Customer Service and Chronic-illness

I'll be the first to say it. Sometimes my customer service sucks. Ok, most of the time my customer service sucks. I don't feel like getting out of bed let alone replying back to 500 emails, 50 Instagram comments, and 25 Facebook messages. I'm less than a year old so I barely have money to stay open let alone hire help. Sometimes I literally have no clue what to do, I know people deserve to get their order on time and with the least amount of hassle as possible. But Murphy's law has got nothing on chronic-illness. It's such a crappy situation to continually find myself in. I know the problem, I know how to fix the problem, but I can't change the problem. I'm sick. I have a chronic-illness. It means I'll have good days, bad days, and days in between. I know that, most of my customers are Patient Warriors themselves so they know that, but it does not change the fact that people still expect and demand a healthy person's level of customer service.

I don't want an excuse to slack off, I don't want an excuse to deliver a crappy service, but I really don't know what else to do. I am open and honest with my customers, I even do videos of my iv infusions, but people still loose their shit on me regularly. I open at least one "F-bomb" email's a day. Sometimes I question if because I am so personable with my customer base that they feel comfortable going off on me or people are just so used to automated services and robots they don't realize another human being is on the receiving end of that email. A human being that just like them feels tired, gets bad news, and endures pain. But the same grace that chronic-illness patients want extended to them from the healthier outside world is harder for them to Exeter to their fellow Patient Warriors because of their own need to just have something good go right for once. Well atleast I think so.  I know that sounds a little in poor taste to say, but it has been my experience. I don't think customers intend to be rude or hurtful sometimes, I think their own personal frustrations explode into the email because it's a form of an outlet. 

I know that whether sick or not customers expect quality service and a quality product from a business. They deserve atleast that much anyways. But sometimes I just want them to give me a break, to try to understand that I deal with many of the same things they do while also trying to make their days a little brighter in the process. I want every customer to get a prompt reply, I want every Spoonie Essentials Box to be delivered on time, I want a regularly issued newsletter. I want to not forget stuff because of brain fog. I want to not spend nights with my arms wrapped around a toilet bowl frame and days laying in bed just trying to keep down water. But the truth is, I don't have the financial capacity to get the much needed help I require to deliver those things and I'm clearly failing at doing it alone.

I have to do everything myself. I am certainly not complaining, but it's hard. Having a constantly growing to do list, and the negative emails have a tendency to remind me of my new limitations though. They serve as a little daily nudge of who I no longer am. No matter how hard, how hurtful, or how much I want to give up somedays from all the stress. I want my business to be a success but not because I need money, I mean look I have 3 autoimmune diseases I will always need money. I want my business to be successful because it is an extension of me, it is a symbol to myself and the world that getting sick didn't break me. It changed the journey but not the outcome, my life can and will still be fulfilling despite fighting debilitating illnesses.

My mid-twenties were supposed to be the prime of my life, my golden years. To my surprise they've been riddled with hospital stays and varying chemotherapy drugs. Continuing to operate a successful small business isn't just about creating a means of financial security because lets face it even as a graduate level educated person, a chronic-illness can be a hinderance to keeping the lights on, prescriptions filled, and food on the table. I don't just need my business to survive so I can survive, I need my business to thrive so my hope can survive.

I suck at customer service and will probably always suck at it. Having a chronic-illness is chronic. But one day I will eventually have the capital to afford a staff. I will in time. But for now, I just need a little understanding until I get there. To all my other Chronically-ill Entrepreneurs out there, don't be discouraged by bad reviews, cancelled orders, or hate mail. It will get better and in time people will understand you're fighting some of the same battles they are. Until next time!

Xo Britt