CES (Customer Effort Score) is an index that measures the ease with which customers interact with a business — through the question: "How easy was it for the company to help you solve a problem?". Customers are easy to deal with → come back and be loyal; Customers have to work hard → leave even if they are satisfied. Classic rule: customers want least effort, not "more than expected". Zenify recorded a 21% increase in conversion rate (approved).
TL;DR
- CES measures the ease of solving customers' problems.
- "Easy" is more important than "satisfying" — customers don't want to try.
- Scale 1-7 or 1-5, high score = easy.
- Customers have to repeat the story many times, moving here and there = low CES.
- Improve CES: solve it once, don't force customers to repeat information.
What is CES
CES (Customer Effort Score) measures the amount of effort it takes customers to solve a problem. Popular questions:
"How much effort did you have to work to solve your problem?"
Popular scales:
1-7: 1 = very hard, 7 = very easy.
1-5: 1 = very difficult, 5 = very easy.
Why it's important: research shows that customers stay loyal not because of "pleasant surprises" but because of easy resolution. Customers easily → return; Customers are struggling → switch opponents.
How is CES different from CSAT/NPS
Index | Measure | Original question
CSAT | Satisfied with the transaction | "Are you satisfied?"
NPS | Loyal, recommend | "What points do you recommend?"
CES | Ease | "How easy is it to solve?"
CES strengths: predicts return behavior better than CSAT with support request groups — because customers remember "I struggled" but not "I was happy."
Why is CES low?
Things that cost customers effort:
Retell the information many times: Changing channels must be done from the beginning (see Customers change channels).
Switch back and forth: from one employee to another, from bot to human.
You have to find it yourself: There is no ready answer, you have to find it yourself.
Long wait: No one responds to messages, waiting forever for someone to arrive.
How to improve CES
1. Solve it the first time
FRT target <15 minutes, do not make customers wait (see What is FRT).
Staff has enough rights and information to handle the matter immediately.
2. Do not force repeat customers
Common guest profile: all channels see history (see Multi-Channel Unification).
The customer just said on Zalo, transfer Messenger without having to say it again.
3. Reduce manual steps
Frequently asked questions are automatically answered, customers can handle them themselves.
Simplify the process: return, look up, schedule.
4. Measure and check low points
CES survey after each support interaction.
Check which case/process has low scores → fix it completely.