Welcoming disabled customers: Introduction

Welcoming disabled customers: Introduction

This resource is part of our Disability Essentials range. You can find the other free resources that are included in this range by clicking here.

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The ‘Welcoming disabled customers’ suite

Welcome to Business Disability Forum’s suite of resource about welcoming disabled customers. This collection of resources is intended to provide practical guidance to help you to welcome your disabled customers.

What’s covered?

This suite has a range of resources about welcoming customers with specific disabilities or conditions, such as:

• Customers who are blind or have sight loss
• Customers who are deaf or have hearing loss
• Customers with conditions affecting speech
• Customers with conditions affecting mobility
• Customers with a disfigurement or visible difference
• Customers with conditions affecting learning or communication
• Customers with autism and Asperger’s syndrome
• Customers with dyslexia
• Customers with mental health conditions.

We also provide resources that deal with specific aspects of customer service, such as:

• Delivering inclusive and accessible customer service
• Communicating effectively
• Talking to disabled customers on the phone
• Providing services to disabled customers in their home
• Arranging appointments with disabled customers.

At the end of the suite of resources, there is also a Workbook containing questions to test your knowledge of disability and customer service in practical scenarios.

Why accessible and inclusive customer service is so important

The spending power of disabled people in the UK is around £249 billion per year (according to Department for Work and Pensions, 2016) and is set to increase as the number of people living with a disability grows. Therefore, providing an inclusive and welcoming service for disabled customers and clients is a must for every business.

Disabled people want to access the same products, facilities and services as everyone else, and have a right to do so under the law. Despite this, some businesses are – inadvertently – excluding disabled people.

In this suite, we will look at how you can change this. The suite considers the needs and preferences of customers and clients with different disabilities and how you can meet them through the customer service you deliver.

Often just small changes can make a big difference.

Final word

We hope you find the sections of this suite useful; it is important to remember that you should never make assumptions about the absence or existence of disability. Offering support to all customers will ensure you provide good customer service to everyone. Just the simple question “Can I help with anything?” can encourage the customer to tell you what they need.