ASAP is not a timeline. Why SLAs fail customers, and how to design for promises you actually keep

Most teams don’t set out to disappoint customers. They set SLAs for response within 24 hours and resolution within 72 hours. We will get back ASAP.

And then reality shows up: queues spike, handoffs happen, dependencies stall, approvals sit in inboxes, and ASAP quietly becomes ‘whenever we can.’

The problem is that many SLAs are built like internal comfort blankets; they sound memorable, they look compliant, but they don’t reflect the customer’s clock. Customers don’t experience 72 hours. They experience anxiety, lack of clarity, and broken expectations.

This panel aims to explore how organizations can design promises they can actually keep, especially promises that match customer intent, operational reality, and moments that matter.

We would discuss specifically:

• Why SLAs often measure our workflow (tickets, first response, resolution) instead of the customer’s outcome?
• Why are first-response SLAs a trap? There is a difference between ‘we responded’ vs. ‘we helped.’
• What are the hidden causes of SLA failure? How does ASAP culture create invisible queues and burnout?
• How can you design promises you can keep? What does a good promise look like?
• What has worked for you in your organization? Is there a playbook that organizations can follow?