Every business knows the importance of good customer service, but what about those customers that don’t or can’t even make it through your front door?
‘Good Access’ is not only good for the community, but it’s also very good for business.
There are almost 4 million Australians living with one or more disabilities. This figure only increases when considering Australians living with a temporary injury or illness or considering the friends, families, and carers of those with a disability. That’s an enormous market that’s ready to be tapped into, just by improving your accessibility.
This Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Week, we’ll be releasing a series of blogs written by Spinal Life’s very own Access Consultant, Dane Cross. Over the next few weeks, Dane will do a deep dive into all the ways accessibility can drive your business bottom line. He’ll share with you the latest facts and figures, plus tips and tricks on how you can start making small changes today that could have big impacts in the long run.
A bit about Dane:
Dane brings over 20 years’ experience in the disability field. His lived experience as a person with spinal cord damage (quadriplegia), combined with his qualifications as an Access Consultant, has given Dane a unique insight into what it means to provide ‘Good Access’.
Dane is passionate about giving businesses the tools and knowledge needed to improve accessibility and drive business.
Dane entered the Access Consulting field after years of encountering access barrier after access barrier, poor customer service, and limited access to goods and services. His feelings of exclusion and, in turn, resentment towards inaccessible businesses, lead to him channelling those experiences and energy into a qualification in Access Consulting. Dane’s qualification then led to him becoming a member of the Association of Consultants in Access Australia and practicing in his own business before coming on-board with Spinal Life Australia to head up our Access and Inclusion Consultancy Service.
Dane shares with us his following insight into why he feels ‘Good Access’ is important to business…
“Good Access is important to business, not only in a social/moral context, but the potential financial benefits are also resounding. We know that approximately 1-in-5 Australians live with disability – that’s 20% of our population. If you’re a business owner and you’re not catering to this significant portion of the population, you’re potentially missing out on a 20% increase in business revenue!
Of course, suddenly increasing your revenue by 20% isn’t that simple and/or guaranteed. This blog series however aims to explain the benefits of ‘Good Access’ and to ‘unpack’ the evidence as we go. We’ll also touch on just how easy it can be to begin making improvements to your business/service.
I’m looking forward to diving a little deeper on each of these topics over the course of Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Week and hopefully provide businesses with enough impetus and incentive to discover just how valuable providing Good Access can be.”
