The quality of service provided by your staff can make or break a consumer’s shopping experience. Customers living with learning difficulties and autism represent a large number of the consumer population. In the UK, it is estimated that consumers living with disabilities have a spending power of £249 million, also known as the ‘purple pound’. This spending money is often neglected by retailers who are not providing quality service to customers with learning difficulties and autism.
One of the ways you can improve the customer service within your business is by signing up as a JAM Card Partner for three years. This will allow you to make positive changes to the barriers faced by your members of staff and your customers. By providing all consumers with the same level of care and attention, you are opening your business to new customers and will see an increase in your bottom line as a result.
What Is A JAM Card?
JAM Card stands for ‘Just A Minute’. It allows people with hidden disabilities or communication barriers to tell others that they need extra time and understanding in a simple and discreet way. It can be used in the form of a card, or an app. JAM Card also gives businesses an easy way to identify customers who are living with communication barriers and hidden disabilities to provide them with quality customer care based on their needs.
Tips on How to Provide Quality Customer Service to Those Living with Learning Difficulties and Autism
Train Your Staff
Providing training for your staff is a productive way in helping them to become disability confident so they can provide better quality service that will keep customers returning for more. When you introduce JAM Card to your business staff will be given an E-Learning course to complete. Through this interactive training course your team will be introduced to the JAM Card and how they should interact with customers who have additional needs. By ensuring all members of your staff complete this course, you are taking the appropriate steps to becoming a disability friendly business in Belfast.
Greet All Customers with a Welcoming Attitude
One of the key parts in providing good customer service is making people feel welcome. Sometimes, staff will avoid making eye-contact with people who have learning difficulties and autism as they are worried it may seem they are staring or will come across as rude. However, this is not the case. It is better to greet all customers in the same way, by smiling and making eye contact.
When you sign up as a JAM Card Partner you will receive a Welcome Pack that will include some marketing materials to get you started. By raising awareness of your JAM Card partnership, you are promoting your efforts in introducing inclusion and diversity within your business. This will help to show people with learning difficulties and autism that they will feel welcomed by all members of staff and will receive quality service throughout their visit.
Be Patient
Many people living with learning difficulties and autism will require extra time when they are shopping or asking retail staff questions. Often, we can feel an impulse to finish a person’s sentence if they are struggling to find the words they want to communicate, however this isn’t the right thing to do. Instead, you should be patient and give your customers enough time to communicate with your members of staff. This will help them to feel worthy of your time and will encourage them to return to your business again in the future.
Research has shown us that 75% of JAM Card users are more likely to shop at a business who has been trained to recognise and respond to their hidden disabilities card. Through our JAM Card, your staff will be trained in how to identify hidden disabilities and communication barriers. This will allow your team to provide customers with learning difficulties and autism with quality service that is based on their needs.
Improve Your Customer Service with JAM Card
NOW Group is a social enterprise in Northern Ireland that is supporting people with autism and learning difficulties into jobs with a future. When you sign up as a JAM Card partner you are helping to keep the JAM Card free of charge for its users at the point of entry.
For more information on how the JAM Card can help your members of staff to improve their customer service skills and create and inclusive environment for all shoppers, get in touch with us today by calling 028 9043 6400 or alternatively email us at hello@jamcard.org.
