{"id":59665,"date":"2025-06-12T06:10:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newrcblog.wpengine.com\/us\/en\/blog\/?p=59665"},"modified":"2025-06-24T12:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T19:40:29","slug":"customer-effort-score","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/us\/en\/blog\/customer-effort-score\/","title":{"rendered":"How measuring customer effort score helps identify and address customer frictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Waiting 20 minutes to reach the right agent is a common customer service frustration. You then had to narrate your complaint from the beginning, only to be told to hold on again or call back. It\u2019s frustrating.<\/p>\n

It takes a lot of effort on the customer\u2019s part\u2014effort is hard work. And no business wants customers to feel like they\u2019re doing hard work when interacting with them. Because the moment customers feel that way, they won\u2019t hesitate to jump ship.<\/p>\n

For this reason, smart businesses constantly measure their customer effort score (CES). The CES allows organizations to gauge the level of effort customers put into interacting with them.<\/p>\n

With this knowledge, companies can improve the user experience, leading to repeat business and loyal customers. Keep reading to learn how customer effort scores can help your organization reduce and even eliminate customer friction.<\/p>\n

What is a customer effort score?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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The customer effort score measures the effort a customer puts in when making a purchase, resolving an issue, or having any interaction with a company. It is measured through surveys asking customers to rate the ease of their experience on a scale, typically from 1 to 7 or \u2018Very Easy\u2019 to \u2018Very Difficult.\u2019<\/p>\n

A low effort score indicates an effortless experience, leading to high customer satisfaction and loyalty. As you can imagine, a high CES suggests friction, which is bad for business.<\/p>\n

CES is like a compass that helps a business deliver a seamless customer experience. It reveals the ease with which customers resolve issues and can highlight deeper issues not previously apparent through follow-up questions.<\/p>\n

Why measuring CES matters<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to Salesforce\u2019s State of the Connected Consumer Report, 80%<\/a> of customers value their experience with a company as much as its products and services. And they won\u2019t hesitate to leave if a business can\u2019t offer them an immersive experience. Another study reveals that 73%<\/a> will go to a competitor after a couple of bad experiences.<\/p>\n

For this reason, it’s worth keeping an eye on your customer effort score. Let\u2019s discuss the benefits in more detail below.<\/p>\n

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Image created by writer<\/p>\n

Reduce customer effort<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As an organization, your goal should be to make customers\u2019 lives as easy as possible. Brands that can do this will attract and retain customers. This is the purpose of a customer effort score\u2014it helps you identify where customers are struggling.<\/p>\n

With this information, you can then take steps to simplify your processes. For example, if online checkout requires too many clicks, you can eliminate unnecessary steps.<\/p>\n

Enhance product and service offerings<\/strong><\/h3>\n

CES can provide actionable insights into which aspects of your product or service need improvement. It can reveal whether customers put in too much effort when using your product or any high-effort service interactions.<\/p>\n

Then, this data can guide product development and tweaks in your service offerings, reducing customers\u2019 efforts\u2014a surefire way to meet customer expectations.<\/p>\n

Improve customer loyalty<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bad customer service<\/a> leads to dissatisfied and disloyal customers. A great experience, however, earns a business repeat purchases, loyal customers, and good word of mouth.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s simple: when customers can easily find what they\u2019re looking for, there is no reason to look elsewhere. They keep patronizing the brand and become advocates.<\/p>\n

A customer experience score can give organizations the data they need to boost customer retention.<\/p>\n

Evaluate the quality of customer support<\/strong><\/h3>\n

CES can give you valuable insight into how easy or not customers find it to interact with your customer support team. You can end support calls with a customer feedback survey<\/a> or ask CES questions after customers use self-service options.<\/p>\n

A high CES on this survey can help determine if customers find it easy to reach, understand, and get assistance from your support representatives. These factors are crucial to a positive customer experience.<\/p>\n

Lower costs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you want to reduce operational costs, reduce customers’ effort when interacting with your organization. A low-effort experience means fewer support tickets, calls, and customer service interventions, which saves the company money.<\/p>\n

How to calculate CES<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are two main formulas for calculating customer effort score: open-ended CES survey and scaled CES survey.<\/p>\n

The open-ended CES survey formula<\/b> is used with survey responses that don\u2019t include a numbered response\u2014for instance, rating customer effort on a scale of 1-5<\/p>\n

Examples of open-ended CES survey questions include:<\/p>\n