Managing the customer experience seemed to be a major priority for many attendees here at the Gartner CRM Summit, where it was the central theme of the opening keynote.

While much of the focus on CRM has shifted to better managing the customer experience, it comes with a significant challenge, according to Ed Thompson, vice president and distinguished analyst with the Stamford, Conn.-based analyst firm.

"How do you measure it? This is the biggest question we get," Thompson said.

The answer, unfortunately, is not so simple. And it's not for lack of interest.

Thompson offered seven recommendations from Gartner for improving the customer experience…

Listen, think, do: Many organizations survey more than they ever did before. "Everyone is surveying customers to death, sticking it in an inaccessible database and not sharing it with anyone and annoying the heck out of customers," Thompson said. Forward-thinking organizations make sure they act on the feedback. Only 5% of companies tell customers what they have done as a result of that feedback, according to Gartner research.

Design process from the outside in: Find the two or three processes that customers care most about and design them from the point of view of the customer.

Use multiple channels: "This is where IT tends to lead the charge," Thompson said. This is the slowest, hardest work of any of these projects, he said, and the problem is often politics: Who owns the customer and the data associated with it becomes a hurdle.

Be open and exclusive: The combination is possible, according to Thompson. Organizations need to be transparent to their customers while showing them their respect and organizing communities that encourage participation.

Personalize products, services and offers: "As you get to one-to-one [relationships], things tend to get extraordinarily complex," he said. The Nike Plus, which transmits information on a runner's time and distance to his iPod, is a product that is simple for the user (just plug it into your iPod) but creates an enormous amount of personalized information.

Alter attitudes: Most executives cite employee attitudes around the customer experience as their biggest challenge, but this is an area where HR can help, Thompson said.

Plan and design the customer experience from scratch: Disney designed the parking lots of its parks with a focus on the customers and getting them out as fast as possible, thereby ensuring the memories that lasted were of the rides and the day, rather than looking for their cars with tired children, Thompson noted. Disney assigns cars to the lot by the time they arrived and provides key-cutting and towing services.

"It's OK to have different measurements; just get everyone who cares about it together to look at it," he said.