What does CARP have to do with managing anger?

So firstly I should clarify that I am not talking about the fish species, carp. Rather, CARP is an acronym that explains a method of anger management developed by Robert Bacal. The aim of CARP is to help complaint handlers, or anyone who deals with cranky people, to defuse complainant anger and refocus them on resolving their issue. So I know you're all dying to know ... what does CARP stand for?


Control

This is about getting the complainant to stop and listen. You need to let them know that their anger is not going to control you or your interaction with them. Be assertive, but not aggressive or passive.


Acknowledge

Deal with their feelings first. It's important that the complainant knows that you empathise with their emotional state of mind and situation. Where it will not encourage unreasonable complainant conduct, give them an opportunity to let off steam and vent their emotions. Venting can help them feel like they are being listened to and understood.

Venting should be timely, usually not lasting more than two to five minutes. The complainant should be able to settle down and discuss their matter in a calm manner after being given such an opportunity.

Echo what they are telling you to show that you are listening. This usually involves repeating the last few words or their key words. This can be done by backtracking (e.g. 'so you are saying ...') or paraphrasing (ie defining what you believe they said and meant).


Refocus

Make the transition from their emotions to their issues of complaint by refocusing the conversation. Ask questions about facts and repeat the complainant's issues in your own words.


Problem Solve

This is about getting down to business - telling the complainant what can and cannot be done, what will and will not happen, and focus on possible solutions to their issues.


I hope this is helpful to all of you who have to deal with complainant anger!

A point to note: the order of CARP is very important. It's particularly important to leave problem solving to the end. If you try to problem solve or refocus too quickly you are likely to find yourself explaining the same thing over and over again, because the complainant will persist in wanting to explain their story. If this happens, go back to acknowledging their feelings and emotions and work your way back down the acronym!

If you would like some more information on CARP, click here.

Fix this now!

Those of us who work in the complaint handling world are all to familiar with customers wanting an immediate response to their complaint. "I want this fixed now", "call me back immediately" and "I'm just going to keep calling until this is resolved" are commonly used phrases by complainants, usually with some colourful language and punctuation thrown in.

But how do we deal with customers who have unrealistic expectations about complaint handling timeframes? The NSW Ombudsman has provided some guidelines and suggested scripts for dealing with customers who make demands about how their complaint should be handled, including insisting on an immediate response.

Suggested Strategies

• Inform the customer that it is your organisation and not them that decides how the complaint will be handled, by whom, and the amount of resources to be dedicated to it.
• Tell them clearly, transparently and firmly from the outset how the organisation intends to deal with the complaint.
• Be honest and upfront about what will and will not happen and what is and is not possible.
• Explain that an immediate response is not possible because there are other demands on the organisation's time, there are processes that must be followed and that the organisation deals with complaints on a first come first served basis - and there other complaints that came in before their own.

Suggested Scripts

Perhaps no-one has taken the time to explain the complaints process to you. Let me.

I appreciate that you want this dealt with right away. But I'm sure that you can also understand that I do have several other complaints that I have to deal with in addition to yours and which were brought to my attention first.

We deal with complaints on a first come first served basis, and as you can imagine, there are files that came in before yours. I'll be in contact with you in [days/ weeks] or sooner if I need more information from you.

Most people who complain to us consider that their complaint is the most important one and want us to deal with it right away or ahead of other complaints. That's not possible in practice.

It's clear this is important to you and you want it handled in a certain way, but there is a process that I must follow to make sure that it's dealt with appropriately and fairly for everyone involved.

I know you feel your complaint is urgent. I've assessed it and have decided I should call the officer/ organisation concerned. I'll be able to do this sometime this week/ I'll need some time to do this and then to receive a response from them. How about you call me [days/weeks] and hopefully I'll have some information for you then?

Ultimately, if you are unhappy with the way we are handling your complaint you are free to raise it with another organisation.


I sometimes use a variation of the last suggested script when a customer says that the organisation is delaying the handling of their complaint. In those instances I will suggest to the customer: If you consider that we are hindering the progression of your matter, I can close your complaint and you are able to take it up in another forum. A word of warning - you have to be very careful with the tone you use and your delivery of this phrase because it can be very easily interpreted as being antagonistic.

National Investigations Symposium

Last week I attended the 9th National Investigations Symposium at the Novotel Manly Pacific. The conference is run by the Independent Commission Against Corruption NSW, the NSW Ombudsman and the Institute of Public Administration Australia (NSW Division).

 

The aim of the forum is to help investigators and complaint-handlers to increase their investigative knowledge, skills and techniques by:

 

• hearing about best practice methods and new techniques
• learning from distinguished international and national keynote speakers
• attending workshops on managing difficult complainants, the basics about how to conduct an investigation, investigative interview techniques or administrative law for investigators.

 

One of the sessions I attended was a workshop run by the NSW Ombudsman on Unreasonable Complainant Conduct. With the support and involvement of the other Australasian Parliamentary Ombudsman, the NSW Ombudsman began a joint project on managing unreasonable complainant conduct in 2006. The project sought to minimise the often disproportionate and unreasonable impacts of difficult complainant conduct on organisations, their staff, services, time and resources by proposing a framework of strategies for managing such conduct.

 

The outcome of this project has been a practice manual titled Managing Unreasonable Complainant Conduct and the associated workshop. The manual provides an extensive range of strategies for dealing with unreasonable complainant conduct, including circumstances where it is not possible to terminate services to a complainant.

 

I found this workshop to be quite helpful as it was useful to hear of the experiences of other complaint handlers from different organisations. However, the star of this project is definitely the practice manual. Divided into seven parts, the practice manual provides guidelines on identifying unreasonable complainant conduct, preventing such conduct and responding to and managing the same. There are also some helpful suggested semantics for dealing with unreasonable complainant conduct. 

 

An example of one scenario that has a scripted response is around when a complainant presents in the organisation’s office and advises they will not be leaving until the matter is resolved. 

Complainant: I’m not leaving. You’ll have to carry me out of here.

Respondent: I’m not going to force you to leave. It’s really up to you what happens next. I’m going to leave and if you want to stay here a little while to think, then that’s fine. But if you aren’t gone in twenty minutes, we’ll have to contact security/ the police to escort you out of the office. It’s up to you.

This script is firm but fair. It reminds the complainant that they have a choice in their behaviour and also demonstrates that the respondent is in control of the investigative process. The majority of the scripts offered by the NSW Ombudsman have this same approach.  

Needless to say, I have placed this practice manual in an easy-to-reach location on my desk because I know it will become a highly used resource.

If you would like to know more about the NSW Ombudsman’s Managing Complainant Conduct project, click here.

To find out more about the 9th National Investigations Symposium, click here.

Tips for difficult telephone discussions

At one point or another, all of us have had to have a difficult telephone discussion. Those that work in the complaint handling realm are likely to have these discussions on a daily, if not hourly basis. So what are some tips to help make those difficult discussions as easy as possible? Well, as seems to be a continuing theme on this blog, planning and preparation are key. If you practice what you intend to say and make bullet points of the key points, this will help you to stay focused and keep the discussion on track if things become a bit heated.

Remaining calm and staying patient are also key to the success of the discussion. Where possible try to distance yourself and your emotions from the subject. In the case of complaint handling, the person delivering the bad news is usually the independent complaint handler so ditch feeling guilty when you have to deliver bad news – a review has been completed and an outcome found. If due process has been followed there is no need to feel guilty about the outcome.

Another hot tip is to check what the other person has heard. While you may think that you have delivered a beautifully phrased outcome, the other party may have misinterpreted what you have said. Checking for understanding is an often over-looked but very important step in handling difficult telephone discussions.

Some more tips for your review ….

Tips for difficult telephone discussions

·         Prepare for the discussion

·         Make some bullet points of what you want to achieve in the discussion and keep it nearby

·         Do a quick relaxation technique before you start

·         Be polite and patient

·         Breathe

·         Employ the broken record technique – keep saying what they are not hearing until they do

·         Check for understanding (e.g. What is your understanding of what I’ve just said?)

·         Collaborate (e.g Do you have any suggestions as to how this could work?)

·        If the discussion becomes abusive or threatening, ask them to desist, come back to the point and try again

·         If the abuse continues, end the call politely and calmly with an offer to try again later

·         Debrief with a friend/ colleague or superior.

Not your traditional complaint platform

When I was travelling home from work recently I came across an article in the commuter newspaper about an online forum where disgruntled people write anonymous notes to their neighbours airing their gripes. While this is not the most traditional forum to complain in, it does allow aggrieved residents to let their neighbours know that Princess, the Persian cat, is not so cute when she is scratching up their new outdoor furniture.

This process of getting the matter off your chest is an important step in complaint resolution. One of the most commonly heard customer service complaints is ‘they just won’t listen to me’. Complainants need to have the opportunity to voice their concerns and to feel heard. Online forums are becoming an easy and anonymous medium for people to air their grievances, particularly when they are not yet ready to discuss the matter with the other party. It’s not surprising then that online complaint forums are becoming more and more popular. Business would do well to think about how they are going to address complaints aired in this manner.

I’ve selected a few of the disgruntled neighbour notes for you to read below. If you’d like to read more of the complaint notes for yourself, check out the website HappyPlace.com