I would caution you against making the needs of the business (the need to conserve supervisors' time, the need to handle calls efficiently and cost-effectively) more important than the needs of the customer. To refuse to escalate a calls says, "We don't have the resources to adequately address our customer's issues to their satisfaction," "Our supervisors are too busy doing other things that are important to our business (?) rather than speaking with our customers," "We don't care if you're not getting the service you want."

A request for escalation is a red flag: The caller is angry, dissatisfied, at the end of his rope. Many times there are factual issues that rep is capable of handling and many times the answer the caller gets from the supervisor is no different than the one they'll get from the rep, but the bottom line is: Is it worth losing that customer's business and having them bad mouth you to everyone who will listen because you weren't willing to escalate their issue?

That was from Rebecca Gibson of Magellan Health Services. I think she's exactly right. The point isn't that the agent can handle the questions. Nor is it that the customer is always right. It's about good service. The typical caller who asks to speak to a higher-up is upset about something. If that's the case, they ought to be treated with care and respect, no matter how goofy their issue may be. The caller isn't asking for a manager for the information they think a manager has that the agent doesn't have. They're asking for a manager because they need extra care.