It’s widely acknowledged that all workplaces and businesses should be fully inclusive. That means customers should experience the same quality of service regardless of their race, gender, religion, sexual identification and abilities. While Australia has made great ground in removing discrimination from workplaces, many staff still face challenges when serving customers with a disability.
There are several ways you can make your business more accessible for everyone, but there is always more that your staff can learn. Too often, when we think about making a business accessible, we focus too heavily on the physical aspect, such as providing wheelchair ramps or toilets. While these are certainly a big step forward, training your staff to make everyone feel comfortable regardless of their ability is also crucial to operating a fully inclusive business.
Why is disability awareness important?
Disability training programs in Australia are hugely beneficial for businesses, and in turn for society as a whole. Firstly, all Australians should have the right to shop, attend events and access the services they need without feeling uncomfortable. The way your business is set up to accommodate people with a disability goes a long way towards ensuring everyone is welcome. It’s also important to note that not all disabilities are visible, and we’ll touch on this later.
While certainly not the main reason you should consider disability awareness training for your staff, there’s benefits for your business too. According to the Australian Network on Disability (AND), 1 in 5 Australians have some form of disability. That’s over 4.4 million people, or around 20% of the population. From a purely business perspective, wouldn’t you like to ensure an extra 20% of people were able to, and enjoy, using your services?
People with a disability are three times more likely to avoid businesses with a poor diversity reputation. Yet remarkably, as recently as 2017, 62% of small to medium enterprises had done nothing in the last 12 months to make it easier for people with a disability. Half of those reasoned that they haven’t had specific requests.
Making businesses inclusive isn’t all about increasing your profits, of course. It’s a basic human right that people should be able to access products and services without feeling uncomfortable about their disability.
Recognising customers with a disability
As we touched on, not all disabilities are visible, which does create complexities for your staff. As an example, only around 4.4% of Australians with a disability use a wheelchair. There are more obvious disabilities, and ones that you may never notice. That’s why disability awareness training is important, both to better assist those with a visible disability, and to improve recognition of those that aren’t so visible.
Invisible scenarios
There are many disabilities with no outwardly obvious symptoms, and many of these relate to mental health. Customers experiencing anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and various personality disorders don’t always show any symptoms. However, that doesn’t mean visiting your business is a walk in the park for them.
People with these types of invisible disabilities may experience great stress, have trouble communicating their needs, or not be well placed to make sound decisions. In addition, they also may not be comfortable coming right out and telling your staff they’re experiencing a problem. For these situations, more subtle assistance is required, and while identifying these customers with a disability isn’t always easy, providing them with great service doesn’t need to be difficult.
It may be something subtle, such as serving them in a quieter part of the store, being more patient, or simply showing compassion and understanding.
The other important consideration is learning disability awareness. For example, customers may not possess the numeracy skills to pay with the correct money. Polite, friendly service is required, rather than making them feel uncomfortable. If you require customers to fill out forms, they may not have the literacy skills to do this without assistance. These are all things for staff to be mindful of when dealing with all customers.
Visible scenarios
More visible disabilities may include people using a mobility aid, people with a hearing impairment or vision impairment, a customer on the Autism spectrum and also some forms of intellectual impairment. While staff may be able to more easily recognise these situations, they still need to develop the skills to interact with these customers in a way that promotes inclusivity.
Tips for serving customers with a disability
Most people with a disability don’t want to be treated any differently to other customers, and that’s often the hardest thing for employees to adapt to. Often, it doesn’t come from a patronising place, but rather our natural instinct to help those we consider to be in need. However, it’s important that all customers feel comfortable and welcome in your business. Here’s 5 tips for appropriately serving customers with a disability.
Exercise patience
Many people with a disability require a little more time than other customers. Sometimes this might be apparent if you’re showing a customer to a certain part of the store. Where a person may usually just follow as you quickly walk to that area, you need to understand that those with mobility issues can’t always follow so quickly. Take your time, and make sure they don’t feel rushed.
Another aspect may be decision-making. If you’re helping a customer with an impairment decide between a few product brands, understand they may take a little longer to make a choice. Don’t rush them, but simply be there to answer questions.
Speak normally and don’t treat customers differently
One thing that’s extremely important when serving customers with a disability is to speak normally. It’s extremely common for employees to speak louder, or even speak down to disabled customers the way that might do to a child. This does nothing but make the customer feel uncomfortable, frustrated and embarrassed.
The fact is, people with a disability don’t spend the whole day thinking about their disability, so neither should your staff. They don’t want to be treated any differently, but will certainly appreciate appropriate assistance. There’s a line between being polite and respectful to being condescending, and this is a key skill for employees to learn.
Try to communicate at the same level
If your staff are in a situation where they’re talking to a customer in a wheelchair for any longer than a minute or two, it’s polite to make a small adjustment. Bear in mind, the customer in the wheelchair doesn’t want you to lean over and talk to them like a child. This is embarrassing and uncomfortable. However, it’s also uncomfortable for someone to crane their neck for a long time while talking to you. For a longer conversation, why not grab a chair so you can speak to the customer at their eye level?
Never make assumptions about a person’s ability
It’s a natural reaction sometimes to want to do everything for a customer with a disability. Again, this might be well-intentioned, but it can also be insulting to the customer. Remember that your customer lives with their disability every day, and they probably don’t have someone around 24/7 to do everything for them. Coping with their disability is part of everyday life for them, so they may be perfectly capable of reaching something on a shelf or opening a door.
Rather than assume a customer can’t do something, it’s better to simply ask if they need help with something. A quick “Would you like me to get the door?” is much more polite than rushing to open a door. It’s these actions that may feel insignificant to your staff, but can go a long way to making customers feel comfortable in your business.
Always show flexibility
A big part of serving customers with a disability is about not treating them differently to other customers. However, many people do need help with certain things, and in a lot of cases they’ll be quite comfortable asking for help. Obviously, you need to adhere to OH&S guidelines, but don’t be bound by rigid processes when helping customers with a disability. If you usually only serve customers at the front desk, but someone may benefit from a private discussion in a meeting room, be willing to make adjustments. If you deal with contracts or forms, be flexible in helping people with a learning disability.
Overall, it shouldn’t be a huge imposition to serve customers with a disability. It just takes some awareness, politeness and a little training.
