Workflows in the service industry are subject to exceptional circumstances that affect the ability to complete work in a timely manner. For instance, workflows may need to deal with sudden spikes in customer demand due to a variety of events such as promotional deals, product launches, major news, or natural disasters. Escalation strategies can be incorporated into the design of a workflow so that it can cope with sudden spikes in the number of service requests while mitigating the effects of missed deadlines. In this article, we propose a method for evaluating escalation strategies using simulation technology. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated on a workflow from an insurance company. © The Author(s) 2013.