Spreadsheet · Customer experience
A complaint triage matrix that gives every complaint an owner and a deadline
A spreadsheet that sorts each incoming complaint by severity and customer type, then assigns an owner, a response time, a resolution time and an escalation point. It includes a complaint log that calculates deadlines automatically and a weekly view of how many complaints missed their targets.
Try it
Pick a severity and customer type to see who owns the complaint and how long they have
- Owner
- Head of Customer Service
- Respond within
- 1 hour
- Resolve within
- 24 hours
- Escalate to
- COO
| Severity | Customer | Owner | Respond within | Resolve within | Escalate to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Critical | Business | Head of Customer Service | 1 hour | 24 hours | COO |
| Critical | Individual | Head of Customer Service | 2 hours | 24 hours | COO |
| High | Business | Senior agent, business desk | 2 hours | 2 working days | Head of Customer Service |
| High | Individual | Senior agent | 4 hours | 3 working days | Head of Customer Service |
| Medium | Business | Business desk agent | 4 hours | 5 working days | Team lead |
| Medium | Individual | Agent | 1 working day | 5 working days | Team lead |
| Low | Business | Business desk agent | 1 working day | 10 working days | Team lead |
| Low | Individual | Agent | 2 working days | 10 working days | Team lead |
What is in the file
The rules: owner, response time, resolution time and escalation for each severity and customer type
Definitions and examples of each severity level, so agents classify consistently
One row per complaint; deadlines and owner fill in automatically from the matrix
Complaints received, resolved and past deadline, by severity and owner
What you need
- Your complaint channels
- Your severity definitions, or the four provided
- The owners for each severity
- Your response and resolution targets
What you get
- An owner and deadline for every complaint as soon as it is logged
- A list of complaints at risk of missing their deadline
- Weekly breach rates by severity and owner
- Evidence of a consistent process for regulators and auditors
How it works
Each complaint in the log is matched to the matrix by severity and customer type. The response deadline is the time received plus the response target, counted in working hours; the resolution deadline is calculated the same way. A complaint is marked as breached when its deadline passes without a resolution date. Critical complaints are counted in calendar hours because they are handled at any time.
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From the practitioner
When complaints rise, teams answer the loudest customer first. The matrix replaces that with a rule everyone can see: what counts as critical, who owns it, and how long they have. It also gives regulators a clear answer when they ask how you handle complaints.
Questions
What is a complaint triage matrix?
A table that tells your team how to handle each complaint based on its severity and the type of customer: who owns it, how quickly to respond, how quickly to resolve it, and who to escalate to if the deadline is at risk.
How many severity levels should we use?
Four is enough for most companies: critical, high, medium and low. More levels make classification slower and less consistent.
What counts as a critical complaint?
Anything involving loss of customer money, a security or data incident, a regulator or the media, or a large business customer threatening to leave. The severity guide tab gives examples for each level.
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Put this to work inside your organization
A practitioner can adapt it to how you operate and embed it with your team, starting with a diagnostic.
