CES
Customer Effort Score (CES) is a customer experience metric that measures how much effort your customers have to put in to getting their issues solved.
CES focuses on creating an effortless experience for customers. The underlying thought is that service organisations create loyal customers and reduce customer churn by reducing customer effort.
As with CSAT, CES is often measured on a 5 point scale, ranging from very difficult to very easy. Or using a 7 point scale which can provide additional granularity
The results can also be calculated in different ways. Sometimes a ‘top 2’ calculation is used, expressing the percentage of people who answer 4 or 5 out of 5, or a mean score calculated from all of the responses received.
Benefits + Considerations.
It’s a straightforward and easily understood question and measure.
CES is more specific than overall customer satisfaction or NPS and hence more actionable within its realm i.e. the customer experience itself. It is best used after a specific interaction or transaction.
It is a strong predictor of future purchase behaviour with regard to customer loyalty.
As with other customer experience metrics, it cannot stand alone.
It is best suited to assessing transactions and can be less applicable to a brand-related question. As a result, it does not provide information regarding the customer’s overall relationship with your brand – for instance the customer may have had a one-off negative experience.
CES does not examine how other factors, such as your price, product and competitor offerings, may be influencing your customers’ loyalty to your brand.