that a request is not responded to or resolved in a particular amount of time, when the SLA may indicate that the response and resolve times are within the contractual levels. Alternatively, sending an escalation to a C-level executive when the escalation path could be four levels below that.

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Escalations may result from various types of issues such as:

• Issues surrounding response times to requests (Not responding quickly)

• Issues with resolution times for requests (Taking too long)

• Issues with the quality of work

• Issues with the final deliverable

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Objective of the process:

• Document the escalation management process and ensure all involved parties agree and understand the process.

• Ensure handling of various types of escalations is documented.

• Ensure contact lists are specified and the path that needs to be taken for various kinds of escalations is understood.

• Ensure escalations are tracked, trended and acted on

• Ensure escalations are being resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner

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Sample List Of Benefits:

• Remove false escalations

• Engage the right people and avoid bypasses to senior executives

• Improve resolution times

• Improve Client relationship

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Sample List Of Observations:

• Escalations are being sent to senior executives directly, bypassing numerous levels of resources which will ultimately be responsible for the escalation.

• Escalations are not clear or fact-based.

• Escalations are being raised for issues that are non-issues. Lack of understanding of the contract and deliverables.

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Sample List Of Recommendations:

• As part of the intake process, ensure the escalation that is being raised falls within the escalation management process.

• Ensure that the escalation is acted on and keep the requester of the escalation informed of all actions and activities.

• Review the escalations on a monthly basis as part of MOR/Governance meetings to track and trend the escalations and address false perception issues.

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Sample Areas To Probe:

1. Do you have a documented escalation management process?

2. Are you and your client aware of this process?

3. Is the process being followed?

4. Do you have details about the types of escalations that can be raised?

5. Do you have contact lists identified for the types of escalations?

6. Do you have the response and resolution times defined for the types of escalations?

7. Do you track and trend the escalations?

8. Do you review the escalations as part of monthly operational meetings or governance meetings?

9. Do you find your client is bypassing the documented escalation process?

10. Do you have a good enough relationship with the client that you can bring this up to them?

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Exercise: What elements of the Operational Management Framework do you think have an impact on Issues and Escalations?

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