Customers with Specific Needs. Patricia Tallack. Echelon, 1999. A4 ringbinder (landscape) with supporting video, £490 plus £5.50 carriage. ISBN 1 901600 08 4.
This is a very professionally produced resource pack containing 1) 30 activities in the topic 2) a 16-page trainer’s guide and 3) a supporting video. The trainer’s Guide introduces the pack, its objectives and the benefits of the activities; instruction in the use of both the activities and the video; tips on presenting activities and the use of visuals; a feedback form; ideas for reinforcing the customer service training; and a 1-day training programme using the activities plus a 2_ hour session on disability awareness, again using the activities.
The thirty activities are all four-page units, printed on substantial, glossy card and follow the format of purpose; timing; numbers; materials required; and methods of use, plus activity briefs, handouts and OHP masters, all in a clear, compact and impactive form. The activities are divided into two sections, the first concerned with helping disabled customers and the second with helping other customers with specific needs. Typical activities in the first section (16 activities) include: What is Disability?; Attracting Disabled Customers; Helping Customers with Learning Disabilities; and so on. The second section contains activities (14) that include: Pleasing Parents and Children; Planning an Event; A Tale about a Customer’s Concerns; Dealing with the Aggressive Customer; and so on.
The video is in the form of a series of clips and supports 14 of the activities, the clips having the same titles as the activities to which they relate – advice is given in the activity about when the clip should be shown.
This is an extremely useful and usable resource pack dealing with a subject that usually receives scant attention, but when one considers the number of people around with disabilities, the need for the programme becomes very apparent. Well recommended for use in every organization that needs to receive customers, particularly disabled ones, in the most effective and caring way.
Leslie Rae
July 1999
