The Customer Experience Index, 2011

To assess the state of customer experience in 2011, Forrester asked more than 7,700 US consumers about their interactions with a variety of companies. Based on their responses, we calculated Customer Experience Index (CxPi) scores for 153 brands in 13 industries. This year's rankings show that only about one-third of brands earned "excellent" or "good" CxPi scores and the rest ranged from "okay" to "very poor." Retailers and hotels continue to be the two highest-ranking industries, while health insurance plans, TV service providers, and Internet service providers (ISPs) continue to own the cellar. Eight brands proved that big improvement is possible by raising their scores 10 points or more since last year. At the same time, though, four brands saw double-digit drops in CxPi scores since last year. Customer experience professionals looking to boost their brand's CxPi score for next year need to define a clear customer experience strategy, focus on activities and processes that differentiate, build a customer-centric culture, and define metrics that will help them track progress all year long.