Measure Customer Effort Score (CES)

What is a Customer Effort Score (CES)?

Customer Effort Score (CES) is metric that measures how easy or difficult was it for customers to accomplish any task in your product or interact with the customer facing teams. It’s based on the idea that customers are more loyal to a product or company when the experience requires less effort.

When should I send a CES survey to customers?

CES surveys should be sent soon after a specific interaction or experience. Ideal times include:

• Shortly after a customer uses a new product feature.
• After the completion of a specific process (e.g., onboarding, purchase, return).
• Following the resolution of a reported issue.
• Immediately after a customer service interaction.

The key is to send the survey when the experience is still fresh in the customer’s mind, typically within 24 hours of the interaction.

What’s a good Customer Effort Score?

What constitutes a “good” CES can vary by industry and specific use case. However, the most important factor is often trend over time rather than absolute score. Consistently improving scores indicate you’re moving in the right direction.

How does CES impact customer churn rates?

CES has been shown to have a significant impact on customer churn rates:

• Lower effort correlates with lower churn: Customers who report low effort experiences are typically less likely to leave.
• Impact on word-of-mouth: Low effort experiences are more likely to result in positive word-of-mouth, indirectly reducing churn.
• Identifying at-risk customers: High effort scores can help identify customers at risk of churning, allowing for proactive retention efforts.
• Continuous improvement: By consistently measuring and improving CES, companies can systematically reduce points of friction that lead to churn.