Handoffs
When an agent stops and passes a thread to your team, what the handoff contains, and how to set owners so nothing waits in a queue nobody reads.
On a VIP, a dispute or an off-menu request, the agent stops and hands over the full thread. It does not guess its way through what a person should decide.
#When an agent hands off
Handoffs are triggered by conditions you can observe in the conversation. Common ones:
- A complaint, or a charge the customer disputes.
- A refund or credit request.
- A VIP or a named client your team always handles.
- A service that is not on the menu, or one that needs a consultation first.
- A request that a rule in the operating brief does not cover.
- The customer asks for a person.
#What your team receives
Every handoff carries enough to act on without calling the customer back to start again.
I was charged twice for Saturday and nobody has called me back.
I'm sorry about that. I'm passing this to Sara, our desk manager, who handles billing. She'll text you back today before 6pm.
handoff → Sara · reason: disputed charge · visit Sat 11:00 · thread attached
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| What the customer asked | Says they were charged twice for Saturday |
| What was already checked | Visit found: Saturday 11:00 with Mai |
| Why it was handed off | Matches the rule "disputed charge" |
| What should happen next | Desk manager reviews the charge and replies by SMS |
| What the customer was told | A reply from Sara today before 6pm |
#Setting owners
Each kind of handoff has one owner: a named person or a role. For each, we agree:
- Who receives it, with a backup for days off.
- Where it reaches them, so it lands somewhere they already look.
- How fast they can realistically reply, which is the time the agent promises the customer.
#Reviewing handoffs
In the first week, every repeated handoff gets a look in the daily review. Some reveal a missing rule, and the agent can take them next time. Others are exactly the cases a person should own, and stay that way. Either is a good outcome as long as your team can explain why. See Runs & review.