I used to work in the business of measuring customer satisfaction, mostly for auto dealerships. It quickly became a superficial game for everyone involved, but we tried to keep it real, mostly by listening carefully. Since then, 'customer experience' has become a Wikipedia entry. Every year I now attend the Good Experience Live (GEL) Conference. 

Experience is an abstract concept like quality. However, it's a powerful concept for marketers if we think about the customer experience as a journey the customer makes with us. Are we being a valuable companion? 

Photo by Louis Vest, from Flickr: "Daylight, Outbound" A pilot's holiday. Taken on the Houston Ship Channel.