Top tips for business
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- Consider the safety of older people in your business environment. Make sure aisles and walkways aren't cluttered and that there is enough room for wheelchairs or mobility scooters.
- Provide easily accessible toilets including a disability access toilet.
- Keep products where they can be reached or ensure there's an easy way to ask for them.
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- Train staff to provide respectful and patient human contact in person and on the phone. Don't be condescending or patronising.
- Speak clearly and check that you've been understood. Train staff to recognise signs of hearing loss and/or dementia.
- Many older people complain about being invisible or ignored. Train staff to understand the value of older people and the benefit of taking an age-friendly approach to customer service.
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- Minimise the use of jargon in your communication, especially when it comes to new technology, because some people may not be familiar with the language used.
- Think about your typeface and fonts. Try to use 12pt or above and avoid Serif fonts like Times New Roman.
- Consider how your signage helps people to navigate your business, ensuring it is clear and easy to read.
- Use easy-to-understand language and simple design across all your marketing. Steer away from pastel colours when targeting older people. Use colours that are bright, bold and easy to see.
- Depict positive images of older people in your marketing material. Many businesses neglect to include images of older people and miss the opportunity to market to them as a result.
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- Look at your environment and consider how noise and lighting might affect the experience of older customers. As people age, many will experience a reduction in hearing and/or changes in vision.
- Avoid loud music and consider having music-free or reduced music hours during times when older customers are most likely to shop.
- Play a mix of music from different periods and styles.
- Think about having quiet areas in your business. For example, quiet tables or a private conference area.
- Have adequate lighting throughout the business but especially entrances, exits and hallways.
- Lights can be used under shelves to read labels or on tables to read menus. Lighting from directly above is best since it cuts down on shadows.
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- Provide access to seating and places to rest.
- Consider online or in-store ordering and delivery to make it more convenient for older customers.
- Include spaces for serving people in mobility scooters or wheelchairs or people with disability who may need to sit.
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- Pharmacies provide magnifying glasses at checkouts for people to be able to read the script on their prescriptions.
- Banks are setting up cashiers and ATMs that can be used by someone in a wheelchair.
- Energy companies are designing easy-to-read accounts in large, clear fonts.
- Grocery stores have staff on hand to reach items on high or low shelves.
- Hairdressers, restaurants and tourist attractions offer seniors discounts.
Resources available
Printable versions of this resource and many others are available for download in the Queensland: an age-friendly community toolkit.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence