Customer Effort Score Template

CES data is collected by surveying customers in real-time after a single action (e.g., the customer completes a purchase) or interaction (e.g., the customer receives help from the support team) with a business. The survey can appear directly on a website page or be emailed after the action is completed. Customers are typically asked to rate the ease of their experience through a numerical 1-5 or 1-7 scale, but more creative and visual solutions can include an emoticon anger-to-happiness scale. The collected answers are then averaged to give an idea of how much effort a certain process requires of customers. One major benefit of a Customer Effort Score survey is that it can target user satisfaction with specific processes by asking questions immediately after an important touchpoint at different stages of the customer journey.

The core Customer Effort Score (CES) question asks how easy it is for your clients to interact with your company. They can agree or disagree with a statement [“Our company made it easy for me to handle my issue”] or rate their effort level [“How easy was it for you to solve your issue today?”] on a seven-point scale. Most CES surveys also include an additional, open-ended question asking for clarification [“What exactly made your interaction with our company difficult?”].

1. After a purchase. Send a CES survey directly after a customer has purchased on your website to get an idea of how easy or convoluted the purchasing process was for them. 2. After a subscription sign-up. Send a CES survey during the onboarding process after a customer has signed up for a subscription service to gauge whether they are finding your services easy to use. 3. After a customer service touchpoint. CES is particularly useful for testing the effectiveness of your customer service. Customers with frustrating or unhelpful customer service interactions will likely take their business elsewhere. By following up directly after an interaction, you can find out if a customer experienced a difficult service phone call or chat.