Neurodiversity awareness, acceptance and understanding are not just about what happens within an organisation to enhance capability, but also about customer and client relationships.

On a regular basis I come up against difficulties as a neurodivergent customer or client. 

Recently this has been amplified by my journey with two different broadband providers.

I don’t want to bad-mouth anyone so I’m going to call the challenging company “BOB”.

Conversely I am thrilled to celebrate BT and their inspiring, yet simple, response to neurodivergent differences.

I have been BOB’s customer for many years. It has been the only viable broadband provider for my household - I have two teenage sons which means that online gaming, streaming etc requires reliable and fast internet speeds.

Until recently no other company could match BOB’s provision.

BOB’s customer service, however, is shocking.

I landed in my most recent contract because I went into autistic meltdown during the sales call. I tried hard to tell the representative that I had to get off the phone, that I was going into autistic meltdown and that I couldn’t take in any information or make decisions.

BOB’s employee said I only had to answer a couple more questions to secure the cheaper rate and get me on a better deal.  In my dysregulated state I just said Yes to the questions because I had to get off the call.

Several months later I realised that, during that call, I had unknowingly entered into a new contract.

I tried to seek help through BOB’s customer service but all the employees, once I finally managed to speak to an actual human, said they couldn’t help. I would have needed to cancel during the 14-day cooling-off period. The same 14-day cooling-off period that was rendered meaningless in the aftermath of an autistic meltdown - sometimes it takes me weeks to recover back to a ‘normal’ level of functioning.

I said I wanted to make a complaint and asked to speak to a manager. Oh no! No such thing is possible with BOB. You have to go through a complaints procedure - that would be the only way I could access a copy of the call transcript, the recording and address the issue.

I tried to access the complaints procedure but it was complicated, unclear and not something that I had capacity for without significant support from someone else.

Eventually, after 15 months, I received a letter letting me know that BOB is putting up its prices and one of my options is to cancel. 

Hooray! You would not believe the tangible physical relief I felt in my body when I read that.

Was cancelling easy?

Absolutely not. I had to get past automated systems, gatekeepers, and more gatekeepers until I finally lost my composure and my whole tale spilt out on Joanne. I did keep reassuring her I knew that none of this was her fault personally but still my tale went on with exasperation, frustration and tears.

And then Joanne said, “I’ve cancelled everything for you.”

After a moment of silent disbelief while I processed what she had said I asked, “Can you repeat that again?” Joanne shared that she has an autistic son and she understands the challenges and so she had bypassed the normal processes and cancelled everything.

It took me sharing my whole experience (again) with someone who had an autistic son in order to find any sort of ease in my experience.

If everyone who works for BOB understood neurodivergent differences and challenges then none of the above would have happened. I might even have been treated with compassion, understanding and respect on that fateful phone call when I tipped into autistic meltdown.

Now let me tell you about BT.

I rang BT and got through to a real human being within barely any time at all. After sharing I wanted to sign up to their broadband they took me through a straightforward and simple process to get everything set up.

They took their time in the call and checked I understood what we were discussing.

Then they asked me if there was anything I wanted to share with them that would help them give me the best possible customer service moving forwards. And I decided to share that I am autistic and have ADHD.

This is where BT are winning big time!

BT’s person explained that all employees are trained to understand the different needs of all customers and how to recognise if there might be a need to adapt communication. This might be slowing down the call to allow processing time, or explaining things using different words. 

When my details come up on screen the next time I call, the first thing the employee will see is that I am autistic and have ADHD and that sometimes I might struggle in phone conversations.

As someone who prefers not to talk to people I don’t know on the phone (and even with people I know really well I prefer a Whatsapp voice message conversation) I actually feel slightly excited about the times I may need to call BT or they may need to call me.

It doesn’t take much to transform your customer or client experience. Taking the time to have the right training in place and to invest in an organisational culture that understands and embraces different needs will only enhance every aspect of your business.

No matter what size your business is, even if you’re a sole trader, you can take simple and effective steps to create customer service that is responsive to your customer’s needs rather than reactive to their challenges.

If you'd like to find out more about how Neurodiversity training can support you and your teams, let's talk.