Customer Effort Score
A metric measuring how easy it was for a customer to get their issue resolved.
Glossary/Customer Effort Score
Customer Effort Score (CES) asks customers how much effort they had to put in to get their problem solved, usually on a simple scale. The insight behind it: reducing effort predicts loyalty better than delighting customers does — people just want their issue handled easily.
Fast answers, no repeating themselves, and resolution in one interaction all lower effort. AI agents and clean human handoffs directly improve CES by removing friction.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Customer Effort Score matter?
Research shows reducing customer effort predicts loyalty more strongly than exceeding expectations. Customers reward easy, low-friction resolutions — so lowering effort (fast answers, no repetition, one-touch resolution) is a high-leverage goal.
Related terms
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