What do I need to do to provide accessible customer service?

Alfred Spencer, Director, Accessibility Directorate of Ontario: As a business, first of all you have to have policies and practices in place that recognize that you are taking accessibility seriously and that you are participating in breaking down barriers for people.

It means that you have to make your staff aware and that your staff has to be trained in how to serve people with disabilities and have an awareness of various disabilities.

Peter Oliver, Owner, Canadian Tire, Lakeshore and Leslie, Toronto: There are so many different aspects in running a retail store and I think the first and most important aspect is customer service. It starts with myself, being the owner of the store that when I am on the retail floor, that I ask customers how they are doing and if they are finding everything they need. It is important that our managers do the same thing and our floor staff do the same thing so it carries right through the whole organization.

Cheryl Blackman, Director of Visitor Experience, Royal Ontario Museum: Our designers wanted to hear first hand from the customer. They wanted to understand what it really takes to make an exhibit more accessible for someone who is blind or someone who is deaf or a person who has autism for example. We put together a committee of 10 people and all of these different disabilities are represented.

Peter Oliver, Owner, Canadian Tire, Lakeshore and Leslie, Toronto: I think a lot of people with disabilities want to feel independent and want to shop in a store that treats them like everyone else.

Victor Fiume, President, Canadian Home Builders Association: We try not to treat the person differently. We certainly have to treat your situation differently and make sure we can accommodate you.

Nicole Rioux: The accessibility in a store will influence a lot my family directly.

Peter Oliver, Owner, Canadian Tire, Lakeshore and Leslie, Toronto: It is of the utmost importance to have complete accessibility and it goes along with independence.

Nicole Rioux (speaking in French): Good Customer Service is like gold …it’s precious. It has such an effect on me that I will become a loyal customer.

Kulbinder Saran Caldwell: I believe that somebody that’s providing customer service needs to ask the right questions. They need to ask questions. They can’t make assumptions and they have to be an active listener.

Wilma Davies, Retired, Small Business Owner, Collingwood: And if each person reaches out and does one little thing … We’re saying customer service here. I don’t like ‘customer service’. I like to say people helping people.

Peter Oliver, Owner, Canadian Tire, Lakeshore and Leslie, Toronto: Astra, how can I help you as a retail owner?

Astra Milberg: Good service, friendly conversation keeps me coming back to the same store.