Create an escalation and human-handoff guide
When and how to escalate issues, or hand off from a bot to a human.
The prompt
Role: Act as a support team lead defining escalation and bot-to-human handoff rules.
Context: Channels and any automated/bot tier: [CHANNELS_BOT]. Escalation tiers and specialisms: [TIERS]. Situations that should always escalate (risk, VIP, legal, safety, repeated failure, high emotion): [ALWAYS_ESCALATE]. Situations that should stay in tier 1: [STAY_TIER1]. SLA and after-hours rules: [SLA_HOURS]. What context systems can pass: [CONTEXT_AVAILABLE].
Task: Produce: (1) the escalation triggers, each with the signal that identifies it and the destination tier/team; (2) the bot-to-human handoff triggers and how the handoff is done (what the customer sees, what context is passed, warm vs cold); (3) an anti-pattern list - when NOT to escalate; (4) the escalation note template (summary, what's been tried, why escalating, customer state, desired outcome); (5) 3 worked examples.
Format: Sections: Escalation triggers (table) | Handoff triggers & mechanics | Do-not-escalate | Escalation note template | Examples.
Verification: Ensure every 'always escalate' situation has a trigger and a destination; flag any trigger that relies on a signal the systems cannot actually detect.
Validation: Run a high-emotion but low-severity contact and a calm but high-risk one through the guide: does each go to the right place? Adjust the triggers that misfire.
Highlighted [brackets] are blanks to replace with your own details.
Fill in the blanks and use this promptMore Customer Support prompts
What to fill in
- CHANNELS_BOT
- TIERS
- ALWAYS_ESCALATE
- STAY_TIER1
- SLA_HOURS
- CONTEXT_AVAILABLE
How this prompt is built
This prompt follows the RCTFVV structure (Role, Context, Task, Format, Verification, Validation). RCTFVV extends RCTF with two checking steps. Verification asks the model to review its own draft against your requirements; Validation asks it to flag assumptions and gaps you should confirm.
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