What is customer effort score (CES) + how to measure it

Imagine this: You're in a hurry, your phone battery is dying, and you need to quickly resolve an issue with your internet service. You call customer support, only to be met with endless automated menus, long hold times, and multiple transfers before finally reaching a representative. This frustrating experience is exactly what a customer effort score (CES) aims to prevent. 

CES is a key contact center metric that measures how easy it is for customers to do business with you, which can directly impact your bottom line. Studies show that 96% of customers with a low-effort experience intend to repurchase, compared to only 9% of those with a high-effort experience.

This article will delve deeper into what a CES is, why it’s so important for call centers, and actionable strategies and best practices for measuring and improving it.

Customer effort score is a simple yet powerful performance metric that measures how much effort customers have to exert to achieve their goals when interacting with your company. This could include actions like: 

• Contacting customer support
• Navigating your website
• Resolving an issue
• Finding information
• Making a purchase
• Returning a product 
• Paying a bill
• Upgrading a service

CES is a valuable business tool because it directly correlates with customer loyalty. When customers believe that interacting with your company requires a lot of effort, they are more likely to switch to a competitor. Understanding and improving your CES can help you significantly reduce customer churn, increase customer satisfaction, and build stronger long-term relationships.

CES vs. NPS vs. CSAT

CES, Net Promoter Score® (NPS), and customer satisfaction (CSAT) are all valuable customer experience metrics, but they focus on different aspects.

• Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the effort customers put in to achieve their goals when interacting with a company. It focuses on the ease of doing business and identifies areas where customers encounter friction.

• Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures customer loyalty and predicts future business growth. It provides a long-term view of customer loyalty and advocacy.
• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) measures overall customer satisfaction with a specific interaction or experience. It offers a snapshot of customer satisfaction with specific interactions, allowing for quick adjustments and improvements.

By combining these metrics, businesses can gain a comprehensive view of the customer experience and identify areas for improvement across all touchpoints.

Businesses typically use a customer effort score survey to measure CES. These surveys usually include a single core question, such as:

CES surveys are administered immediately following a customer interaction to capture customer feedback while their experience is still top of mind.

CES surveys are simple, but you do have a few different options for structuring them based on the type of customer feedback you want: 

1. Numbered scales

This is the most common type of CES survey question. It uses a numerical scale (usually 1–7 or 1–10) where 1 represents the lowest effort (“Very Easy”) and the highest number represents the highest effort (“Very Difficult”).

Example customer effort score questions:

• On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is Very Easy and 10 is Very Difficult, how much effort did you have to exert to achieve your goal today?
• How easy was it to resolve your issue today? 
• Overall, how easy was it to interact with our company today?
• To what extent did you feel like you had to work to get your problem resolved?
• How would you rate the overall ease of your experience today?

To calculate: Add all your responses together and divide them by the number of respondents to get your average. The higher your average, the better your CES.

For example, let's say you surveyed 5 customers about their recent experience with your company, using a 5-point scale where 1 represents "very difficult" and 5 represents "very easy." Here's how you would calculate your CES:

• Customer 1: 4
• Customer 2: 3
• Customer 3: 5
• Customer 4: 2
• Customer 5: 5

To calculate your CES, you’d add up the sum of all your responses and divide by the number of your respondents. 

CES = (4 + 3 + 5 + 2 + 5) / 5

CES = 19 / 5

CES = 3.8

2. Likert scales

A Likert scale is a type of rating scale that measures opinions or attitudes. It presents a statement or question and offers a range of answer options, usually five or seven, that express varying levels of agreement or disagreement. 

For example, a typical Likert scale might include options like:

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neither agree nor disagree
• Disagree 
• Strongly disagree

This allows respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with the statement in a more nuanced way than simply “yes” or “no.”

Example statements:

• It was easy to get my issue resolved.
• I was satisfied with the resolution to my issue.
• I found the product/service easy to understand and use.

To calculate: Assign a number between 1–5 to each answer and calculate your average. 

3. Emoticon ratings

Emoticon ratings are a fun and engaging way to measure CES. Instead of numbers or words, customers can simply select an emoticon that best represents their experience. For example:

• Smiley face = “Very Easy” 
• Neutral face = “Somewhat Easy” 
• Frowning = “Very Difficult” 

This visual approach can make the survey more appealing and easier for customers to complete, especially on mobile devices.

Example questions:

• How easy was it to contact us today?
• How would you rate your overall experience today?
• How helpful was the customer service representative?
• How satisfied are you with the resolution to your issue?

To calculate: Assign a number to each answer and calculate the average.

Analyzing CES feedback goes beyond simply calculating an average score. It involves diving deeper to understand the “why” behind the scores.

Here’s how to get more out of your CES data:

• Segment your data: Look at CES scores across different channels (phone, chat, email), customer segments (new vs. existing), and specific interaction types (support inquiries, order cancellations, etc.).
• Identify trends: Look for patterns in the data. Are there any specific areas where customers consistently report high or low effort?
• Analyze open-ended feedback: Review customer comments to identify common themes and pain points.
• Prioritize areas for improvement: Based on the analysis, identify the areas where improvements will have the greatest impact on customer satisfaction and effort.

When analyzing CES feedback, it’s important to understand the specific situation. For example, a high effort score for a simple question like “What are your store hours?” might point to a serious problem with your website's search or how you present that information. On the other hand, a high effort score for a complex technical support issue might be more expected. 

By looking at each interaction individually, you can pinpoint the real reasons behind customer frustration and find effective solutions.

Tracking CES provides significant payoffs for both businesses and contact centers. By understanding the level of effort customers spend when interacting with your support team, you can identify areas for improvement and enhance the overall customer experience. 

Key benefits of tracking CES include:

• Reduced customer churn: When customers believe that interacting with your company requires minimal effort, they’re more likely to remain loyal and continue doing business with you.
• Improved customer satisfaction: By identifying and addressing pain points in the customer journey, you can improve customer satisfaction and create a more positive experience.
• Increased operational efficiency: Analyzing CES data can help uncover opportunities to streamline processes, reduce wait times, and improve agent training. 
• Enhanced agent performance: Agents collect valuable feedback from CES that can be used to improve their skills and deliver more efficient and effective customer service.
• Data-driven decision-making: CES provides important data to inform strategic business decisions, like process improvements, technology investments, and resource allocation.

CES surveys may seem simple, but there is a strategy for creating and conducting surveys that’ll help you get the information you need to improve your processes. Here’s a list of best practices to keep in mind when putting together your CES surveys:

1. Focus on the core question: Keep the core CES question concise and easy to understand. Avoid industry jargon or complex wording, and use language your target audience can easily understand. 
2. Consider adding an open-ended question: Include an optional space for customers to provide additional feedback or comments. This can provide valuable qualitative insights.
3. Test and refine: Conduct pilot tests with a small group of customers to identify potential issues or areas for improvement. Refine your survey questions as needed.
4. Time it right: Administer the survey immediately following the customer interaction while the experience is still fresh in their minds.
5. Choose the right channel: Select the most appropriate channel for your target audience to complete the survey (email, in-app, phone, text).
6. Incentivize participation: Consider offering a small incentive like a discount or entry into a contest to encourage participation.

Analyzing customer feedback from your CES surveys will help you pinpoint ways to boost your score — and, in effect, customer satisfaction as a whole. Here are a few ways to make it easier for your customers to get what they need from your business:

• Reduce friction points: Identify and eliminate unnecessary steps in the customer journey.
• Automate tasks: Use automation tools like workflow automation to handle common tasks like responding to chat messages.
• Simplify forms: Make forms shorter, easier to understand, and mobile-friendly.
• Build a comprehensive knowledge base: Create an easily searchable knowledge base with articles, FAQs, and how-to guides.
• Employ intelligent chatbots: Implement AI-powered chatbots that can answer common questions and provide 24/7 support. Nearly 75% of consumers say they’d use a chatbot if it led to a quick resolution.
• Provide comprehensive agent training: Equip agents with the knowledge and skills to resolve customer issues quickly and efficiently.
• Empower agents with decision-making authority: Allow agents to make decisions and resolve issues without needing multiple approvals.
• Make sure agents have access to relevant information: Give agents access to customer data, knowledge base articles, and other relevant information.
• Implement a CRM system: Use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to track customer interactions and gain a holistic view of customer relationships.
• Tailor communication: Personalize communication to individual customer needs and preferences.
• Utilize call recording and analytics: Analyze call recordings to identify areas for improvement in agent performance and customer interactions.
• Integrate with other systems: Integrate your contact center software with other business systems to improve data flow and efficiency.

Improving your customer effort score isn’t just about making things easier for customers; it’s about building stronger, more profitable customer relationships. 

Zoom Contact Center streamlines the customer experience across all channels with features like Zoom Virtual Agent, intelligent chatbots, and omnichannel support. 

Request a demo to discover how Zoom can help you improve your CES and deliver exceptional customer service.

What is a good customer effort score?

A good customer effort score generally falls within the 5–7 range on a 7-point scale, indicating that customers found their interaction with the company relatively easy. However, the ideal CES score can vary depending on the industry, business goals, and customer expectations.

It’s important to track your CES scores over time, identify trends, and compare your performance to industry benchmarks to understand what constitutes a “good” score for your specific business.

When should you send a CES survey?

Send CES surveys right after a customer interaction, like a phone call or live chat. This way, the customer’s experience is still fresh in their mind, leading to more accurate feedback.

Timing is key for getting the best feedback. Delaying the survey can make it harder for customers to remember the details of their experience.

What is “high effort”?

“High effort” in the context of customer effort score means customers had to work hard to get what they wanted. This could be because they had to wait a long time, deal with confusing menus, or have trouble finding the information they needed.

How often should I conduct CES surveys?

How often you conduct CES surveys depends on several factors, including industry, interaction volume, and business goals. As a general rule, it’s recommended to conduct CES surveys regularly, such as monthly or quarterly, to track trends and identify areas for improvement.

How do I integrate CES data with other customer data?

Integrate CES data with other customer data sources, such as CRM data, NPS scores, and customer demographics, to better understand customer behavior and identify key drivers of customer effort. For example:

• Combine CES data with CRM data: Analyze CES scores alongside customer demographics (age, location), purchase history, and interaction history to identify specific customer segments that experience higher levels of effort. This can help you tailor your efforts to address the unique needs of different customer groups.
• Correlate CES with NPS: Analyze CES scores alongside Net Promoter Scores (NPS) to understand the relationship between customer effort and customer loyalty. This can help you determine whether reducing customer effort directly translates to increased customer advocacy.
• Analyze CES across channels: Compare CES scores across different channels (phone, chat, email, social media) to identify which channels are most effective and efficient for resolving customer issues.
• Track CES over time: Monitor CES scores over time to track progress and identify any emerging trends. This can help you assess the effectiveness of your efforts to improve customer effort and make data-driven adjustments to your strategies.

How can I make sure my CES surveys are accessible to all customers?

To make your CES surveys inclusive, offer them in multiple languages and make sure they are accessible to people with disabilities by designing them to be compatible with screen readers and other assistive technologies. Consider offering alternative survey methods, like phone surveys or in-person interviews, for customers who can’t complete online surveys.

* Net Promoter®, NPS®, NPS Prism®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter ScoreSM and Net Promoter SystemSM are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.