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Customer Effort Score (CES)

CES measures how much effort a customer had to expend to accomplish a task — getting a ticket resolved, completing onboarding, using a feature — usually with the question "How easy was it to ___?" on a 1–7 scale (1 = very easy, 7 = very difficult).

Why CES matters

CES is the strongest predictor of repurchase intent. Customers who report low effort are far more likely to renew than customers who report low effort and high satisfaction. Effort beats delight.

When to use CES

After a specific transactional touchpoint:

  • Support ticket resolution
  • Onboarding milestone completion
  • Feature discovery / adoption
  • Self-service journey

Benchmarks

Aim for over 5 average on a 1–7 scale (where 7 is "very easy"). Drops below 4.5 should trigger root-cause analysis.

How BlueHill helps

CES surveys auto-trigger after key milestones. Internal notes capture root cause when CES is low ("portal navigation was confusing"; "form field labels unclear"), feeding the product roadmap.

Related: CSAT · NPS · Self-service