Negative CARP method
Hello!
My name is Julia. For 3 years I worked as a support agent and community manager on several projects. During this time, I have encountered many negative messages, reviews and comments from users.
In the process of training at my first job, I learned about the CARP method of working with negativity, which I want to talk about in more detail.
Thank you for discovering the method for me Maria Filippova, QA and Education Lead at Ansvery. For editing the article – Daria Stalhead of the Gameram community, co-author of the book The Power of Communities, Maria Filippova, QA and Education Lead Ansvery, and Ilya PonomarevCommunity Manager of Reaction games.
What is CARP?
CARP (Control, Acknowledge, Refocus, Problem-Solve) – a method of working with negativity, created by Robert Bakal, a teacher who teaches how to work with users and resolve conflicts. Initially, the method was developed for technical support specialists. But in my practice I used it in community management as well. Another method may well suit SMM specialists.
The following will be common in using the method for all specialties:
We apply the method when responding to the user when he is very upset, about which he reports emotionally, describes what he feels;
We use the method when communicating with the user when he shows strong aggression due to a problem in the product / service.
The method is well suited for those cases where the user wrote a voluminous negative message. Such reviews, messages and comments are most often written by native speakers of Spanish, Portuguese, as well as English-speaking users. A response based on the CARP method may turn out to be proportionate to the user’s message and show our attention to his problem.
The CARP method can also be used with Russian-speaking users if one or both of the above points can be traced in their feedback.
Scope of the method:
Dealing with negativity in tickets and in the mail of the support service;
Dealing with negative reviews in app stores, marketplaces, on maps and other online platforms;
Strong user negativity in the comments on the community site;
Public post on behalf of the company describing the search for solutions / ready-made solutions for mass user problems;
A response to a user’s post in which he speaks negatively about the product/company. You can answer publicly or write to the author of the post in private messages;
Finding a solution to a problem if it occurs with a volunteer if you have just started to cooperate.
What is the CARP method?
Control (to control) – control over the situation and emotions, both your own in working with the negative, and the user. Here, the main task is to let the user understand that the situation that made him show negativity is under your control and will not piss you off.
Acknowledge (recognize, realize) – recognition of the interlocutor’s emotions. At this stage, it is important to demonstrate empathy towards the user and a willingness to help in solving the problem.
Refocus (toggle) – we switch the user’s attention from the problem itself and emotions about it to its solution.
Problem solve (solve problems) — we describe the solutions for the user. They may contain ready-made instructions and / or suggestions for actions to choose from.
What does the method look like in practice?
Let’s analyze a few cases:
Case 1
App Store user review:
Our answer to the CARP methodology:
How can an answer like this help us?
The user understands that one of his main goals, to be heard, has been achieved. He can immediately provide all the information we need to solve his problem. This is due to the fact that we set it up for an atmosphere of cooperation.
The user can change the rating to positive after the successful resolution of the problem. Or we can ask him to correct the rating if he did not do this after a while. By measuring the number of corrected estimates for a certain period of time (week / month), you can judge the effectiveness of the method and your work.
Case 2
In the mobile game, users have experienced massive crashes after the update, which they began to actively report on community hosting sites.
In this case, it is necessary to write and post a public post stating that the developers are aware of the problem and are working on fixing it.
An example post based on the CARP method:
How can this post help us?
Strengthening the connection “developers-players”;
retention in the project;
Increased loyalty;
Improvement of product metrics.
When technical problems occur, it is important to keep users in the game so that they stay in the game and wait for the bugs to be fixed. Players feel the support and assistance from the developers. Their loyalty is growing, and they are ready not only to assist in solving bugs, but also to wait until they can play again.
This approach can also have a positive impact on product metrics (LTV, retention, revenue).
Word of mouth works well in such cases, when players begin to link to the developer’s post when there are new reports on the topic of errors. In this way, we can not only reduce the burden on community managers and moderators, but also change the overall mood in the community to a more positive one.
Case 3
One of the visitors to the event left a negative review on her VKontakte page with a branded hashtag:
Our personal message to the reviewer:
How can such a personal message using the CARP method help us?
We show that we not only pay attention to the feedback of event visitors, but are also ready to improve the quality of our services based on criticism.
After our message, the client will probably be interested in whether we really listened to his opinion, and will visit the event again.
Thanks to the final question in our post, we’ve made the visitor a voting co-host. She may feel a sense of ownership in the creation of the event, which will encourage her to attend the next networking event.
Conclusion
The CARP method can be useful for both community and business purposes of the product as a whole. This is a fairly user-friendly approach to users, which is well suited for improving key metrics.
I hope the material will be useful to you, and the CARP method will become your assistant in working with negative users.
Author: Julia Borisova
Editors: Daria Stal, Maria Filippova, Ilya Ponomarev
