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Estd 4.22.2023
Introduction
In today's competitive SaaS landscape, delivering exceptional customer experiences has become a critical differentiator. While metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) have long been staples in measuring customer sentiment, Customer Effort Score (CES) has emerged as a powerful predictor of customer loyalty. According to research by Gartner, CES outperforms both NPS and CSAT in predicting customer retention, with 96% of customers reporting high-effort experiences becoming more disloyal compared to just 9% who have effortless experiences.
For SaaS executives, understanding how to effectively calculate and leverage CES can provide invaluable insights into friction points in the customer journey and opportunities for service improvement. This article breaks down the process of calculating CES and implementing it as a strategic tool for your organization.
What is Customer Effort Score (CES)?
Customer Effort Score measures how much effort a customer must expend to accomplish a task, resolve an issue, or get a question answered when interacting with your company. The fundamental premise is straightforward: the easier you make it for customers to do business with you, the more likely they are to continue their relationship with your company.
CES was originally developed by the Corporate Executive Board (now Gartner) in 2010 and has evolved through several iterations since then.
The CES Calculation Formula
Step 1: Design Your CES Survey
The first step in calculating CES is collecting the right data through a well-designed survey. A typical CES survey asks customers to rate their agreement with a statement like:
"[Company name] made it easy for me to handle my issue."
Or alternatively:
"How easy was it to [specific action] with our company today?"
Step 2: Choose Your Scale
CES typically uses either a 5-point or 7-point Likert scale:
5-point scale:
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
7-point scale:
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Somewhat disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Somewhat agree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
Many SaaS companies are now using a simpler 1-7 numerical scale where 1 represents "Very difficult" and 7 represents "Very easy."
Step 3: Calculate Your CES
The basic CES calculation is the average of all customer responses:
CES = Sum of all customer effort scores / Number of respondentsFor example, if you received 100 responses with a cumulative score of 570 on a 7-point scale, your CES would be:
570 ÷ 100 = 5.7
Step 4: Interpret Your Results
On a 7-point scale where higher scores indicate lower effort:
- Scores of 5.5 or higher typically indicate good performance
- Scores between 4.0-5.4 suggest room for improvement
- Scores below 4.0 indicate significant customer friction points
Advanced CES Calculation Methods
Net CES
Similar to Net Promoter Score methodology, some organizations calculate a "Net CES" by subtracting the percentage of detractors (low scores) from promoters (high scores):
Net CES = % of Easy scores (6-7) - % of Difficult scores (1-3)This approach highlights the difference between positive and negative experiences, resulting in a score ranging from -100 to +100.
CES Distribution Analysis
Rather than focusing solely on the average score, examining the distribution of responses can provide richer insights:
- Top Box: Percentage of customers who selected the highest rating (7 on a 7-point scale)
- Top 2 Box: Percentage who selected either of the top two ratings (6 or 7)
- Bottom Box: Percentage who selected the lowest rating (1)
This analysis helps identify the proportion of customers experiencing extremely high or low effort.
When to Measure CES
The timing of CES measurement is crucial for accurate results. The most effective moments include:
- Post-interaction: Immediately after a customer service interaction or support ticket resolution
- Post-onboarding: After completing the customer onboarding process
- Feature adoption: After a customer uses a new feature for the first time
- Key journey milestones: At critical points in the customer journey
- Renewal periods: Before subscription renewal decisions
According to Forrester Research, measuring CES at multiple touchpoints provides a more comprehensive view of the overall customer experience than single-point measurements.
Implementing CES in Your SaaS Organization
Integration with Other Metrics
CES should be part of a holistic measurement framework alongside metrics like:
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): Measures overall loyalty and likelihood to recommend
- Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Measures satisfaction with specific interactions
- Time to Resolution (TTR): Measures how quickly issues are resolved
- First Contact Resolution (FCR): Measures percentage of issues resolved in a single interaction
Research by the XM Institute found that companies using complementary metrics like CES, NPS, and CSAT together see 3x greater year-over-year improvement in customer retention than those using single metrics in isolation.
Taking Action on CES Data
- Segment your analysis by customer type, product line, and interaction channel to identify specific pain points
- Establish CES benchmarks for different touchpoints and track trends over time
- Implement a closed-loop system to follow up with customers reporting high-effort experiences
- Prioritize improvements based on effort impact and business value
- Share CES insights across departments to align organization-wide efforts on reducing customer friction
Case Study: Reducing Customer Effort at Zendesk
Zendesk, a leading customer service software provider, implemented CES measurement across their customer support operations. By focusing specifically on reducing effort in their knowledge base and self-service systems, they:
- Identified that 60% of customers attempted to self-serve before contacting support
- Discovered key terminology mismatches between how customers described problems versus internal language
- Redesigned their knowledge base taxonomy and search functionality
The result was a 25% reduction in support tickets and a CES improvement from 5.2 to 6.3 on a 7-point scale. According to Zendesk's VP of Customer Experience, "CES became our North Star metric for measuring the effectiveness of our self-service strategy."
Conclusion
As SaaS markets become increasingly competitive, customer retention has emerged as a critical growth factor. Customer Effort Score provides executives with a powerful tool to identify friction points in the customer experience and prioritize improvements that directly impact loyalty and retention.
By implementing a rigorous CES calculation methodology, integrating it with complementary metrics, and establishing processes to act on the insights generated, SaaS leaders can create truly effortless experiences that drive sustainable growth.
Remember that CES is not just a measurement exercise—it represents a fundamental shift toward customer-centered product and service design. The organizations that excel at reducing customer effort don't just measure differently; they operate differently, with a relentless focus on simplifying the customer journey at every touchpoint.