Customer Effort Score (CES) is a customer experience metric that measures how easy it is for a customer to complete a task or resolve an issue with a product or service. In B2B SaaS, CES is used to assess the usability of self-service tools, onboarding processes, support flows, and product experiences — with the goal of minimizing friction and improving retention.
What Is Customer Effort Score?
CES surveys are typically triggered after a key customer interaction, such as:
- Submitting a support ticket
- Completing onboarding
- Using a new feature
- Performing a critical action (e.g., integrating an API, changing billing info)
CES Survey Question Example:
“To what extent do you agree with the following statement: ‘[Company] made it easy for me to [achieve task]’?”
Customers respond using a Likert scale, typically from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree).
CES Score Formula
CES = (Sum of All Scores) ÷ (Total Number of Responses)
Example:
50 respondents, total score = 320
CES = 320 ÷ 50 = 6.4
Higher scores indicate lower effort and a better customer experience.
Why CES Matters in SaaS
- ⏳ Identifies Friction Points – Pinpoints UX or support inefficiencies
- 🧠 Improves Self-Service Tools – Enhances help center and product tours
- 📉 Reduces Churn Risk – Frustration = abandonment
- 📬 Informs Proactive Support – React to poor experiences in real-time
- 💬 Drives Customer Success Automation – Routes users to appropriate resources or reps
💡 Research shows that reducing customer effort has a stronger correlation to loyalty than delighting customers.
CES Benchmarks by Industry
| Industry | Average CES (1–7 Scale) |
|---|---|
| SaaS | 5.5–6.5 |
| Customer Support | 5.0–6.2 |
| E-commerce | 5.6–6.4 |
| B2B Services | 5.2–6.3 |
A CES above 6.0 generally reflects a frictionless experience. Scores below 5.0 indicate room for UX or process improvement.
When to Use CES Surveys
| Use Case | Trigger Timing |
|---|---|
| After Support Resolution | Immediately after ticket is closed |
| Onboarding Completion | After core onboarding task is done |
| Feature Activation | After interacting with a complex feature |
| Self-Service Experience | After using the help center or chatbots |
| Checkout or Payment Flow | After completing billing steps |
How to Improve Customer Effort Score
- 🔁 Map and simplify common workflows
- 📥 Reduce the number of steps to complete a task
- 🧭 Use tooltips, walkthroughs, and contextual help
- 📊 Analyze CES responses by segment or journey step
- 🧠 Train support reps for proactive, quick resolutions
- 🔍 Improve form usability and remove UI blockers
CES vs CSAT vs NPS
| Metric | Focus | Question Type |
|---|---|---|
| CES | Ease of experience | “How easy was it to…?” |
| CSAT | Satisfaction | “How satisfied were you with…?” |
| NPS | Loyalty | “Would you recommend us?” |
✅ Use CES when evaluating support quality or product usability.
CES with CUFinder
CUFinder helps improve Customer Effort Score by delivering:
- 🧠 Enriched firmographics for user segmentation
- 📬 Targeted CES follow-ups to at-risk personas
- 📊 Data-driven routing of high-effort users to CS reps
- 🔁 Personalization of UX based on company size, role, or tech stack
Cited Sources
- Wikipedia: Customer service
- Wikipedia: Customer experience
- Wikipedia: Customer relationship management
- Wikipedia: User experience