What is the Protocol for Critical Issue Escalation?

When an issue cannot be resolved by the standard Project Manager or when an issue carries high risk, a clear escalation protocol is mandatory. Establishing tiered support workflows ensures that expertise and authority are matched to the severity of the incident.

This document outlines the internal thresholds and timeframes for movement through the command chain, assuring you that the most severe issues receive the highest level of attention.

The Tiered Escalation Model

Our support structure is divided into three tiers, ensuring we pull in the right expertise at the right time. Movement between tiers is governed by time thresholds and the complexity of the issue.

Escalation Tier	Primary Role	Escalation Criteria	Resolution Protocol
Tier I (Project Manager/Agent)	Initial responder, information gathering, primary communication.	Agent unable to solve the issue; Issue requires specialized technical skill.	Initial response, information gathering, first resolution attempt within the SLA.
Tier II (Supervisor/Specialist)	Subject Matter Expert (SME) who provides technical guidance and secondary resolution attempts.	Issue requires unique skill (e.g., Developer) or departmental coordination; Tier I could not resolve within 50% of the Resolution SLA.	Second resolution attempt; Internal discussion/follow-up with the customer.
Tier III (Senior Team/Director)	Senior Leadership intervention for business-critical or strategic failures.	Issue is still unresolved after 90% of the Resolution SLA has passed; The issue is a P1: CRITICAL incident that requires executive oversight.	Final, in-depth investigation; Review of mitigation steps and communication strategy.

Assurance for Critical (P1) Incidents

For issues classified as P1: CRITICAL (e.g., total website outage, uncontrolled ad spend), the escalation protocol is immediate and mandatory.

P1 Escalation Mandate

Immediate Notification: The Project Manager is mandated to notify the Leadership Team and Administrators (Tier III) via email and SMS within 15 minutes of confirming the P1 incident.
Bridge Setup: A dedicated conference call or Google Meet link (Communication Bridge) is immediately established to facilitate real-time collaboration between all necessary technical specialists (Dev, Ads, Integrations) and Tier III leadership.
Executive Oversight: The Leadership Team is brought in immediately to approve emergency mitigation steps and ensure the incident is contained within the -Day Resolution SLA. This guarantees the highest level of attention for your most pressing issues.