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Situation Room
Scenario 1: Ladies Day Out
A new women’s clothing store has opened in Susan’s small town. It is a big deal. Susan loves to shop but is resigned to online shopping because there is nowhere to shop with her girlfriends in her village. Susan’s crew is already talking about making a day of it.
Susan and her crew arrive at the store and find many wonders. There are so many wonders, in fact, that there are areas of the store that Susan can’t access in her wheelchair. Susan’s friends are trying to help her, but she doesn’t want to ask them to spend all their time bringing her things.
Think about it. What needs to happen?
This situation presents an excellent opportunity for the store’s sales associate to interact with Susan and her group. By sharing the store’s merchandise with Susan, the associate could provide additional information about the quality of the merchandise, things that might go together, or the types of events Susan could wear the merchandise to. The best entry into helping is “how can I help?”
The takeaway
Customers come back for good service. It is important not to let discomfort with disability get in the way.
Scenario 2: The coffee shop
A local coffee shop has hired a barista who knows sign language. Word about her has spread, and the shop has developed a strong following of customers who communicate with sign language.
The owner is excited about this new customer base but concerned because they can’t guarantee that a barista who is fluent or even passably capable in ASL will be working at any given time. Staff at the store has been discussing what might work.
Think about it. What needs to happen?
The Deaf Community communicates with spoken English speakers in several ways. After discussions with some of the coffee shop’s Deaf customers, the owner decided to offer a text-based service that allows customers to text in orders for pickup. They are also considering installing a kiosk that customers can use to place orders. Both solutions are useful for many of the shop’s customers, including Deaf customers. The coffee shop now has a booming take-out business.
The takeaway
Service innovations that meet the needs of disabled customers can benefit all customers.
The scenarios, including all names, characters, and incidents portrayed on this page are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, or products is intended or should be inferred.