In the world of customer experience, not every problem needs to be escalated like a five-alarm fire. I’ve learned that sometimes, the real magic happens when we choose empathy over escalation and collaboration over confrontation. Here’s a story from my journey that changed how I approach internal teamwork and how it’s helped me turn tense moments into trust-building ones.
🚨 The Fire Drill That Wasn’t
Mid-call. Angry customer. My mind screamed, “Escalate officially!”
But I paused.
Why? Because official escalations often bring more noise than resolution, delays, defensiveness, and dented relationships.
⚠️ Why Escalations Backfire
Let’s be real: the escalation process can feel like tossing a problem over the fence and bracing for impact.
- Internal teams go into defense mode.
- Managers are pulled in.
- Tension rises.
- The customer? Still stuck waiting.
I’ve been there. Doesn’t work.
💡 The Shift: Ask for Help, Don’t Assign Blame
One day, I took a different route.
I tagged the concerned team member (and their manager), CC’d mine, and said:
“Could we look into this? If it’s not your area, could you help loop in the right person?”
Simple. Respectful. No blame. Just help.
💬 The Surprise? It Worked
No one got defensive.
Responses were quicker.
People stepped in, sometimes even pulling in senior support without needing a formal escalation.
We weren’t passing the buck anymore. We were solving the problem together.
🌱 From Colleagues to Champions
That one approach transformed working relationships:
- Cold email threads became warm, solution-driven conversations.
- Internal teams got closer to the customer context.
- They started suggesting solutions before I even asked.
Champions weren’t assigned. They were built through trust.
The Real Teamwork Behind Customer Success
I ended up with two strong teams:
- Customer-facing- calm and confident we’d get things done.
- Internal partners- who cared enough to help, not hide.
“Sometimes, solving a customer fire isn’t about escalation. It’s about asking someone for a bucket of water with respect.”
At the heart of customer success lies one simple truth: people help people when they’re asked, not blamed. What started as an experiment in empathy turned into a way of working that builds internal champions, not conflict.
At StratApps, we believe in growing together not just across teams but across mindsets. Because when collaboration becomes the norm, escalation becomes the exception.
Let’s keep choosing help over heat. Every time.
