How to set up SLA policies in Klaviyo Helpdesk

You will learn

In this article, you'll learn how to create service level agreement (SLA) policies in Klaviyo Helpdesk. An SLA policy sets time targets for replying to and resolving tickets. Each ticket shows a countdown to its next deadline, so your team can work the most urgent tickets first and meet the response times you promise customers.

Before you begin

• Prerequisites: Klaviyo Helpdesk is set up, with at least one support channel connected (for example, email forwarding or web chat).
• Office hours (optional): If you want SLA targets to count only working hours, set up your office hours in Helpdesk first.
• Who can set it up: Owners, Admins, and Managers, or users with a custom role that can edit Helpdesk settings.
• Time to complete: About 10 minutes.

Overview

An SLA policy tells Helpdesk how quickly your team should act on a ticket. Each policy can set up to 3 targets:

A few things to know about how clocks work:

• Each set of messages has its own clocks. If a closed ticket is reopened, Helpdesk starts new clocks for the new set of messages. The earlier results don't change.
• Several messages in a row count once. If a customer sends 3 messages before an agent replies, that's one response obligation, measured from the first of those messages.
• Policies can stack. For each target, Helpdesk uses the first enabled policy (in your list order) that matches the ticket and sets that target. For example, if "All email" sets a 4-hour first response target and "Returns" (subject contains "return") sets a 2-day resolution target, an email about a return gets both.
• The default policy fills the gaps. If no other policy sets a target for a ticket, the default policy's target applies. If nothing matches and you have no default, that ticket isn't measured for that target.
• Targets are locked when the clock starts. Editing a policy affects new clocks only. Clocks that are already running keep their original target.
• At risk means 25% of the time remains. A ticket becomes at risk when a quarter of its target time is left, which gives your team a warning before the deadline.

Set it up

1. In Klaviyo, go to Helpdesk > Settings > General. Scroll to the SLA card, below Office hours.
   • Expected result: You see a table of your SLA policies, or an empty state if you don't have any yet.
2. Click Create policy and enter a Name, for example "All email" or "Web chat."
   • Expected result: The policy editor opens.
3. Choose which tickets this policy applies to:
   • To apply the policy to all tickets that no other policy covers, set it as the Default policy. You can have one default policy.
   • To apply it to certain tickets, add conditions such as channel, subject, recipient address, or tags.
   • Expected result: The conditions you add appear in the policy editor.
4. Set your targets. Enter a number and choose minutes, hours, or days for any of these: First response time target, Response time target, and Resolution time target. Leave a target blank if this policy shouldn't set it. Each policy needs at least one target.
   • Expected result: Each target you entered shows its value and unit.
5. To count only your office hours, turn on Only count office hours towards SLA.
   • Expected result: Clocks for this policy pause outside your office hours. For example, a 2-hour target that starts 1 hour before closing time is due 1 hour after you open.
6. Click Save and make sure the policy is enabled.
   • Expected result: The policy appears in the SLA table. The default policy has a Default badge.
7. If you have more than one policy, drag them into priority order. Helpdesk checks policies from top to bottom, so put the most specific policies (like "Returns") above broader ones (like "All email").
   • Expected result: The new order is saved.
8. Send a test message to one of your support channels, then open the new ticket in Helpdesk.
   • Success criteria: The ticket shows an SLA countdown for its nearest deadline.

Best practices

• Start with a default policy. Make sure every ticket is measured, then add specific policies on top. Impact: complete SLA coverage.
• Match the promise you make customers. If your auto-reply says "We reply within 24 hours," set a first response target that's no longer than that. Impact: CSAT and customer trust.
• Give real-time channels tighter targets. Customers on web chat and SMS usually expect faster replies than email. Create a channel-based policy with shorter targets and put it above broader policies. Impact: faster help where customers expect it.
• Set resolution targets generously. Clocks keep running while a ticket is snoozed or waiting on the customer, so resolution time measures total time to close, not just agent effort. Impact: fewer misleading breaches.
• Turn on office hours if you aren't staffed around the clock. This keeps overnight and weekend messages from breaching before your team is back. Impact: fewer false breaches and fairer agent workload.
• Disable instead of delete. Disabling a policy stops it from applying to new tickets, and you can turn it back on later. Deleting can't be undone. Impact: you keep your setup without rebuilding it.

Measure success

• Where to view results today: Open any ticket to see its SLA status: a countdown while a clock is running, an at-risk state when 25% of the time is left, and the result once the clock stops.
• Coming soon: SLA adherence on the Overview page of the Helpdesk reporting dashboard, broken down by target and channel. Adherence is the share of measured responses or resolutions that met their target.
• Key metrics to watch: first response time, resolution time, and CSAT on the Helpdesk reporting dashboard.
• If tickets often breach their first response target, check that your office hours setting matches when your team is working, and review how tickets are assigned when they arrive.
• If tickets breach their resolution target but meet their response targets, your resolution target may be too short for tickets that wait on customers. Lengthen it, or create a separate policy for those ticket types.
• If tickets meet their targets but CSAT is low, your targets may be looser than customers expect. Tighten them over time.
• If a ticket gets a broader policy's target, confirm the more specific policy sits above broader policies in your list and that its conditions match the ticket.

Troubleshooting

A ticket shows no SLA

Likely cause: No enabled policy matched the ticket and you don't have a default policy. Tickets marked as spam, imported historical tickets, and conversations Customer Agent resolved on its own aren't measured.

Fix: Create a default policy, or check that your conditions match the ticket's channel, subject, recipient address, or tags.

Tickets breach overnight or on weekends

Likely cause: Only count office hours towards SLA is off, so the clock counts every hour.

Fix: Turn on the setting for the policy and confirm your office hours are correct.

You changed a target, but open tickets still show the old deadline

Likely cause: Targets are locked when a clock starts.

Fix: No action needed. New clocks use the updated target.

A snoozed ticket breached its resolution target

Likely cause: Snoozing doesn't pause SLA clocks.

Fix: Lengthen the resolution target, or create a policy with a longer resolution target for ticket types that often wait on customers.

A ticket you moved out of spam has a later deadline than expected

Likely cause: When you mark a ticket as not spam, its SLA clocks start at that moment, not when the customer first wrote. Time the ticket spent in spam doesn't count against your targets.

Fix: No action needed.

FAQ

Does snoozing a ticket pause the SLA clock?

No. Clocks keep running while a ticket is snoozed or waiting on the customer, because the customer is still waiting from their point of view. First response and response clocks aren't affected once your agent has replied, but resolution clocks keep counting until the ticket is closed.

What happens when a closed ticket is reopened?

Helpdesk starts new clocks for the new set of messages. Results from earlier in the ticket stay as they were.

Do SLA clocks run while Customer Agent is handling a conversation?

No. Clocks start when Customer Agent hands the conversation off to Helpdesk. Conversations that Customer Agent resolves without a handoff aren't measured.

If a ticket is closed without a reply, does it count as a missed SLA?

No. When a ticket is closed, any reply clocks that are still running stop without counting as met or missed.

Which channels do SLA policies apply to?

SLA policies apply to all Helpdesk channels, including email, web chat, SMS, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Use channel conditions to set different targets per channel.

Can I get notified when a ticket is about to breach?

Not yet. Each ticket shows an at-risk state when 25% of its target time remains. Breach notifications aren't available today.

Next steps

• Set up routing rules so tickets reach the right team as soon as they arrive.
• Create a custom ticket view for your highest-priority tickets.
• Review your office hours so SLA clocks match when your team is working.
• Turn on CSAT surveys to see how response times affect customer satisfaction.

Additional resources