Providing Better Service to Customers with Disabilities – Part 2
Here are some ways you can provide better service to your customers with disabilities:
- If you can’t understand what someone is saying, just politely ask again.
- Ask before you offer to help – don’t just jump in. Your customers with disabilities know if they need help and how you can provide it.
- Find a good way to communicate. A good start is to listen carefully.
- Look at your customer, but don’t stare. Speak directly to a person with a disability, not to their interpreter or someone who is with them.
- Use plain language and speak in short sentences.
- Don’t touch or address service animals – they are working and have to pay attention at all times.
- Ask permission before touching a wheelchair or piece of equipment.
- If you’re not sure what to do, ask the customer, “May I help you?”
Need more help? Get Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act training – Customer Service Standard.