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Turn
Your Disability Into a Non-Issue
by Dr. Lynne
Curry
Question:
Ten years ago, I had tons of confidence. I worked in the logging
industry and was one of the few women the guys respected to carry
her own weight. Then, a joker with an attitude tossed a log at me
to "see how strong I was." Unfortunately, it knocked me
down and slammed my head against a piece of equipment. I suffered
severe cranial and nerve damage, lost most of my hearing and have
scars down one side of my head. I wear a wig, an unusually large
hearing aid and have learned to avoid looking at my scars when I
look in the mirror. I also miss about twenty percent of what’s
said by normal speakers and almost everything if the speaker talks
too quickly or softly.
The legal
settlement paid my medical expenses and for my vocational
rehabilitation. Because I’d always loved materials, I chose
interior design as a field not realizing until recently how much
my success would depend on interacting with people. My problem –
how do I not scare away prospective clients? How do I reassure
clients I can do their work better than anyone else when I miss
part of what they say? What do I say to the jerks decide to give
me assignments because they pity me?
Should I be
upfront about my hearing disability and what happened or should I
wait until the customer asks? How do I handle someone who is
uncomfortable about my looks? If a potential client with a soft
voice sees my yellow pages ad and calls and I can barely hear her,
how do I ask her to speak louder without creating so much
embarrassment I lose the sale?
I made it through
recovery by dreaming of being on my own with my own small business
but I was only thinking about doing the design work itself. Now
that I’m ready to graduate, it’s hit me in the face that I
have to deal with customers to get projects. Would the smart thing
to do be to change my career direction to one not so focused on
customer contact or do you think I can succeed?
Answer:
You can succeed because you’ve got guts, brains and talent.
Interior design customers, like customers that buy from any
"service" business, buy products and services they want
from people they like and trust. You seem the kind of person
customers can relate to --You’re real and you’ve got guts.
If you want to
win customers, you need to do two things. First, you need to let
who you are as a person show. If you let yourself be in front of
customers the person you are – the woman smart enough to ask a
thousand questions and strong enough to endure the physical and
emotional pain it took to recover from an attack and learn a new
trade, they’ll want to buy from you.
Second, you need
to listen to customers, hear what their needs are and show them
how you can meet those needs. Don’t let anything get in the way
of your paying attention to your customers’ needs – not your
fears and not your customers’ initial discomfort.
If you see
customers looking at your face and ears, use honesty to get things
on track. Just say, "By the way, most people find my scars
and hearing aid a little surprising. Luckily, I don't design with
my ears or face. Instead, I design with my mind, my eyes, my gut
and my soul. I normally catch what my customers say; however, if I
ever miss anything, please say so. I'd like to give you the most
wonderful design service I can." If you can relax in front of
your customers, you’ll find them quickly looking past your scars
and focusing on getting their needs met.
If you miss
something a soft-voiced customer says over the phone, just say,
"I really want to give you design services right for you.
Although I heard most of what you said, I might have missed one
part. Could you say it again just a bit louder?"
Alternatively, you might invite those who call you based on your
yellow pages ad in for a free no-cost consultation.
With the folks
tempted to give you assignments based on pity, chose the route you
want to take. You can turn down those assignments or you can
consider sympathy the starting and not the ending point, take
their assignments and do such an awesome job you knock them on
their bottoms.
In short, turn
your disability into a non-issue. It’s part of what you are, not
all you are.
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