CX Isn’t Only The Responsibility Of For-Profit Organisations

By Cyrus M Gonda

Customer Experience (CX) is not just something that marketers in for-profit organisations need to be concerned about and strive to achieve. It is not something to be done as a gimmick, but should be done to genuinely help your customer – whichever field of work you may be engaged in.

A common misconception is that only persons who pay for a specific product or service can be called customers. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Here is a fantastic example that proves beyond any doubt that even public services and emergency services offered by governments can intelligently and thoughtfully craft their service offering to ensure top-of-the-line CX.

Somchai Yoosabai was a fireman in Thailand. Once, a situation demanded that an eight-year-old boy – who had somehow got himself stuck on a third-floor window ledge – had to be saved. 

This was a job for the local fire brigade, and Somchai was one of those on the fire truck that rushed to the rescue. The boy was huddled to the outside wall of the building and refused to come into Somchai’s arms, as he was absolutely terrified of letting go of the wall. If Somchai had tried to pull him free, the boy would have certainly fallen three floors down.

Someone from inside the boy’s house suggested that since the boy was a huge fan of the comic-book hero – Spider-Man – if Somchai could shed his fireman’s uniform and somehow get into a Spider-Man costume, the boy would lose his fear.

A Spider-Man suit was quickly organised from a nearby toy store, and Somchai wore it over his fireman’s uniform. The boy now eagerly came into Somchai’s arms – as he was now thrilled that his superhero had suddenly arrived to save him. 

Who should be praised for this quick action and safe rescue?

Certainly the family member of the boy who thought of the Spider-Man costume idea deserved to be praised. But even more so, it is Somchai who deserves the lion’s share of the praise.

If Somchai had not listened to the family-member — if he had said that it was a foolish idea and that it wouldn’t work — then the rescue could never have been safely made.

The learning here for delivering excellent CX is that brands, and their representatives, need to first listen to their customers — consider them as individuals with their individual likes, dislikes — and customise the experiences they deliver to them as far as possible.

If a fireman offering an emergency service can listen, quickly decide, act, and successfully deliver — there is no reason that for-profit brands cannot do the same in their attempts to deliver superior experiences and win the hearts and share-of-wallets of their customer base.

(The author is a customer experience strategist who can be contacted at cyrusgonda@gmail.com) 

Published on: Monday, November 17, 2025, 01:10 AM IST