Two kinds that get mixed up
- Functional: the case needs more expertise than the person handling it has. It goes from tier 1 to tier 2.
- Hierarchical: the case is running late or the customer is upset. It goes up to a manager, not to a more experienced technician.
When they get mixed up, managers end up solving technical issues and experts end up handling upset customers.
What makes an escalation work
That the person receiving it does not have to rebuild the story. An escalation without written context means starting over, and the customer notices because they are asked the same thing twice.
The usual mistake
The hot potato: reassigning in a chain without anyone writing anything down. It is the fastest way to turn a two-hour case into a two-week one.