In the UK disabled people have an estimated £274 billion of spending power - and they want to spend that money with accessible brands that show they truly want to include disabled customers. So how do you show disabled customers you care?

It’s easy to make the mistake of focusing on big announcements and high production advertisements. But really, brand trust and loyalty is built from the multitude of small interactions that disabled people have with your company.

Every time a disabled person looks at your website or interacts with your staff they are deciding how your brand makes them feel. Included and welcomed? Or like an inconvenience.

If you’re serious about making your disabled customers feel valued, it’s best to focus on creating an accessible experience that will have disabled customers returning again and again, bringing their friends and family with them. We'll walk you through how to do this by focusing on three key actions:

• Sharing accessibility information

• Training your staff

• Taking accountability

  
  

How to build an inclusive brand

1. Share accessibility information

Disabled people find the accessibility information they need just 14% of the time.

If you’ve read about Sociability you know that we love to cite this statistic. But we come back to it again and again because providing detailed accessibility information is one of the easiest ways to show you care about accessibility.

When you share accessibility information you tell your disabled customers that you want them to feel confident and at ease visiting your venue. And if you want your accessibility information to be really impactful:

• Make it easy to find! Share your accessibility information where your customers are already looking - on your website, booking sites, and social media.

• Ensure it’s comprehensive! Share accessibility information for all the venues in your network to ensure your disabled customers can find a site that works for them no matter where they’re travelling.

• Provide clear and detailed information! Support your disabled customers to feel confident visiting your venues with clear, detailed information that doesn’t assume what their access needs might be.

With great tools sharing accessibility information becomes as easy as breathing. At Sociability, we provide bespoke maps of all your sites that can be easily integrated into websites and booking platforms. Your disabled customers will know you value them when they can easily search and filter for a venue that meets their access needs.

Set up a discovery call with us to learn more about how we making sharing accessibility information easy!

2. Train your staff

Staff interactions can make or break a customer experience. We’ve all heard the horror stories:

• Wheelchair users being told to sit in the dark, back corner of a venue because they’re a “fire hazard.”

• Disabled people with non-visible disabilities being interrogated when they use an accessible toilet.

Every time a disabled customer visits your venue they should feel welcomed, and included. While awareness training can be a critical step towards creating inclusive customer service it shouldn’t stop there!

When you do train your staff, ensure they have the tools to actually make a difference in a disabled customer's day. We recommend providing your staff with detailed accessibility guides for your spaces so that they can better answer questions about a space in advance, and make recommendations based on customer needs.

3. Take accountability

If you want your disabled customers to feel really valued, listen to them when they provide feedback. When someone takes the time out of their day to call your customer service line or write an email, don’t see it as criticism but as a gift.

And if you really want to show you care about the experiences of your disabled customers:

• Make it easy to submit feedback! Provide clear channels for submitting feedback about accessibility, that are appropriately sign posted and quick to complete.

• Provide different options! Ensure your feedback process is accessible. Allow your customers to submit feedback in a variety of formats, whether that be written, verbal, digitally or over the phone.

• Respond to feedback! When disabled customers take time out of their day to provide feedback they want to know it has been seen. Take the time to respond to feedback, and provide updates on next steps for implementing their suggestions.

Are you ready to build an accessible brand?

Building an accessible brand doesn’t always mean big budget advertisements. The every day interactions with your customers can be the difference between creating an experience that’s inclusive or exclusive.

And once you’ve earned the loyalty of one disabled customer - get ready for more to follow. The disabled community is loud, connected, and ready to refer you to friend.

Start prioritising accessibility!

• Book a discovery call to see how Sociability can help make collaboration in your office more inclusive!
  Join industry leaders like Arup and Toyota in putting accessibility at the core of your workplace culture.

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