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By ChartExpo Content Team
How hard do your customers work to solve their problems or get what they need? That’s the question at the heart of the Customer Effort Score. It’s not about satisfaction or loyalty—it’s about simplicity.
When customers have to jump through hoops, frustration grows, and loyalty shrinks. But when you make their experience effortless, you build trust and long-term relationships.
The Customer Effort Score measures how easy it is for customers to interact with your business.
Whether it’s resolving an issue, finding information, or completing a purchase, the effort they feel tells you everything about what’s working—and what isn’t. Lower effort means happier customers, and that translates into retention, referrals, and revenue.
This score isn’t just a number; it’s a roadmap for improvement. By tracking the Customer Effort Score, you can identify bottlenecks, simplify processes, and create smoother interactions.
It’s not about being perfect—it’s about being easier to work with. And that’s what keeps customers coming back.
First…
Definition: The Customer Effort Score measures the ease of customer interaction and resolution effectiveness within a company’s service, support, or product experience. It asks customers to rate the ease of their experience on a given scale, typically from ‘Very Easy’ to ‘Very Difficult’.
This score helps businesses identify points of friction and improve their customer interactions.
When writing CES questions, clarity is key. Questions should be direct and focus solely on the customer’s effort.
For instance, instead of asking “How did you feel about the service?” use “How easy was it to resolve your issue today?” This direct approach avoids confusion and ensures that customer feedback remains relevant and aligned with the customer’s effort, providing clear and actionable insights.
Choosing between open-ended and closed-ended questions depends on the type of data you need.
Closed-ended questions, where respondents select from given options, are quantifiable and easier to analyze. They’re great for gathering specific data points.
Open-ended questions, on the other hand, provide deeper insight into customer thoughts and feelings, offering qualitative data that might reveal issues not previously considered.
The scale you choose for your CES can impact the nuances in the data captured.
A 1-5 point performance rating scale, being narrower, tends to be easier for customers as it requires less nuance in their response.
A 1-7 scale can provide more detailed data but may require more thought from respondents, potentially affecting completion rates.
Your choice in scale should match the level of detail you need from the feedback to make data-driven decisions.
When’s the best time to ask customers how they felt about their service experience? Right after it happens! Immediate feedback is gold in understanding the nitty-gritty of customer satisfaction.
For instance, send a quick survey right after a support call or once an issue has been resolved. Why? Because the customer experience is fresh, and customers can give you vivid details on what went right or wrong. During product delivery, another golden opportunity pops up.
It’s a time when emotions are high, and capturing those first impressions can give you insights to tweak your services or products.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Use various methods to reach out. Emails are great; they’re direct and can be personalized. But why stop there? In-app messages catch customers while they’re still engaged with your service, boosting the chances they’ll respond.
Then there’s SMS – quick, to the point, and hard to ignore. And don’t forget post-interaction touchpoints. A follow-up call or a feedback form at the end of a chat session can work wonders.
The idea is to make it easy and convenient for customers to share their thoughts across the platforms they use daily.
Got low response rates? You’re not alone. But here’s how you can turn that around.
First, keep it short. A long survey might make customers run for the hills. Aim for minimal effort on their part.
Next, be clear about how you’ll use their feedback. Transparency builds trust. Offer a small incentive. It could be a discount code or entry into a giveaway. Little perks can encourage participation.
Lastly, check your timing. Avoid busy hours or holidays. Choose a calm moment when your customer might be more willing to engage.
A scatter plot is a perfect tool for comparing your CES data with other key metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT).
By plotting CES on one axis and NPS or CSAT on the other, you can visually assess the relationship between customer effort and their loyalty or satisfaction. This kind of data analysis allows businesses to pinpoint whether higher effort levels are correlating with lower satisfaction or loyalty scores. It guides strategic decisions to enhance customer experiences.
Using a clustered stacked bar chart to break down CES by different demographic categories (like age, location, or product usage) provides a clear visual segmentation of data.
This chart stacks data vertically while clustering similar categories next to each other, making it straightforward to compare the CES scores across different demographics. Insights gathered from these customer service metrics can drive more personalized customer service strategies, ensuring that each demographic’s needs are addressed effectively.
A radar chart is an excellent choice for comparing CES scores across multiple customer touchpoints, such as website navigation, call center interactions, and after-sales support. Each axis represents a touchpoint, and the plotted values can show how much effort customers are experiencing at each point.
This visualization helps businesses identify which touchpoints in the customer journey map are causing the most difficulty for customers and require immediate attention to optimize the overall experience.
The following video will help you to create a Likert Scale Chart in Microsoft Excel.
The following video will help you to create a Likert Scale Chart in Google Sheets.
The following video will help you to create a Likert Scale Chart in Microsoft Power BI.
Watching how CES scores change over time can give you a clear view of what’s working and what’s not. You might notice that scores improve after you introduce a new customer service protocol or dip during certain times of the year.
These patterns are gold mines! They tell you exactly when and where to focus your efforts. Think of it as a roadmap pointing you towards happy customers and away from potential pitfalls.
Splitting your CES data by different customer groups can reveal a lot. Maybe younger users find your system easier than older users, or perhaps repeat customers report lower effort than first-timers. This info helps you tailor your services to fit the needs of each group.
It’s like knowing exactly who needs extra help on a steep hike and who’s ready to sprint ahead.
Outliers can skew your data, making it tough to get a true read on customer effort. Say you’ve got a score of 1 in a sea of 7s—something’s up, right? You’ll need to dig into these odd scores to see if they’re mistakes or if they point to bigger issues.
This step focuses on applying data cleansing techniques to keep your data clean, ensuring that your decisions are grounded in reality rather than distorted by noise.
First things first, pinpoint where your customers are struggling. High effort areas are your red flags. Tackle these head-on by simplifying processes. Think about online checkouts that take too many clicks or customer service interactions that go in circles.
Streamlining these can drastically reduce customer frustration and boost satisfaction. It sounds simple, right? And it truly is! Simplifying a process can sometimes just mean removing one or two unnecessary steps.
Now, let’s talk about your products or services. CES can shine a light on what’s working and what’s not. If customers are putting in too much effort to use your product, it’s time for a tweak or even a major overhaul. Use this data to guide your product development team on what features to improve, or what new offerings could reduce effort.
Remember, the goal is to make your customers’ lives easier, not harder!
Finally, aligning CES with your strategic goals is like hitting the bullseye in darts—it’s what brings home the win. High customer effort often leads to low customer loyalty. No one likes to wrestle with a service or product.
By focusing on reducing customer effort, you’re directly boosting customer retention and, in turn, your revenue. It’s a ripple effect: lower effort means happier customers, and happier customers mean more repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
And in today’s world, a good word from a trusted friend goes a long way!
Now, imagine you’re trying to figure out how much effort your customers are putting in to interact with your service. That’s where Customer Effort Score (CES) comes into play. It asks, “How easy was it to handle your request?” Simple, right?
On the flip side, Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) measures just how satisfied customers are with a service or product. While CES focuses on the ease of the experience, CSAT gauges the happiness level.
Putting them together, you get a dynamic duo. While CES can pinpoint problem areas in your processes, CSAT can highlight the wins or areas needing a touch more sparkle. They complement each other by covering both the effort and emotion of the customer experience.
Now, let’s toss another player into the mix: the Net Promoter Score (NPS). This guy is all about loyalty, asking customers the likelihood of recommending your service to others. NPS is a forward-looking metric, unlike CES and CSAT, which reflect on recent interactions.
By marrying CES with NPS, you get a powerhouse combo that not only looks at how effortless the experience was but also predicts future loyalty. It’s like having a crystal ball that tells you not only how customers feel now but how they might act in the future.
This can be critical for creating long-term relationships and predicting growth through customer behavior.
First Contact Resolution (FCR) is another key player. It measures if a customer’s issue was resolved the first time they reached out, with no follow-ups needed. Now, if FCR is high, you’d expect CES to be pretty good too, right? Because if customers get their problems solved quickly, they’re putting in less effort.
Linking CES with FCR shows you the direct impact of solving issues right off the bat on customer effort. High FCR usually leads to a good CES, which in turn could lead to higher satisfaction and loyalty.
It’s all connected, like pieces of a puzzle that, when put together, show a clear picture of where to reduce friction and enhance the customer journey.
In the healthcare sector, easing patients’ journeys is vital. Leveraging healthcare analytics, the Customer Effort Score (CES) highlights how easy it is for patients to navigate care pathways, providing actionable insights for improvement.
For instance, consider appointment scheduling. A good CES indicates smooth processes, prompting facilities to maintain these practices.
However, a low score signals a need for immediate improvement, such as simplifying forms or reducing wait times. By focusing on areas with poor scores, healthcare providers can significantly boost patient satisfaction and adherence to treatment plans.
For e-commerce, CES helps identify stumbling blocks in the shopping experience.
High effort during checkout, for example, can deter purchases. Online retailers analyze CES data to pinpoint these hurdles. Solutions might include streamlining the checkout process, enhancing website navigation, or providing clearer product information.
Addressing these issues leads to smoother transactions, fostering repeat business and strengthening customer loyalty. Implementing a customer loyalty rewards program can further enhance satisfaction and retention.
In financial services, CES is a tool for refining client interactions. Areas such as loan applications or account setup processes are often complex and can be overwhelming.
By evaluating CES, banks and financial institutions can identify and simplify these complex procedures. Simplifying documentation requirements or enhancing online interfaces can make a significant difference.
Improved ease of interaction not only increases customer satisfaction but also builds trust and long-term client relationships.
Google Forms is a go-to for crafting quick surveys including those for measuring Customer Effort Score (CES). Its straightforward interface lets you set up a survey in no time. You simply add questions that gauge how much effort customers exerted to interact with your services.
Once your survey is ready, sharing it is as easy as sending a link, and responses are collected automatically. The results are neatly organized in real-time, allowing you to assess and react to customer feedback swiftly.
Microsoft Forms provides a seamless way to collect CES data, especially if you’re already using Office 365. It integrates with other Microsoft apps, making it a snap to incorporate survey data into tools like Excel or Dynamics 365.
This integration is especially useful for businesses that rely on Microsoft ecosystems. With Microsoft Forms, you can create surveys that are both mobile-friendly and visually appealing, encouraging higher response rates and more accurate data.
Likert scale charts are fantastic for capturing subtle nuances in customer feedback. They typically range from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree,” providing a spectrum that captures the intensity of customer feelings.
This data visualization technique helps stakeholders quickly grasp the overall sentiment and areas of customer agreement or disagreement. It’s vital that each step on the scale is uniformly represented in the chart to maintain accuracy in interpreting the data.
Heatmaps are an excellent tool for pinpointing high-effort areas in customer journeys. They use color intensities to show where customers experience frustration or delays. Brighter or warmer colors indicate higher effort or problem areas, which are crucial for quick identification and rectification.
When setting up a heatmap, ensure that the data is up-to-date and reflects the most current customer interactions. This dynamic tool can guide continuous improvement efforts by showing before and after snapshots of customer effort once changes are implemented.
Got a survey that’s as long as a marathon? No wonder customers might hit the snooze button. Short, sweet surveys keep things lively. Focus on key questions that really matter. Ask yourself, “Will this question tell me how easy we make it for customers?” If it’s a “no,” scrap it.
The goal? Make your survey a quick pit-stop, not a roadblock.
Ever felt like a question was nudging you to answer a certain way? That’s selection bias sneaking in, and it can skew your Customer Effort Score. Stick to neutral language. Avoid leading questions that might give you a false read on customer effort.
Think, “How easy was it to resolve your issue today?” instead of “We made it easy to solve your problem, right?” Objective questions get you the real scoop.
One size doesn’t fit all, especially with surveys. Imagine asking a teenager and a retiree the same questions in the same way. Might not click, right? Tailor your surveys. Use language and questions that resonate with each customer group.
This isn’t just about being nice; it’s about getting accurate data. Personalized surveys speak directly to each segment, making them feel understood and valued.
Did you know that making things easier for your customers can keep them coming back? It’s true!
When businesses focus on simplifying interactions, customers feel valued and less frustrated. This approach leads to fewer customers leaving for competitors, which is key for maintaining a stable revenue stream.
Think about it: if a customer can solve their problems with minimal hassle, why would they go anywhere else? By measuring how much effort your customers go through and actively working to reduce it, you’re directly boosting your retention rates.
Here’s a nifty benefit of improving your Customer Effort Score (CES): cutting down costs.
When you streamline how customers interact with your services, you also streamline internal processes. This means less time spent on handling complex issues, fewer resources used in customer support, and better use of technology.
All these savings add up, making your business not just more efficient but also more cost-effective. It’s like cleaning up a messy room; once everything is in order, it’s easier to manage and less likely to become cluttered again.
Now, let’s talk dollars and sense! Improving your CES isn’t just about keeping your current customers happy; it’s also about setting the stage for future growth. Happy customers are more likely to try new offerings and recommend your business to others. This word-of-mouth is gold in the business world.
By investing in a smooth customer experience, you’re not just solving immediate issues; you’re building a loyal customer base that feels confident and excited about your brand. And guess what? Loyal customers tend to spend more over time. So, by improving your CES, you’re essentially planting seeds that will grow into future revenue streams. Isn’t that something to get excited about?
To effectively map CES, you first need to understand each step of your customer’s journey. Break it down: look at pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase phases. In each phase, identify where your customers struggle the most.
It could be filling out forms, getting product support, or understanding your FAQ page. Use surveys and feedback tools to gather data directly from your customers at these critical points. The goal here is to find the rough patches and smooth them out. It’s kind of like being a detective, where every clue helps solve the case of customer frustration.
Customers don’t stick to one channel anymore. They might start on mobile, move to a laptop, and maybe even end up in store. So, your job is to track and reduce effort across all these channels.
Make sure switching between channels is as easy as pie. Consistency is key. If they need to start over every time they switch devices, that’s a recipe for high effort. Ensure information flows smoothly from one channel to another.
This way, you’re not just reducing effort but also making the experience seamless and enjoyable, like a good book that’s hard to put down.
Online touchpoints are often the first interaction customers have with your brand. You want to make these as simple as possible. Simplify forms, reduce the number of clicks needed to complete an action, and make sure your website loads quickly.
Also, consider using chatbots for immediate assistance, but keep them straightforward and helpful. Think of these bots like helpful guides in a museum – they’re there to answer questions, guide you around, and make sure you don’t get lost.
When a leading SaaS company noticed a drop in user retention, they turned their focus toward simplifying their onboarding process.
The goal? Make it so easy that users stick around for the long haul. How did they do it? They started by tracking the Customer Effort Score (CES) at each step of the onboarding journey.
They found out that users were getting stuck on the third step of the setup process. It was too technical, too confusing. So, they revamped the step, made instructions clearer, and added more helpful tips right where users needed them. They even introduced an interactive guide that adapts to user responses.
What happened next? Their CES improved dramatically. Users reported feeling more confident as they breezed through setup. The result? Higher user retention rates and a boost in customer satisfaction. It turned out that a smoother start helped users to stick around.
A giant in the retail sector decided to tackle one of the biggest headaches for customers: returns and exchanges. They wanted to make the process so simple that even the thought of returning an item wouldn’t deter buyers. They used CES to identify where customers felt the most frustration.
Their CES data showed that the return process was too time-consuming. Customers didn’t want to fill out lengthy forms or wait in long lines. So, the retailer introduced a one-step online return process. Customers could now handle returns with just a few clicks.
But they didn’t stop there. They also set up self-service kiosks in their stores, where customers could process returns and exchanges without waiting for a staff member.
The impact? Their CES scores soared, and feedback showed that shopping felt more worry-free. Customers knew that if they needed to return an item, it wouldn’t be a hassle.
In the B2B world, a tech firm realized that their support system was a major stumbling block for clients. They were determined to make their client support as effortless as possible. Using CES, they identified key areas where clients were experiencing difficulty.
The data revealed that clients were frustrated with the slow response times and the complexity of the support tickets. To address this, the company simplified the ticket submission process and enhanced their response strategies.
They introduced a chatbot for immediate, simple queries and adjusted their backend workflows to speed up response times for more complex issues.
Clients soon noticed the changes. The easier process and quicker responses decreased their effort significantly. Happy clients meant better relationships and more business. The firm’s CES scores reflected this success, showing a clear link between effortless support and client satisfaction.
The Customer Effort Score isn’t just another metric. It’s your direct line to understanding how easy—or difficult—it is for customers to interact with your business.
By tracking and acting on this score, you can remove obstacles that slow down your customers and create experiences that keep them coming back.
This isn’t only about making things better for customers; it’s about creating long-term value for your business. A lower Customer Effort Score leads to happier customers, stronger loyalty, and increased revenue. It’s a win-win situation that’s worth the effort.
Start using the Customer Effort Score to identify where your processes fall short and make meaningful changes. Remember, the easier you make it for customers, the more they’ll want to stick around.
Simplify their journey, and you’ll simplify your path to success.
Net Promoter, NPS, NPS Prism and many other terms related to NPS are registered trademarks of Bain & Company Inc., Satmetrix Systems Inc., and Fred Reichheld.
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