Customer Effort Score (CES)

Overview

Customer Effort Score (CES) measures how much effort a customer had to expend to resolve an issue, complete a purchase, or accomplish a goal. Lower effort correlates with higher loyalty.

CES asks customers to rate the ease of their experience, typically on a scale of 1-7 where 1 is "Very Difficult" and 7 is "Very Easy". The focus is on reducing friction in the customer journey.

When to Use This Survey

• After customer support cases are resolved
• Following self-service interactions (help docs, chatbots)
• After account setup or onboarding
• Post-purchase or checkout completion

Key Benefits

• Identifies friction points in the customer journey
• Strong predictor of customer loyalty and retention
• Helps prioritize process improvements
• Focuses on actionable operational metrics

Best Practices

• Ask CES immediately after the interaction while it's fresh
• Focus on specific processes or touchpoints
• Use the data to streamline complex workflows
• Combine with qualitative feedback to understand "why"