Working with neurodivergent customers

Please consider that those people who are neurodivergent may well have difficulties in engaging in the same way that neurotypical people can. Also, their characteristics may not be obvious and can be easy to overlook.

It is safe to assume that any firm will have that percentage of neurodivergent customers. Some people are neurodivergent without being aware of it – diagnosis in adulthood is not uncommon.

It is in the interest of all firms to understand their customers. Some sectors, such as financial services, have specific regulations to which they should adhere.

An assessment of the customer’s characteristics can help to identify any characteristics of which you should be aware.

Once identified, please consider how you may help.

At a personal level, it can help to find out how the customer prefers to communicate and adapt processes to suit. This will make the customer more comfortable and confident – and far more able to make decisions.

Be patient, ask the customer what works best for them. Accept and respect behaviours such as stimming (repetitive movements or vocalisations).

Face-to-face meetings:

• Try to meet in a calm and quiet place with few or no distractions.

• For meetings in places new to the customer, it can help to send a picture beforehand.

• If the meeting place has changed, let the customer know how.

• Give the person time to settle into the room.

Meetings, calls and video calls:

• Don’t try to cover too much ground in a single meeting or call, this can be overwhelming.

• Provide information about the meeting or call in advance.

• Let the customer know, in advance, how long the meeting will be and how it will be followed up.

• Stick to the agenda and schedule and try to not introduce new topics.

• Try not to interrupt the customer.

• Give the customer time to process the information and check for understanding.

• Avoid sarcasm and idioms which many neurodivergent people can translate literally.

Processing information:

• Give customers plenty of time to process information.

• When providing written information, use bullet points where possible to break down information into self-contained statements.

• Use simple, clear, jargon-free language.

• Don’t extend concepts over multiple sentences and paragraphs – deliver a single concept per sentence or bullet point.

• Be direct, clear and to the point. It can be hard for neurodivergent people to separate chit-chat and waffle from the information provided.

At an organisational level, it can help to understand how inclusive your communications are and whether they can reach more people if they were more accessible by design. It can also help to develop processes and tools to support those who are neurodivergent.