Customer Experience is the new net worth

Imagine you’ve booked a cab for an important meeting across the city. You’ve planned everything perfectly—enough time for the cab to arrive, the journey to begin smoothly, and to reach your destination on time.

Halfway through the ride, the driver asks for cash, even though you’ve selected an online wallet payment. You choose not to react immediately and wait until you arrive. But instead of dropping you at your destination, the driver lets you off at least 200 meters away.

You step out of the cab frustrated and unsettled. Before the meeting even begins, you feel disempowered. The extra walk feels longer than it is, and your mood is already affected. This experience is familiar to many of us.

You call customer support to report the issue, only to hear: “Thank you for calling. We’ll share your feedback.”

Does that change anything?

You’ve still paid for a poor experience. You still feel let down.

The cab company may say they have chatbots, feedback systems, and advanced technology—but none of that fixes how the experience made you feel. These are moments of truth, and they stay with customers long after the ride ends.

This is what I call a lack of Customer Readiness—when organizations have all the tools, yet fail to meet even basic customer expectations, let alone deliver delight. Unfortunately, even the best technology can fall short when customer experience isn’t truly understood.

Hi, I’m Shayanti. With 20 years of overall experience including 12 years dedicated to Customer Experience—working across customer-intensive industries like Telecom—I’ve learned one key truth:

Creating a positive customer experience is your next net worth.

It’s not just about revenue. Customers stay with you because they like you—and because they value how your employees treat them. But employees can only be truly customer-ready when they understand the importance of creating meaningful, valuable experiences for every customer, every time.