How to set up SLAs by customer tier and urgency in Plain (Video)
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An SLA policy in Plain is a named set of support targets, such as first response and next response time, that a thread is tracked against. To set SLAs by customer tier and urgency, you create SLA policies, then publish a workflow that picks the right policy for every new thread from the customer's tier and the thread's priority. This video builds that setup, and because the workflow has no channel condition, Slack, email, and chat threads all follow the same rules.
How it works in four steps
Create an SLA policy. In Plain, go to Settings, then SLA policies, and click New SLA policy. The video creates Business Urgent (24/7):
Business hours: none, so every target counts around the clock.
First response: within 1 hour. Next response: within 4 hours.
Notification before target: 15 minutes before each target.
Build the SLA workflow with Sidekick Agent. Start a new workflow and describe it to Sidekick Agent: run when a thread is created or its tier changes, set the priority with AI, treat account lockouts, outages, and data loss as Urgent, then pick an SLA policy for each tier. Sidekick Agent builds the draft:
a Set priority step in AI selected mode, which reads the thread and picks Urgent, High, Normal, or Low;
an AI check for lockouts, outages, and data loss that sets Urgent;
a branch for each tier, checking whether the priority is Urgent or High, with a Set SLA policy step on every path.
You can edit any step by hand. The video adds Instructions to the Set priority step: billing and invoice requests are Low priority, never Urgent. The trigger is Thread created and Thread tier updated, with no channel condition, so Slack, email, and chat all follow the same rules. Then publish it.
Alert your team when a customer is locked out. Build a second workflow by hand, triggered when a thread is created:
an If/else with an AI prompt condition that matches when the customer is locked out of their account or can't log in, but not password questions where they still can;
a Login issue label when it matches;
a Sidekick Agent action whose prompt asks for one message in your team's discussion channel (
#support-alertsin the video) with the customer's name, their company, their tier, a one-line summary of the problem, and a link to the thread. Under tools, turn on Slack's post message and limit it to that one channel. Tools you enable here run without asking for approval.
Test it across channels.
Slack, Pro tier: a custom domain stuck on Verifying gets Normal priority and the Pro policy, 24 hours to first response.
Email, Business tier: a customer locked out of her account is marked Urgent and gets Business Urgent (24/7), with the 1 hour clock already running. Sidekick has already investigated and left a note for the team.
Chat, Free tier: a request to send invoices to a finance team comes in at Low priority and gets the Free policy, 24 hours to first response.
The alert: Sidekick posts the lockout alert in
#support-alertswith the customer, company, tier, what happened, and a link to the thread.
Transcript
[0:00] SLAs by customer tier and urgency in Plain To set SLAs for multi-channel support in Plain, you create SLA policies, then publish a workflow that picks one for every new thread, from the customer's tier and the thread's urgency. Here's how to build it for Slack, email, and chat.
[0:15] Step 1: Create an SLA policy Step 1 of 4. Create an SLA policy. In Settings, open SLA policies, and click New SLA policy. This one is Business Urgent, 24/7. Business hours are set to none, so every target counts around the clock. First response within one hour, next response within four, and each sends a notification 15 minutes before the target. Then create it.
[0:45] Step 2: Build the SLA workflow with Sidekick Agent Step 2 of 4. Build the SLA workflow. Start a new workflow, and describe it to Sidekick Agent. Run when a thread is created or its tier changes. Set the priority with AI, treat account lockouts, outages, and data loss as urgent, then pick an SLA policy for each tier. Sidekick builds the draft. A Set priority step, picked by AI. An AI check for lockouts, outages, and data loss that sets Urgent. Then a branch for each tier, checking whether the priority is Urgent or High, with a Set SLA policy step on every path.
[1:24] Add Instructions to the AI priority step and publish You can edit any step by hand. In AI selected mode, Set priority reads the thread and picks Urgent, High, Normal, or Low. Instructions tell it how your team ranks things. Here, billing and invoice requests are low priority, never urgent. The trigger is thread created, and thread tier updated. There's no channel condition, so Slack, email, and chat all follow the same rules. Publish it.
[1:55] Step 3: Alert your team when a customer is locked out Step 3 of 4. Alert your team when a customer is locked out. This one is built by hand. Start from scratch, and trigger it when a thread is created. Add an If/else with an AI prompt condition. Match when the customer is locked out of their account or can't log in, but not password questions where they still can. If it matches, apply the Login issue label. Then add a Sidekick Agent action. The prompt asks for one message in your team's discussion channel, with the customer's name, their company, their tier, a one-line summary of the problem, and a link to the thread. Under tools, turn on Slack's post message, and limit it to that one channel. Tools you enable here run without asking for approval. Publish it.
[2:57] Step 4: Test it across Slack, email, and chat Step 4 of 4. Test it across channels. Leo, on the Pro tier, posts in Slack that his custom domain is stuck on verifying. Normal priority, so the Pro policy applies: 24 hours to first response. Priya, on Business, emails that she's locked out of her account. It's marked urgent, and gets Business Urgent, 24/7, with the one hour clock already running. Sidekick has already investigated it, and left a note for the team. Maya, on the Free tier, asks in chat to send invoices to her finance team. Her thread came in at Low priority, and got the Free policy: 24 hours to first response.
[3:41] The lockout alert in Slack And in your team's discussion channel, Sidekick has posted the alert. Priya, Northpeak Agency, Business tier, what happened, and a link to the thread.
[3:50] One workflow, every channel SLA policies set the targets, and one published workflow picks the right one from the customer's tier and the thread's urgency, on every channel. Plain is trusted by thousands of B2B teams globally, like Framer, Vercel, Cursor, and Granola. Try Plain at plain.com.
FAQ
How do I set different SLAs by customer tier in Plain? Create an SLA policy for each tier, then publish a workflow that applies the right one. In Plain, an SLA policy is a named set of targets (first response, next response, first resolution, and total resolution time) that you manage in Settings, SLA policies. Add a Set SLA policy action to a workflow with an Automatic trigger on the Thread created and Tier updated events, and use conditions on the tier to choose the policy. A new thread starts tracking the right targets as soon as it arrives, and if its tier changes later the workflow runs again and moves it onto the matching policy. As of November 2026, SLA policies are available on Plain's Horizon and Frontier plans.
How does Plain set a thread's priority automatically? Add a Set priority action to a workflow and set its Mode to AI selected. AI reads the thread and picks Urgent, High, Normal, or Low: Urgent when the service is down, users are blocked, or there's an active security incident or data loss; High when a core feature is broken with no workaround; Normal for questions, bugs with a workaround, configuration help, or feedback; and Low for nice-to-haves and cosmetic issues. When it's unsure between two priorities it picks the lower one. You can add optional Instructions to guide it, such as treating production outages as urgent. If a user or an API call already set the thread's priority, AI keeps it. As of November 2026, each AI selection uses 1 to 2 credits.
Can urgent threads get a faster SLA than everything else? Yes. Because a policy is chosen per thread, a workflow can apply an Urgent policy to any thread marked Urgent and a slower policy to everything else. Set the priority first, for example with an AI selected Set priority step or an AI prompt condition that sets Urgent, then branch on the priority and add a Set SLA policy step on each path. To catch priorities that change after a thread is created, also trigger the workflow on the Priority changed event.
Do SLA targets count outside business hours in Plain? It depends on the policy. Each SLA policy has one Pause outside business hours setting that covers all of its targets. With it off, targets tick down around the clock, including weekends and holidays. With it on, targets only count down while one of the business hours schedules you select is open, and pause until the next schedule opens. For example, with a 4 hour first response target and a Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00 schedule, a thread that arrives at 16:30 on a Friday is due at 12:30 on Monday.
How does Plain warn my team before an SLA is breached? Set a notification before target on each SLA target. When the time left falls below the warning period you set, the target's status changes to Imminent breach and Plain sends a notification to the channels chosen in Settings, Notifications. The warning period must be shorter than the target. The thread header and the queue also show a countdown to the nearest deadline, and the SLA status is available as a workflow trigger.
How can I alert my team in Slack when a specific kind of issue comes in? Use a workflow with an AI prompt condition and a Sidekick Agent action. The AI prompt condition checks the thread against a written rule, such as matching when a customer is locked out of their account, and takes the Yes or No branch. On the Yes branch, add a Sidekick Agent action with a prompt describing the message to post, and enable Slack's post message tool. Some tools let you limit where the Sidekick Agent acts, such as which Slack channels it can post to. Tools you select in a Sidekick Agent action run without asking for approval on each run.
An SLA policy in Plain is a named set of support targets, such as first response and next response time, that a thread is tracked against. To set SLAs by customer tier and urgency, you create SLA policies, then publish a workflow that picks the right policy for every new thread from the customer's tier and the thread's priority. This video builds that setup, and because the workflow has no channel condition, Slack, email, and chat threads all follow the same rules.
How it works in four steps
Create an SLA policy. In Plain, go to Settings, then SLA policies, and click New SLA policy. The video creates Business Urgent (24/7):
Business hours: none, so every target counts around the clock.
First response: within 1 hour. Next response: within 4 hours.
Notification before target: 15 minutes before each target.
Build the SLA workflow with Sidekick Agent. Start a new workflow and describe it to Sidekick Agent: run when a thread is created or its tier changes, set the priority with AI, treat account lockouts, outages, and data loss as Urgent, then pick an SLA policy for each tier. Sidekick Agent builds the draft:
a Set priority step in AI selected mode, which reads the thread and picks Urgent, High, Normal, or Low;
an AI check for lockouts, outages, and data loss that sets Urgent;
a branch for each tier, checking whether the priority is Urgent or High, with a Set SLA policy step on every path.
You can edit any step by hand. The video adds Instructions to the Set priority step: billing and invoice requests are Low priority, never Urgent. The trigger is Thread created and Thread tier updated, with no channel condition, so Slack, email, and chat all follow the same rules. Then publish it.
Alert your team when a customer is locked out. Build a second workflow by hand, triggered when a thread is created:
an If/else with an AI prompt condition that matches when the customer is locked out of their account or can't log in, but not password questions where they still can;
a Login issue label when it matches;
a Sidekick Agent action whose prompt asks for one message in your team's discussion channel (
#support-alertsin the video) with the customer's name, their company, their tier, a one-line summary of the problem, and a link to the thread. Under tools, turn on Slack's post message and limit it to that one channel. Tools you enable here run without asking for approval.
Test it across channels.
Slack, Pro tier: a custom domain stuck on Verifying gets Normal priority and the Pro policy, 24 hours to first response.
Email, Business tier: a customer locked out of her account is marked Urgent and gets Business Urgent (24/7), with the 1 hour clock already running. Sidekick has already investigated and left a note for the team.
Chat, Free tier: a request to send invoices to a finance team comes in at Low priority and gets the Free policy, 24 hours to first response.
The alert: Sidekick posts the lockout alert in
#support-alertswith the customer, company, tier, what happened, and a link to the thread.
Transcript
[0:00] SLAs by customer tier and urgency in Plain To set SLAs for multi-channel support in Plain, you create SLA policies, then publish a workflow that picks one for every new thread, from the customer's tier and the thread's urgency. Here's how to build it for Slack, email, and chat.
[0:15] Step 1: Create an SLA policy Step 1 of 4. Create an SLA policy. In Settings, open SLA policies, and click New SLA policy. This one is Business Urgent, 24/7. Business hours are set to none, so every target counts around the clock. First response within one hour, next response within four, and each sends a notification 15 minutes before the target. Then create it.
[0:45] Step 2: Build the SLA workflow with Sidekick Agent Step 2 of 4. Build the SLA workflow. Start a new workflow, and describe it to Sidekick Agent. Run when a thread is created or its tier changes. Set the priority with AI, treat account lockouts, outages, and data loss as urgent, then pick an SLA policy for each tier. Sidekick builds the draft. A Set priority step, picked by AI. An AI check for lockouts, outages, and data loss that sets Urgent. Then a branch for each tier, checking whether the priority is Urgent or High, with a Set SLA policy step on every path.
[1:24] Add Instructions to the AI priority step and publish You can edit any step by hand. In AI selected mode, Set priority reads the thread and picks Urgent, High, Normal, or Low. Instructions tell it how your team ranks things. Here, billing and invoice requests are low priority, never urgent. The trigger is thread created, and thread tier updated. There's no channel condition, so Slack, email, and chat all follow the same rules. Publish it.
[1:55] Step 3: Alert your team when a customer is locked out Step 3 of 4. Alert your team when a customer is locked out. This one is built by hand. Start from scratch, and trigger it when a thread is created. Add an If/else with an AI prompt condition. Match when the customer is locked out of their account or can't log in, but not password questions where they still can. If it matches, apply the Login issue label. Then add a Sidekick Agent action. The prompt asks for one message in your team's discussion channel, with the customer's name, their company, their tier, a one-line summary of the problem, and a link to the thread. Under tools, turn on Slack's post message, and limit it to that one channel. Tools you enable here run without asking for approval. Publish it.
[2:57] Step 4: Test it across Slack, email, and chat Step 4 of 4. Test it across channels. Leo, on the Pro tier, posts in Slack that his custom domain is stuck on verifying. Normal priority, so the Pro policy applies: 24 hours to first response. Priya, on Business, emails that she's locked out of her account. It's marked urgent, and gets Business Urgent, 24/7, with the one hour clock already running. Sidekick has already investigated it, and left a note for the team. Maya, on the Free tier, asks in chat to send invoices to her finance team. Her thread came in at Low priority, and got the Free policy: 24 hours to first response.
[3:41] The lockout alert in Slack And in your team's discussion channel, Sidekick has posted the alert. Priya, Northpeak Agency, Business tier, what happened, and a link to the thread.
[3:50] One workflow, every channel SLA policies set the targets, and one published workflow picks the right one from the customer's tier and the thread's urgency, on every channel. Plain is trusted by thousands of B2B teams globally, like Framer, Vercel, Cursor, and Granola. Try Plain at plain.com.
FAQ
How do I set different SLAs by customer tier in Plain? Create an SLA policy for each tier, then publish a workflow that applies the right one. In Plain, an SLA policy is a named set of targets (first response, next response, first resolution, and total resolution time) that you manage in Settings, SLA policies. Add a Set SLA policy action to a workflow with an Automatic trigger on the Thread created and Tier updated events, and use conditions on the tier to choose the policy. A new thread starts tracking the right targets as soon as it arrives, and if its tier changes later the workflow runs again and moves it onto the matching policy. As of November 2026, SLA policies are available on Plain's Horizon and Frontier plans.
How does Plain set a thread's priority automatically? Add a Set priority action to a workflow and set its Mode to AI selected. AI reads the thread and picks Urgent, High, Normal, or Low: Urgent when the service is down, users are blocked, or there's an active security incident or data loss; High when a core feature is broken with no workaround; Normal for questions, bugs with a workaround, configuration help, or feedback; and Low for nice-to-haves and cosmetic issues. When it's unsure between two priorities it picks the lower one. You can add optional Instructions to guide it, such as treating production outages as urgent. If a user or an API call already set the thread's priority, AI keeps it. As of November 2026, each AI selection uses 1 to 2 credits.
Can urgent threads get a faster SLA than everything else? Yes. Because a policy is chosen per thread, a workflow can apply an Urgent policy to any thread marked Urgent and a slower policy to everything else. Set the priority first, for example with an AI selected Set priority step or an AI prompt condition that sets Urgent, then branch on the priority and add a Set SLA policy step on each path. To catch priorities that change after a thread is created, also trigger the workflow on the Priority changed event.
Do SLA targets count outside business hours in Plain? It depends on the policy. Each SLA policy has one Pause outside business hours setting that covers all of its targets. With it off, targets tick down around the clock, including weekends and holidays. With it on, targets only count down while one of the business hours schedules you select is open, and pause until the next schedule opens. For example, with a 4 hour first response target and a Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00 schedule, a thread that arrives at 16:30 on a Friday is due at 12:30 on Monday.
How does Plain warn my team before an SLA is breached? Set a notification before target on each SLA target. When the time left falls below the warning period you set, the target's status changes to Imminent breach and Plain sends a notification to the channels chosen in Settings, Notifications. The warning period must be shorter than the target. The thread header and the queue also show a countdown to the nearest deadline, and the SLA status is available as a workflow trigger.
How can I alert my team in Slack when a specific kind of issue comes in? Use a workflow with an AI prompt condition and a Sidekick Agent action. The AI prompt condition checks the thread against a written rule, such as matching when a customer is locked out of their account, and takes the Yes or No branch. On the Yes branch, add a Sidekick Agent action with a prompt describing the message to post, and enable Slack's post message tool. Some tools let you limit where the Sidekick Agent acts, such as which Slack channels it can post to. Tools you select in a Sidekick Agent action run without asking for approval on each run.
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