What immediate actions should be taken in the first 60 minutes of a surge?

Secure staff and confirm safety start the clock triage incoming calls assign owners or dispatch provide clear ETAs and document all actions and timestamps.

What are the triage checklist steps during a surge?

Detect the spike and note channel and time Assess safety and priority Act by dispatching or scheduling and offering an ETA Escalate critical calls to the escalation owner Document call details and timestamps Review with a short after action note within 24 hours.

Who are the escalation owners and what are the SLA targets?

Operations owner is Ops lead with a 2 hour SLA Support desk owner is Support manager with a 30 minute SLA Dispatch owner is Dispatch coordinator with a 45 minute SLA Sales and Scheduling owner is Sales lead with a 4 hour SLA.

What should we do when web leads spike?

Confirm lead source capture full contact details send an immediate acknowledgement with an ETA flag premium or warranty leads for priority routing log the lead in CRM and capture timestamp UTM referer phone issue type and any photos.

How should CRM be used during an inbound escalation?

Set status to Surge — Triaging assign an owner and SLA from the escalation matrix attach call recordings notes and photos tag records by channel and priority and use saved searches; export a CSV for post mortem if volume exceeds 20 leads in 24 hours.

What are the key steps for a post mortem after a surge?

Collect all logs including call recordings CRM notes and dispatch times Count calls by channel and tag Score SLAs met versus missed list top causes for delay Create an AAR entry assign corrective owners and store playbooks and metadata for future searches.

How do we keep live status updated during an active surge?

Maintain a live status aside showing current triage state update owners progress as items resolve use scripted acknowledgements for overflow and note dispatch confirmations and ongoing actions in the shared view.

Surge snapshot

TLDR

For a small HVAC shop, this delivers a ready-to-run surge playbook: a 60-minute triage sprint, clearly assigned owners with SLA targets, channel-specific actions, and a post-mortem workflow. Implementing it speeds dispatch, improves safety, keeps customers informed, and helps protect margins during brief surge windows.

Detect, assess, and act fast—prioritize safety and urgent repairs.
Assign owners and SLA targets to prevent delays.
Use rapid, channel-specific playbooks to shorten response times.
Log decisions and run a quick post-mortem to capture learnings.

Surge snapshot

7 days — A short status badge for the recent spike. The team notes an incoming volume rise and prepares immediate actions.

A small ops team huddling around a laptop displaying a surge dashboard and quick notes, illustrating rapid-response tactics during peak-season alerts and customer escalations.. Shot by Ron Lach

What to do in the first 60 minutes: secure staff, confirm safety, and triage calls — Start the clock and follow the triage checklist below without delay.

20% initial readiness

Triage checklist

Short, clear actions for fast decisions. Each line is a step to complete within the surge window.

Detect — Confirm the spike source (web lead, phone, or public post). Note time and channel.
Assess — Check safety and priority: is this a safety issue, urgent repair, or general inquiry?
Act — Dispatch available tech or schedule earliest slot. Offer a clear ETA.
Escalate — Route critical calls to the escalation owner within SLA.
Document — Log call details, timestamps, and decisions in CRM or shared sheet.
Review — Short after-action note within 24 hours and tag for post-mortem review.

60% tasks complete

Escalation matrix

Clear owners and SLA targets help avoid delay. Use this table during the surge to decide who acts first.

Roles, SLA targets, and owners for surge response
Role	SLA	Owner
Operations	2 hours	Ops lead
Support desk	30 minutes	Support manager
Dispatch	45 minutes	Dispatch coordinator
Sales / Scheduling	4 hours	Sales lead
Considerations: prioritize safety first, route life-safety calls to Dispatch; use keywords like "priority", "safety", "emergency", and channel names to filter in search. Search keywords: unusual web traffic surge, new contract posted publicly, seasonal pattern changed, customer complaint ignored, secured exclusive partnership.

Rapid playbooks — channel actions

Simple, repeatable steps per channel. Each playbook is a short script and a next action.

Web lead playbook

When web leads spike, the web playbook focuses on speed and qualification.

Confirm lead source and capture full contact info.
Send immediate acknowledgment message with ETA (automated if possible).
Flag premium or warranty-related leads for priority routing.

Expanded web example and short script

Script: "Thanks — team confirms receipt. Can we confirm the address and whether power is on? A tech can be there within X hours." Log the lead in CRM and tag with priority or channel name for filtering.

Data to capture: timestamp, landing page, UTM or referer if present, phone, issue type, photos if sent.

CRM inbound escalation

CRM actions keep history clean and allow quick searches during post-mortem.

Immediately set status: Surge — Triaging.
Assign owner and SLA from the escalation matrix.
Attach call recording / notes and required photos.

Deeper CRM checklist for the nerds

Filter rules: tag records by channel and add a timestamped note. Use saved searches for "priority" and "safety" and export a CSV for the post-mortem if volume exceeds 20 leads in 24 hours.

Post-mortem hooks

Actions and metadata to make the after-action review fast and searchable.

SLA: Target response time from the matrix. Use for scoring team performance.
Escalation owner: Person responsible for confirming resolution and closing the loop.
Playbook: Channel-specific checklist used during the surge. Store as a named template in the CRM.

Post-mortem checklist (click for full list)

Collect all logs: call recordings, CRM notes, dispatch times.
Count calls by channel and tag (use the data-tags above for filtering).
Score SLAs met vs. missed and list top three causes for delay.
Create an AAR entry summarizing actions and assign corrective owners.

Suggested search filters: channel, tag, time window, SLA status. Use consistent tag names (replace spaces when building filters if required by tools).

Categories: signal intelligence and sales activation. Tags: signal detection, new contract posted publicly, seasonal pattern changed, customer complaint ignored, secured exclusive partnership, AAR.

Emergency service, fast dispatch, on-call technicians, SLA targets, triage and escalation, lead qualification, priority routing, CRM integration, post-mortem, after-action review, rapid playbooks, channel-specific scripts, customer safety, system uptime, dispatch optimization, warranty and premium service, upsell opportunities, clear ETA, data-driven decisions, KPIs, ROI, quick-win templates, low-friction purchase, simple workflows, one-week decision cycle, budget-friendly, actionable insights, accountability and ownership