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Customer Effort Score (CES)

Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric that measures how much effort a customer had to put in to get their issue resolved. It’s typically gathered through a post-interaction survey asking something like, “How easy was it to resolve your issue today?” on a numeric scale.

CES is based on research showing that reducing customer effort predicts loyalty more reliably than simply delighting customers — people tend to punish bad experiences more than they reward exceptional ones.

How CES Is Calculated

CES is usually calculated as the average score across all responses to the effort question, often on a 1–5 or 1–7 scale, where a higher score represents lower effort (easier experience).

Some teams report CES as a percentage of customers who rated their experience as “low effort” (the top one or two options on the scale).

Why CES Matters

  • Directly predicts customer loyalty and repeat purchase behavior
  • Highlights friction points in the support process, like repeated transfers or unclear instructions
  • Useful for evaluating self-service tools like knowledge bases, not just live support
  • Complements CSAT by measuring process, not just outcome

CES vs CSAT

CSAT asks whether the customer was satisfied with the outcome; CES asks how easy it was to get there. A customer might be satisfied with the final resolution (high CSAT) while still reporting that it took too many steps or transfers to get there (low CES) — both metrics together give a fuller picture of the support experience.

When Businesses Track CES

  • Diagnosing friction in support processes, like excessive transfers or repeated information requests
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of self-service tools and knowledge bases
  • Predicting churn risk among customers who report high-effort experiences
  • Comparing effort across channels (phone vs. chat vs. email)

Reduce Friction With a Trained Support Team

Helplama agents are trained to resolve issues in as few steps as possible, minimizing the effort customers have to put in. See our support outsourcing approach.