Understanding and improving customer effort score (CES)

Understanding customer effort score (CES)

Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that helps businesses understand how easy it is for customers to interact with them. It focuses on the effort customers need to exert to resolve issues, get answers, or complete transactions. Unlike other metrics that measure satisfaction or loyalty, CES zeroes in on the simplicity and efficiency of customer interactions.

• Why is CES important?
  • Highlights friction points in the customer journey.
  • A lower effort score often correlates with higher customer loyalty.
  • Helps businesses identify areas for improvement in their service delivery.
• How is CES measured?
  • Customers rate their experience on a scale, often from 1 to 5 or 1 to 7.
  • The question might be, "How easy was it to solve your problem with us today?"
  • Scores are averaged to provide an overall CES.
• Real-world example:
  • Imagine calling a customer service line. If you navigate through a complex menu, wait on hold, and repeat your issue multiple times, your effort score would likely be high, indicating a poor experience.
  • Conversely, if your issue is resolved quickly and efficiently, your effort score would be low, reflecting a positive interaction.
• Practical applications:
  • Businesses can use CES to streamline processes, reduce customer effort, and enhance overall satisfaction.
  • It can be a valuable tool for training staff and improving customer service protocols.

If you're interested in learning how CES can be tailored to your organisation, consider booking a free consultation call with our market researchers. They can provide insights and strategies to help you implement CES effectively.

Understanding and measuring customer effort score (CES)

Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that helps businesses understand how easy or difficult it is for customers to interact with their services or products. A lower effort score indicates a smoother experience, while a higher score suggests potential friction points that need addressing.

Survey questions for CES

To measure CES, you can use a simple survey question, typically framed as follows:

• "On a scale of 1 to 7, how easy was it to resolve your issue today?"
  (1 = Very Difficult, 7 = Very Easy)
• Alternatively, you can use a 5-point scale:
• "How much effort did you personally have to put forth to handle your request?"
  (1 = Very High Effort, 5 = Very Low Effort)

Calculating the CES

Once you have collected responses, calculating the CES is straightforward:

1. Collect responses: Gather all the scores from your survey.
2. Calculate the average: Add all the scores together and divide by the number of responses.

For example, if you received the following scores: 5, 6, 4, 7, and 3, the calculation would be:

CES = (5 + 6 + 4 + 7 + 3) / 5 = 5

Interpreting the data

Understanding the CES score is crucial for making informed decisions:

• Score range: A score closer to 7 indicates a positive customer experience, while a score closer to 1 suggests significant effort and potential dissatisfaction.
• Benchmarking: Compare your CES against industry standards or historical data to gauge performance.
• Identify pain points: If the CES is low, delve deeper into specific areas (e.g., customer service, product usability) to identify where customers are experiencing difficulties.

Decision-making based on CES

• Improvement initiatives: Use insights from CES to prioritise areas for improvement. For instance, if customers report high effort in a specific process, consider streamlining it.
• Customer training: If certain products or services are consistently rated as high effort, consider providing additional training or resources to help customers navigate them more easily.
• Feedback loop: Regularly collect CES data to track improvements over time and adjust strategies accordingly.

Additional considerations

• Timing of surveys: Send CES surveys shortly after customer interactions to capture immediate feedback.
• Follow-up questions: Consider including open-ended questions to gather qualitative insights that explain the scores.
• Segment analysis: Analyse CES by customer segments (e.g., new vs. returning customers) to identify specific needs and tailor your approach.

By effectively measuring and interpreting Customer Effort Score, you can enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty, ultimately driving better business outcomes.

Simplifying customer experience with customer effort score (CES)

Imagine you run a small online clothing store called "FashionEase." You want to ensure that your customers have a smooth experience when shopping on your website, from browsing to purchasing. To achieve this, you decide to use the Customer Effort Score (CES) to measure how easy it is for customers to complete their purchases.

Step-by-step example

1. Design the survey: After a customer completes a purchase, you send them a short survey via email. The survey includes the question: "On a scale of 1 to 7, how easy was it to complete your purchase today?" (1 = Very Difficult, 7 = Very Easy).
2. Collect responses: Over a week, you receive responses from 100 customers. The scores range from 3 to 7, with most customers giving scores of 5 or higher.
3. Calculate the CES: Add up all the scores and divide by the number of responses to find the average. Suppose the total score is 550. The calculation would be:

CES = 550 / 100 = 5.5

4. Interpret the data: A CES of 5.5 suggests that most customers find the purchasing process relatively easy, but there is room for improvement. A score closer to 7 would indicate an even smoother experience.
5. Identify pain points: To understand why some customers gave lower scores, you include an open-ended question in the survey: "What could we do to make your shopping experience easier?" Customers mention issues like slow website loading times and a complicated checkout process.
6. Make improvements: Based on the feedback, you decide to optimise your website's speed and simplify the checkout process. You also consider adding a guest checkout option to make it easier for new customers.
7. Track progress: After implementing these changes, you continue to send out CES surveys to track improvements. Over time, you notice an increase in the average CES, indicating that customers are finding it easier to shop on your site.

By using CES, "FashionEase" can focus on reducing customer effort, leading to higher satisfaction and potentially more repeat business. This simple metric helps you identify and address specific areas that need improvement, ultimately enhancing the overall customer experience.

Next steps

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