What every SLA needs
A good SLA names what is measured (first reply, or resolution), the hours it counts (business hours or around the clock) and what happens when a target is missed. Anything beyond that is detail.
- The thing measured
- The hours counted
- The target for each priority
- What happens on a miss
Template 1: email only, one small team
First reply within one business day for every ticket. Urgent issues that stop a customer working, such as login failures, within four business hours. Hours are 9 to 5 on weekdays in your time zone. A missed target goes to the team lead the same day.
Template 2: chat and email
Chat: first reply within five minutes while the chat window shows as open, and the window closes outside staffed hours. Email: first reply within four business hours, with urgent issues in one hour. Staff the chat window with named people, because an open chat nobody watches breaks the promise.
Template 3: priority customers
Give named accounts a faster target, for example one hour in business hours, and tag them so tickets sort to the top. Keep the faster target to a short list you can serve; a long list makes the promise empty.
Check it against real numbers
Before you publish, measure your last month's first reply times and see what share would have met each target. If you would have met only half, loosen the target or add capacity first. The SLA calculator on this site works out business-hours due times.