Are you tracking your customer effort score? If not, maybe you should. Many service leaders prefer this key performance indicator (KPI) over tried-and-true metrics like customer satisfaction, Net Promoter Score, and customer retention.
That should come as no surprise. Our research shows that customers place a premium on ease and convenience: 61% would rather use self-service to resolve simple issues, while 74% expect to be able to do anything online that they can do in-person or by phone.
With expectations like that, it’s no wonder so many companies keep an eye on customer effort. But how do you measure that — and more importantly, how do you improve it? Let’s take a few minutes to review what customer effort score really means, why it’s important, and what you can do to make yours even better. (If you’d like to skip ahead, just use the table of contents to jump to whichever section interests you the most.)
Table of contents
Why should you measure customer effort?
How do you measure customer effort?
6 ways to improve your customer effort america phone number list score
Put AI, automation, and data to work
The right mix of customer service channels and AI tools can help you become more efficient and keep customer effort to a minimum. Our guide reveals how high-performing service leaders make it happen.
Get free insights
What is a customer effort score?
A customer effort score (CES) is a scale that measures how easy it is for customers to use your company’s products or services. Companies can determine their scores through customer surveys, asking customers to rate their experience on a scale of “very easy” to “very difficult.”
Consider some of the most frustrating customer service experiences you’ve had — they probably involved more steps and callbacks than expected. If a customer is transferred to multiple departments and has to repeat themselves several times, or they search your help center only to have to reach out by chat or phone anyway, that’s too much effort. The goal is to do the opposite: Make it as easy and straightforward as you can.
Why should you measure customer effort?
In today’s competitive landscape, customer satisfaction is no longer enough to ensure success. It’s equally important for you to focus on making the customer experience as easy as possible. This is where measuring customer effort score comes into play.