Implement Best Work Practices with Accessible Customer Service Training | Changing Paces

 If you follow the research data of the World Health Organization, you will find out that approximately 15% of the global population suffers from some form of disability. The disability can be anything from visual impairment, hearing impairment, or mobility issues. Unfortunately, people with disabilities struggle to access your services, and thus, their experience of the service industry is mostly pathetic.

Accessible customer service is, thus, a crucial aspect of the organization that can actually help your company perform better than all the other service providers in the same industry. Most of the companies usually fail to keep in mind the convenience of customers with disabilities while designing the customer service funnel. And this is how you are missing a special opportunity that can boost success.

 

Training is essential

Around 13.7% of people have mobility problems, and almost all of them have difficulty walking and climbing the stairs. Almost 10.8% suffer from cognitive disabilities, facing problems concentrating, remembering, or decision making. Approximately 4.6% have a visual impairment, and 10.5% depend on self-care with difficulties in independent living. Hearing impairment affects 5.9% of the population.

 Advantage #1: Access to a larger talent pool

Massive staff shortages and high employee turnover have become the common problem of every organization right now. Unfortunately, 20% of the working-age population suffer from disabilities that may be refraining them from working.

What if you can arrange for such a space design or plan the work system in such a way that you can utilize much of the talents with disabilities? Indeed, it is presently the best idea to access a greater pool of potential candidates. Offering an accessible office and work environment will certainly pave the way for many disabled people to enter the labor market.

 

• The AODA training will aid in supporting the remote or home setup of the employees with disabilities.
• Arrangement of the right transport to commute to and fro at work will be a supportive action.
• Setup the basic requirements of the employees to provide homely comfort at work. 

Empathy will always be one of the topmost leadership skills that will help you manage the organization ably. 

 

Increasing customer satisfaction

Often, you tend to ignore the importance of accessibility, which actually plays a crucial role in customer retention and satisfaction. If the customers cannot use your product or services easily, they will soon start looking for alternative options. 

If you are in business for a long time, you will know that new customer acquisition costs are always higher than retaining the existing ones. So for your business, you have to arrange for Accessible customer service training so that the service experience for the customers with disabilities is equally good as that of those without disabilities. 

 

• Offer a wide variety of contact options or conveniently reach you or access your service. 
• If some customers have a problem with verbal communication, like a telephonic conversation, you can arrange for a video call if the potential customer is familiar with lip-reading or reading.
• Make arrangements for real-time communication other than phone calls. It can be a live chat option or chatbots that offer the right solutions. It is helpful for those who are easy with text-based communication. 

 

There are some basic techniques that will inspire individuals with disabilities to engage with the website of your company. You can add elements like adequate color contrast, captions for all videos, all text for an image, and compatibility with various assistive technologies like screen readers or keyboard accessibility. 

 

People with mental disorders may find it challenging to access customer service as much as those with physical problems. So your business should ideally offer enough support for these customers too. For instance, design the space with self-service options so that people can choose t to avoid communication with the company’s representatives. 

 

Better workplace inclusion

If you view your corporate responsibility in terms of accessibility, you can do better in attracting the top talents and driving innovative results. It will contribute to enhancing the positive reputation of the company in the industry. 

People always want to work for employers who exhibit good values at work with inclusive employment practices. As there is an intimate connection between your brand and culture, the quality of service will reflect how you implement the right practices at work.

Trish Robichaud is a leading AODA customer service training consultant. She has been the pioneer in developing and implementing the accessible customer service training for organizations in the province of Ontario.