The Power of Customer Effort Score
Reducing Friction and Driving Loyalty
Last week, I had to call my health insurance company with some questions, a task I always dread. How many buttons will I have to press before reaching a live human? Once I do, will they be able to help me? Before making the call, I had already searched the company's online portal, intending to self-serve, but I couldn't find the answer I needed.
Fortunately, when I finally reached a customer service representative, they were knowledgeable and resolved my issue efficiently. Relieved, I ended the call with a simple "thank you" and confirmed that my issue had been resolved.
A few days later, I received a follow-up call asking about my experience. The questions covered politeness and issue resolution, but one stood out: "Did your service journey start with the phone call or the website?" They also asked, "Did the company make it easy for you to solve your issue?" This question struck me because it measured my effort—not just my satisfaction. It reinforced an important lesson: customer friction is a key determinant of loyalty, and businesses need to measure and address it systematically.
Why CES Matters
In the book The Effortless Experience, the authors highlight a counterintuitive truth: reducing customer effort has a greater impact on loyalty than exceeding expectations. Companies that focus on "delighting" customers often end up raising service expectations unsustainably, leading to more dissatisfaction when those expectations aren't met. The book also emphasizes the importance of refining the Customer Effort Score (CES) as a measurement tool to ensure customers understand what they are being asked and can effectively rate their experiences.
So, how did I respond to the health insurance company’s survey? I gave a 5 out of 7. Even though my issue was ultimately resolved, I had to navigate a website without finding answers before making the call, an extra step that increased my perceived effort. And that’s the key: perception matters. Customers often believe they’ve exerted more effort than they actually have, which is why businesses must proactively reduce both actual and perceived effort.
How to Reduce Customer Effort
Reducing customer effort leads to better business outcomes. Research from Gartner shows that lowering effort increases repurchase rates, lowers service costs, and improves employee retention. Here are some ways to improve customer experience by minimizing effort:
- Reduce Journey Steps – Eliminate unnecessary steps in customer interactions to streamline processes and remove friction.
- Eliminate Repetitive Feedback – Customers shouldn’t have to repeat information they’ve already provided. Implement chatbots, autofill features, and single-click interactions to make experiences more seamless.
- Pre-fill Customer Information – Use existing data to auto-fill forms and reduce the need for repetitive data entry.
- Anticipate Customer Needs – Offer clear guidance, instructions, and next steps before customers even ask.
- Show Progress Indicators – Let customers know where they are in a process, so they feel in control and informed.
- Personalize Recommendations – Leverage customer data to quickly guide them to the most relevant information.
- Optimize Digital Interfaces – Ensure websites and apps work flawlessly across all devices and load quickly—speed significantly impacts perceived effort.
- Minimize Decision Fatigue – Simplify complex processes by curating options and reducing overwhelming choices.
- Deliver Empathetic Support – Train agents to recognize and alleviate frustration. Even when delivering bad news, an agent can reduce effort by providing clear alternatives and resolutions.
How CES is Calculated
The authors of The Effortless Experience recommend measuring CES using a 1-7 scale, where 1 = very difficult and 7 = very easy. The score is then calculated as follows:
Total customers who rated the experience as easy (scores of 5, 6, or 7)
Total survey respondents
This results in a 0 to 100 score, with higher scores indicating lower customer effort.
Another approach is a Likert scale, where customers select from responses like "Very Difficult" to "Very Easy." Emoticons or images can also be used for surveys conducted via email.
Where CES Can Be Applied
CES can be used across industries and touchpoints to improve customer experience. Here are some examples:
- Service Industry – Measuring the effort required to resolve billing issues, schedule appointments, or receive support. For instance, a doctor’s office could use CES to assess the difficulty of booking an appointment or understanding a bill.
- Technology – Evaluating how easy it is to use software or online platforms. A software company could measure CES to gauge the effort needed to generate a report or download data.
- SaaS/PaaS – Assessing onboarding, feature adoption, and customer service interactions. A SaaS company might use CES to track how easily customers troubleshoot technical issues or navigate self-service portals.
- Subscription Services – Understanding how easily customers manage subscriptions, billing, or usage. A cloud storage provider could measure CES to evaluate the ease of tracking usage or adjusting storage plans.
CES and Customer Channel Switching
One of the biggest indicators of high customer effort is channel switching, when a customer moves from an online portal to a phone call because their issue wasn't resolved. When customers must escalate their issue across multiple channels, their perceived effort skyrockets. Companies must design seamless experiences that anticipate customer needs and deliver the right support at the right time, in the right channel, minimizing the need for extra steps.
Why You Should Start Measuring CES
If your company isn’t measuring Customer Effort Score (CES) yet, you should be. Understanding the friction customers face helps eliminate pain points, making them more likely to stay loyal and spend more money with your business.
Curious about how to implement CES in your organization? Let’s talk!
