Forrester asked 5,000 consumers in the Netherlands about their interactions with a variety of companies, gauging the usefulness, usability, and enjoyability of those experiences. Based on these consumer responses, we calculated the Customer Experience Index (CxPi) for 57 firms in five different industries. Led by ANWB winkel, Esprit, and de Bijenkorf, retailers dominated the top of the rankings. But on average, there's a lot of room for improvement: Only six of the firms wound up with "excellent" ratings — and 30 were "poor" or "very poor." That's why firms should put customer experience initiatives near the top of their 2009 strategic plans and chart a course toward Experience-Based Differentiation (EBD).