The Escalations tab on the HQ Compliance page connects repeat failed checklist items to a Notice of Default. When a location's failures reach your threshold, SalesThumb prepares a draft notice for HQ to review. Nothing reaches the franchisee until an HQ owner or admin sends it. It's part of the HQ add-on.
Getting there
In the HQ sidebar, click Compliance under Franchise Ops, then open the Escalations tab. It's the last of six tabs, after Run checklist, Corrective actions, Network health scan, License & permit deadlines and Certificates.
How violations are counted
A violation is a corrective action from a checklist item that failed during a visit. It counts if it was recorded inside your counting window, whether or not it has since been resolved. The point is a pattern over time.
A failed item that is re-marked Pass or N/A on the same visit no longer counts. Failures come from visits you run on the Compliance page. See Scheduling and running a brand-standards audit for a location.
Set your escalation policy
The Escalation policy card shows three numbers: how many violations trigger a notice, the cure period in days, and the window in months for counting violations. Owners and admins click Edit and change:
- Violation threshold, from 1 to 50.
- Cure period (days), from 1 to 365.
- Count violations from the last (months), from 1 to 120.
Click Save. Unless you change them, the starting values are 3 violations, a 30-day cure period and a 12-month window.
The card itself warns that these defaults are a starting point, not vetted franchise-law policy. Set the real numbers with your legal counsel.
When a draft appears
Each time a failed item is recorded, SalesThumb checks that location's count. When it reaches the threshold, it creates a draft notice and emails your HQ admins. The location shows Pending HQ review. If the location already has an open draft or active notice, no second one is created.
You can also start one yourself. Under Violations by shop, a location over its threshold shows an Over threshold badge and a Draft Notice of Default button for owners and admins. Locations below it show Under threshold.
Review and send
Find the notice in the Notice of Default log and click Review & send notice. Then:
- Send notice emails the notice to the location's owners and admins from your HQ email sender, logs the delivery, and starts the cure period that day.
- Dismiss draft drops it. You must type a reason first, in the box that asks "Not sending it? Say why". Nothing is sent.
Before sending, SalesThumb re-checks the count. If the location is no longer at the threshold, it refuses to send. It also refuses if the location has no owner or admin with an email on file. Add one, then try again.
A dismissed draft doesn't block future ones. The next new violation drafts again for you to look at.
After it's sent
A delivered notice shows In cure period with its deadline. Four tiles above the log count Pending HQ review, Delivered notices, Cure period ended and Shops with violations.
If the cure period runs out with the notice still active, the status becomes Cure period ended — review. That is a prompt for a human decision. SalesThumb never terminates an agreement on its own.
To withdraw a delivered notice, click Rescind, type why, and click Confirm rescind. The reason stays in the log. The same status appears on the location's row on the Agreements page. See Tracking franchise agreements after execution.
Who can do what
Any HQ member who can open the Compliance page can read the Escalations tab. Editing the policy, drafting, sending, dismissing and rescinding are limited to HQ owners and admins. Everyone else sees no buttons.
Related
Frequently asked questions
Q: Does SalesThumb send the notice automatically?
A: No. It only prepares a draft and emails your HQ admins. An owner or admin has to click Send notice.
Q: When does the cure period start?
A: On the day the notice is delivered, not the day it was drafted.
Q: Does a resolved corrective action stop counting?
A: No. Resolved actions still count while they sit inside the window. Only a failed item re-marked Pass or N/A on the same visit stops counting.
Q: Will this terminate a franchise agreement?
A: No. Terminating stays a manual decision on the Agreements page.