In ten short lessons, this new online course explains how the ADA applies to businesses. Putting these lessons into practice will allow you to comply with the ADA and welcome a whole new group of customers to purchase your goods, products, and services. And you may find that making your business more accessible and welcoming to people with disabilities is not as difficult as you thought.

The US Department of Labor says they have twice the discretionary spending power of the teen market and yet they are often overlooked as a niche market. Too many companies lose business from people with disabilities because they unknowingly operate with practices or circumstances that present barriers to them. Many other companies only tap into a small segment of this market because they don’t make the extra effort to provide the “disability-friendly” customer service that fosters referrals and repeat business. Fewer still are the companies that enjoy brand loyalty from this niche market by simply targeting them openly in their marketing campaigns. This issue of our newsletter takes an in-depth look at this issue. Carmen Jones of Solutions Marketing Group in Virgina has provided us with some “big picture” information on the topic and two Oregon-based companies have shared their experience and best practices in developing their customer base of people with disabilities.

Carmen Jones knows from experience that marketing effectively to people with disabilities makes good business sense. Through her Virginia-based company Solutions Marketing Group (SMG) she has assisted many companies to better target this market segment – and she has watched those corporations being transformed and their bottom lines being impacted. Her customers include familiar names like Darden Restaurants, American Express, America Online, Bank of America and ESPN. Especially for this issue of our newsletter, Carmen kindly took time out from her busy schedule to share some insights with us.

OBLN: Carmen, tell us about your company, Solutions Marketing Group.

CARMEN JONES: The Solutions Marketing group is a marketing consulting firm that primarily develops marketing and outreach strategies that target people with disabilities as consumers – in the same way that they target other niche markets like the gay market, the senior market, the teen market. We introduce them to an additional, often overlooked, group of people who can become a captive customer base once they are marketed to properly.

OBLN: As a consumer base, what does that potential market represent to a business?

CARMEN JONES: According to the Census Bureau, across the country there are about 56 million people with disabilities. They have an aggregate income of over a trillion dollars. Additionally, of the 70 million families in America, 3 million of them have a close family member with a disability – an opportunity to reach even more people when targeting the disability market. In fact, according to a study by the Atlanta Paralympics group, the average person with a disability has a circle of at least four people who strongly care for them. So for each of the 56 million people with disabilities, there are another 4 people with whom disability marketing messaging will resonate as well. One good demonstration of this market’s buying power is a report by the GAO (General Accounting Office) that reported that hotels, by implementing the access provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, increased revenues by 12%.

OBLN: When you are working with a company, what are the general areas that you tend to address?

CARMEN JONES: We use what we call the “Four Pillars of Effective Disability Marketing” and our customers, depending on their needs and resources, choose which one(s) to focus on. The foundation of this model is the “Leadership”. It has become obvious that, in order for disability initiatives to be effective, there has to be senior level buy-in and leadership to establish understanding and to set the tone for the rest of the company.

The first pillar is “Employment”. Employment is the great equalizer. It makes a strong message; “Not only do we value you as a customer, but we value you as an employee.

“Accessibility” is another pillar. We look at accessibility issues throughout the company and diagnose where there are opportunities for improvement.

The next pillar is obvious - “Marketing”. We typically recommend starting at a grassroots level to develop basic buy-in and to build relationship with the disability community before going to a broad campaign.

Finally, there is the “Service” pillar. Customers with disabilities need to be treated well. In addition to general disability awareness, we implement practical training that equips staff to handle specific needs as they relate to disabilities. We help company employees to focus on the bottom line and to not get wrapped in their emotional issues when dealing with customers with disabilities. Rather, we help them to keep their focus on a customer with money to spend.

OBLN: Carmen, what kind of general advice would you give to a company as a starting point?

CARMEN JONES: We encourage companies to seek out opportunities instead of creating barriers. One good example of seeking out opportunities is JP Morgan Chase. They have an employee affinity group for employees who have relatives with disabilities. It is primarily a forum for them to share their mutual concerns as employees. However, JP Morgan Chase has used input from this group to gain a competitive advantage in better understanding the needs of the “untapped market” of people with disabilities.

Generally, companies really want to do the right thing but they are not quite sure of what to do with regards to this particular market. We help businesses to move beyond their zone of comfort and move past their place of unfamiliarity – to understand that this is a market of customers who have characteristics that are very much like their other customers and who have some additional distinguishing features. We focus on how these customers are more alike than different and that consumers with disabilities are extremely brand-loyal. Once you have us as a customer, and we have a positive experience, you probably have us for life and we will definitely share our experience with our colleagues and those that are within our circle.

View online video of Carmen Jones on CNN's Maverick of the Morning...
 

With more than 300 retail stores, Ethan Allen Home Interiors is one of America's leading one-stop home furnishings resources. Here in Oregon, Rita Manzella is the Accountant/HR Manager for the Ethan Allen stores in Lake Oswego and Tanasbourne and the Service Center in Tualatin. Recently, some events took place that prompted them to take a closer look at the accessibility of their properties and related customer service issues for people with disabilities. They conducted an “Accessibility Assessment” that proved to be a valuable tool in improving their “disability-friendliness”. In this interview with the OBLN, Rita explains this series of events.

OBLN: What lead to having your Accessibility Assessment done?

RITA MANZELLA: There were two things that came into play. One, we had a client using a wheelchair who came into our Lake Oswego store and being very distressed, they explained to the manager that we were not ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant. That incident led us to believe that we needed to do something. The second event, which happened almost at the same time, was that we had an employee come back after major surgery on her leg. She now required a motorized scooter to navigate the store and do her job. With both of these considerations in mind, we decided that we needed to make sure that we were in compliance with the ADA regulations.

OBLN: What did you do to determine that?

RITA MANZELLA: We were referred to Independent Living Resources. I spoke with them on the phone and one of their representatives, Georgena Moran, came out to our Lake Oswego site. She uses a wheelchair herself. Georgena is very, very knowledgeable and she was exceedingly helpful to us.

OBLN: What did you learn from the inspection?

RITA MANZELLA: Ethan Allen stores are very different from most furniture stores. We display our furnishings in completed rooms. As a customer you are going from room to room with different kinds of floorings and different kinds of furniture all in different layouts. Georgena inspected our display areas, and helped us ensure that there was enough space for wheelchairs or motorized carts to navigate easily between displays and that we didn’t have any rugs that would buckle under the wheels.

She also inspected other things. We have a home fashion center. If you decided that you wanted to have a room designed, you would meet with one of our designers there. On a table, they would display a variety of fabric and color choices, accessories and pictures of furniture options for you to look at and select from. If you use a wheelchair you would need a table that is taller than what we had available – one with a clearance of 27”. So, we put risers on one of these tables.

We had several issues in our bathrooms. We didn’t have a mirror on the back of the outer door, which you need, and the holders for both the toilet seat covers and the paper towels were too high. We took care of that. Also, you can’t have more than five pounds of force on the doors – and we had six. All that was needed to fix that was a screwdriver.

Georgena also inspected outside – looking at all the parking spaces in both our employee parking lot and our customer parking lot. She found those all to be fine. I am sure that all of the things that we did to make sure that we were in compliance, because we wanted to be in compliance, cost less than $100. It was easy to do.

OBLN: I gather that you found the assessment to be a valuable experience?

RITA MANZELLA: The assessment took about an hour and forty-five minutes. We had everything explained to us and we received a written report. They also gave us an entire package of information with everything that we needed to know and additional resources. The assessment was very valuable to us.

We took all the information that we received through this inspection into our Tanasbourne store and made similar changes there. We also have a service center and we made sure that was taken care of too.

Georgena was very helpful too in explaining to us about other things we were unaware of. For instance, when you are talking to someone in a wheelchair, you need to be able to sit down with him or her so you can be eye-to-eye. People have to understand simple things like that – to be “enlightened”. That’s a good word. Obviously, we aren’t all alike, and we need to make sure that we treat others with due respect. We want all of our clients to come in our doors and feel that they belong here.

With a particular focus on food, apparel, home needs and photo/electronics, Fred Meyer Stores operates 128 retail stores throughout Alaska, Oregon, Idaho and Washington. Fifty of their stores are here in Oregon. Tiffany M. Brandreth is the Diversity Initiatives Coordinator for Fred Meyer Stores and she enthusiastically agreed to speak with us about her company’s perspective on people with disabilities as a customer base.

OBLN: Tiffany, can you give us an overview of how people with disabilities fit into Fred Meyer’s understanding of its customer base?

TIFFANY BRANDRETH: We know that there are over 53 million people with disabilities in the United States. There are over 400,000, with both visible and non-visible disabilities, in Oregon itself. We feel that it is important to create an environment that is comfortable for anyone who comes in to shop – and, of course, anyone who wants to come to work for us. Our basic goal is to provide great customer service to all our customers. We are committed to being aware of and meeting the needs of all our shoppers, including those with disabilities, so that each and every person has a positive shopping experience in our stores.

We are really customer-centered. We basically do everything we can to accommodate the needs of all our customers. If a customer has a disability, the disability doesn’t define that person for us, it just tells us one aspect of that person. It is important that we as individuals and as employers focus on the person and not their disability – to have a positive and respectful view of that person as an active and contributing member of society and the economy. Keeping this perspective helps to dispel the damaging and offensive stereotypes of people with disabilities which are still common today.

Our purpose here at Fred Meyer is to treat each person with respect and with value. Our vision is to have an inclusive business culture – with the customer being our primary focus in all aspects of the way we operate and the way we do business. We are extremely proactive, intentional and focused about being inclusive of all potential customers of our stores.

OBLN: Tiffany, can you give us a few examples of the steps Fred Meyers has taken to provide a positive shopping experience to customers with disabilities?

TIFFANY BRANDRETH: Sure… Education on how to treat customers with disabilities is threaded throughout all of our training programs and communication to Store Directors, our Managers, and our Associates. We also have a diversity and inclusion bulletin board in every store and in every department in our main office to educate, inform, and increase awareness of our employees on diversity topics. These are updated on a monthly basis and people with disabilities have been a focus topic.

We have a policy that addresses person-centered language, accessible parking, and how to address those needs and how to offer assistance to customers who may need it.

We have implemented an interpreter reference list. That list is placed at each customer service desk. Associates who are bilingual, multilingual, or have the ability to use sign language can voluntarily add their names to this list– and this is indicated on their name badge as well. We have Associates who have the ability to communicate using American Sign Language or Signed English. So, if a customer is deaf and cannot speak, or uses sign language to communicate, they can simply go to a customer service desk and one of those Associates will be called upon to assist them.

We provide electric shopping carts to make shopping easier for those who need them. We are lowering the check stands and fixtures, and installing flat screen panel monitors to provide customers and Associates with improved visibility. We have a new option that allows customers using our self-service U-scans to enter the picture of an item (rather than its number) in order to look up the price.

On each entrance used by customers, our stores have door decals stating “Only Service Animals Permitted”. We believe that this communicates that we value the patronage of customers with service animals and we respect their needs.

OBLN: Tiffany, it appears that you have done a lot at Fred Meyer stores to make people with disabilities feel that they are valued as customers. Can you point to any results from your efforts?

TIFFANY BRANDRETH: I think that Fred Meyer is doing something right because people with disabilities are applying for jobs and getting hired at Fred Meyer. This isn’t our sole indicator but it speaks volumes that we are a company that people with disabilities want to work for.

OBLN: Tiffany, based on your experience at Fred Meyer, what words of advice would you offer to other companies here in Oregon who wish to improve their customer service to people with disabilities?

TIFFANY BRANDRETH: The most prevailing barrier that people with disabilities have is not their physical or invisible disability. It is really the negative assumptions, stereotypes and myths that other people attach to their disability - perspectives which prevent them from being seen as equal contributors to the workforce and to the economy. Companies and individuals should stay informed, become knowledgeable, and challenge any cultural norms within their organizations that are exclusionary.

If your company or organization is going to offer a high quality of customer service to your patrons or clients with disabilities, all of your employees need to have a basic level of comfort and understanding about how to effectively communicate with people with various disabilities. Available in VHS and DVD formats, The Ten Commandments of Communicating with People with Disabilities is an entertaining and engaging tool for developing that basic level of understanding and skill. It is available in the OBLN online store.

The OBLN continues its efforts to have the Accommodation of people with disabilities included in the Oregon Business Plan. On October 6th Eileen Drake and Lucy Baker presented the OBLN’s position paper on Accommodation to the Oregon Business Council. That event sparked an article that appeared in the October 8th issue of the Oregonian - “More than just a virtuous idea”. Included in the article was this statement: “In fact, the biggest accommodation most workers with disabilities require is a flexible work schedule, according to the Oregon Business Leadership Network. The nonprofit group is pushing the state's business and political leaders to find ways to put more people with disabilities to work.”

The US Department of Labor has developed a new framework for emergency preparedness. Entitled “Preparing the Workplace for Everyone: Accounting for the Needs of People with Disabilities”, it is a comprehensive guide that was developed from the best practices from nearly 20 federal agencies. Topics are explored in light of four phases of emergency preparedness plans: development, implementation, practice, and maintenance. It is available in both HTML and PDF format.

Visit our online store for books and videos that can support your efforts to more effectively employ people with disabilities!

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