Electricity and Gas Complaints Member Forum

Electricity and Gas ComplaintsMember Forum 25 August 2010

Sources of conflict Interest Data Structural Relationship Value

CDR’s triangle of satisfaction . procedural psychological substantive

A wins Compromise Satisfaction of A's needs B wins Low Satisfaction of B's needs

HILIBEP FOR A AND B High A wins Compromise Satisfaction of A's needs B wins Low Satisfaction of B's needs High

Communication Orientation HIGH R E L A T I O N S H I P JOINT PROBLEM SOLVER COUNSELOR EXPERT DELEGATOR HIGH LOW TASK ORIENTATION

Resolving Complaints by Telephone • What dynamics do you notice when you are negotiating by telephone? • What, for you, are examples of the most challenging complainant behaviour you have experienced on the telephone?

Small Group • Conciliators; • What, for you, are examples of the most challenging company behavioursyou have experienced on the telephone? • Member Representatives; • What, for you, are the most challenging conciliator behaviours you have experienced on the telephone

Added Value? • What value does a conciliator add to your one-on-one discussion with complainants? • What is the benefit of bringing an EGGC conciliator in early; say near the start of your 20 working days?….what’s the downside?

Conciliator Telephone Skills • 3 High Level Skills; • Demonstrating empathy • Establishing rapport • Building trust • Hands-On Skills; • Process guidance • Clarity about role • Attending to flow • Verbal acknowledgement • Summarising/Checking in • Pauses and silence (space) • Questions

Some Anecdotal Feedback Lack of body language Not seeing what they look like Lots of oral interaction requires more management control over process Don’t know when to speak, who is going next? Silence needs an explanation Difficult to see documents/ photographs More difficult to deal with witnesses, supporters and interpreters Inability to use visual aids, e.g. whiteboards Use clear explanations Easier for the person on the phone to stall the process People can be more shy – or more obstreperous More time needed – you have to clarify what you are doing / about to do Flow is not seamless

Feedback Continued…. More than two parties on the line – who’s talking? Over-talking Less empathy between the parties Difficult to know how engaged someone is Try to keep all communication verbal Challenge to connect in the parties with each other Challenge to facilitate empathy and compromise How to intervene without using your body language Enunciation is important

Power Shut Down • A dental practice received notification from its retailer of a 4 hour planned transformer shut down. • The dental practice contacted clients with bookings on the day of the outage. It offered clients alternate appointments which most accepted but some cancelled. • On the day of the planned outage the power did not go off at the dental practice. One of the dentists called the retailer to query. He was told the dental practice must have been notified in error because it wasn’t served from the transformer that had been shut down. • The dentists were livid and said they were embarrassed, especially after one dentist had just been off sick for 2 weeks and they had lost/were only just hanging onto some patients.

Satisfy interests; ours well theirs acceptably others? = enough to be durable Legitimate – no one feels taken No waste – it’s the best option Includes realistic commitments Result from an efficient process effective communication Builds the kind of relationship we want Good Settlements…

Electricity and Gas Complaints Member Forum