Everything You Need to Know About How Customer Service SLAs Directly Influence Your Customer Experience

What is an SLA ?

SLA stands for Service Level Agreement, and it is a written contract between the customer and the service provider that defines the level of service a customer can expect from a service provider.

This is not usually drawn up as a separate contract. Instead, it is a part of the larger contract the service provider and the customer get into.

I will give you a fundamental example.

I am sure you would have gone to multiple food retail outlets where they would have displayed the sign near the billing counter that says:

If you don’t receive a bill, your meal is free.

That is a service guarantee that makes sure you don’t overpay for your food. Besides, this ensures the vendors report their sales and pay their taxes properly.

This is something that Indian Railways also follows now. This “No Bill – The food is free” policy ensures that caterers don’t overcharge passengers on trains.

Let us look at some examples of SLAs and define what those SLAs mean.

SLAs Provided by My Broadband Service Provider

I subscribed to a broadband provider a few years ago. The provider shared these SLAs with me.

Guaranteed Uptime

The provider promised that the Internet will be available 98% of the time every month. If there are any outages beyond that, they will refund 10% of your monthly bill.

Support Response Times

If you report any service outage, the customer service agent will respond to you within 20 minutes. Depending on the issue, they will provide you with the resolution time.

For any other issues like billing and slow speed, the agent will respond within 4 hours.

Resolution Times

All outages will be fixed within 4 hours of being reported. The less critical issues like billing will be resolved within 24 hours.

Escalation

If your problem isn’t resolved on time, you can escalate it to a manager, who will respond within 20 minutes and provide updates every 90 minutes until it is resolved.

How Does This Work?

Let us assume your Internet stops working. You raise a complaint at 10 am.

The support response time is 20 minutes.

By 10.15, you receive an acknowledgment of the problem, and the possible resolution time is anywhere between  2 and 4 hours.

By 12.30 pm, you receive a message stating that the problem is sorted and you can start accessing your Internet connection.

If you don’t receive the resolution within the specified time, you can escalate the issue with possible penalties for breaches.

Now that we have understood SLAs with clear examples let us look at the different kinds of SLAs.  

Different Types of SLAs

Customer service SLAs are more than just promises; they are the backbone of delivering great customer experiences.

Interaction SLAs

Here, the focus is to ensure understanding, addressing, and resolving customer concerns effectively.

Let me give you an example.

I ordered Chicken Barbeque from a food delivery app, and I called customer service to report that they had delivered an incorrect order. Here’s how the response was:

• The agent said, “So, you ordered a Chicken Barbeque, but you received a Chicken Tikka. I am sure this can be frustrating.”
• Here is the solution the agent offered: “Give me a moment, and I’ll arrange for the correct order to be delivered within 30 minutes, and I’ll include a discount on your next order.”
• After sending the correct order, he followed up with me: “Hi, just checking if you’re satisfied with the replacement we sent.”

The SLAs were:

The agent acknowledged the issue within 5 minutes of contact and provided a solution within 30 minutes.

While I understand that mistakes happen, I felt heard and valued during this interaction.

Accessibility SLAs

This lets your customers know how they can contact you irrespective of the time you are trying to reach them.

Let me give you an example.

I have subscribed to a payment gateway to accept payments from my clients. To make support accessible, they provide the following:

• They are available by email, phone, and live chat between 9 am and 9 pm, six days a week.
• I can log in via a dedicated portal for critical issues between 9 pm and 9 am and on Sundays. They promise a 30-minute response time for emergencies like payment failures.
• They manage a self-service portal 24/7, where they maintain an extensive knowledge base and automated troubleshooting tools.

This SLA ensures that support is available round-the-clock, and it offers peace of mind.

Multi-Level SLAs

You cannot resolve all the issues in the first call, especially when you need to tap the expertise of multiple departments and functions.

Let us look at an example.

I have leased Internet connectivity from one of the telecom providers. We started having intermittent Internet issues even after troubleshooting. See how the SLA plays out:

• The front-line support team runs diagnostics and identifies an issue with the network configuration. This was done within 30 minutes.
• This gets escalated to the network engineering team, which finds a fault in the local node. This was done within 4 hours. 
• The network team collaborates with field technicians to fix the hardware on-site. This was done within 24 hours.

During the entire process, I received regular updates on the progress of the resolution. 

How Do Customer Service SLAs Influence Customer Experience (CX)?

SLAs can influence CX both positively and negatively. It shapes the expectations around service quality, speed, and reliability.

Let us explore both the positive and negative aspects with an example.

You order a pair of shoes and pay a premium for next-day delivery. The e-commerce platform’s SLA promises delivery within 24 hours, failing which they guarantee a full refund of the delivery charge.

Positive Experience

• The shoes are delivered within the defined timeframe
• You get a notification: “Your package has been delivered. Let us know if you need help with anything else.”
• You feel satisfied and value the company’s reliability, increasing the probability of repeat purchases.

Negative Experience

• The delivery is delayed by two days without any communication
• You had to call customer support repeatedly to understand the issue. Eventually, you get the refund, but the inconvenience overshadows it
• You think the brand is unreliable, and you end up sharing this experience with multiple contacts of yours.

Meeting the SLA demonstrates professionalism and reliability, but breaking it without proper management leads to frustration and potential churn.

Customer service SLAs are the lifeline of any organization. After all, it helps serve your customers better, and they are the ones who pay to help your organization survive and grow.

SLAs help set expectations for customers besides building trust and loyalty.

However, you would end up missing your SLAs at times due to factors beyond your control.

What do you do then?

It has to be proactively managed by communicating early to your customers with a backup plan. This would help turn a potentially negative experience into a neutral or even a positive experience.

What do your SLAs look like? Do you measure them? Does it influence your customer experience?