In the ever-evolving world of customer experience, businesses are continuously seeking better ways to understand customer satisfaction, loyalty, and overall sentiment. Two of the most popular and powerful metrics that help achieve this are Customer Effort Score (CES) and Net Promoter Score (NPS). Both are designed to measure different aspects of the customer experience, but they often lead to different insights and actions.
While NPS focuses on customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend a brand, CES gauges the level of effort customers have to exert to resolve an issue or complete a task. Despite their differences, both metrics provide valuable insights into customer behavior and are essential for shaping a brand’s overall customer experience strategy.
In this blog, we will dive into Customer Effort Score and Net Promoter Score, compare their definitions, applications, and the types of insights each provides, and help you decide when and how to use them in your business to drive better customer experiences and loyalty.
What is Customer Effort Score (CES)?
Customer Effort Score (CES) is a metric used to assess how much effort a customer has to put into interacting with a brand or completing a specific task, such as resolving an issue, making a purchase, or using a product or service. The goal of CES is to measure how easy or difficult it is for a customer to engage with a business, and it operates under the principle that reducing customer effort leads to higher satisfaction and loyalty.
CES is typically measured using a simple, direct question asked after a customer interaction, such as:
“How easy was it to resolve your issue today?”
“How much effort did you have to put in to complete your purchase?”
“On a scale from 1 to 7, how easy was it to use our product/service?”
The answers to these questions are usually rated on a scale from 1 (very difficult) to 7 (very easy), and businesses can analyze the results to understand how well they are meeting customer expectations and where there may be friction in the customer journey.
Why CES is Important
The Customer Effort Score is based on the idea that customers are more likely to be loyal to a brand if they don’t have to put in a lot of effort to get their needs met. Reducing customer effort is a key driver of customer satisfaction, retention, and ultimately, brand loyalty. When customers have to jump through hoops to find information, resolve a problem, or complete a transaction, they are more likely to become frustrated and less likely to return.
By measuring CES, companies can:
- Identify pain points: CES helps highlight friction points in the customer journey—whether it’s in customer support, onboarding, or the purchase process—so companies can focus on reducing these obstacles.
- Improve operational efficiency: Understanding where customers encounter barriers allows businesses to optimize processes, systems, or interfaces that can improve overall efficiency and customer satisfaction.
- Boost customer loyalty: A low CES score indicates that customers found the process easy and were more likely to return and recommend the brand to others.
What is Net Promoter Score (NPS)?
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is another metric used to measure customer loyalty and satisfaction. It focuses on the likelihood of customers recommending a brand to others, which is a strong indicator of their overall satisfaction and emotional attachment to the company. The NPS survey is typically conducted by asking customers a simple question:
“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?”
Customers are then grouped into three categories based on their responses:
- Promoters (score 9-10): These are loyal customers who are highly satisfied and likely to recommend the brand to others.
- Passives (score 7-8): These customers are satisfied but not enthusiastic. They may not actively recommend the brand, but they are unlikely to speak negatively about it.
- Detractors (score 0-6): These are unhappy customers who are less likely to recommend the brand and may actively discourage others from engaging with it.
The NPS score is calculated by subtracting the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. The formula looks like this: NPS=%Promoters−%DetractorsNPS = \% \text{Promoters} – \% \text{Detractors}
The resulting score can range from -100 to +100. A positive score is considered good, and a score above 50 is considered excellent.
Why NPS is Important
NPS is a widely used metric because it provides a clear, actionable measure of customer loyalty. It is based on the assumption that customers who are willing to recommend a brand to others are likely to remain loyal, repeat buyers, and advocates of the brand.
The key benefits of using NPS include:
- Predicts future growth: Since NPS correlates strongly with customer loyalty and satisfaction, it serves as a predictor of future business growth, as promoters are more likely to generate referrals and repeat business.
- Measure of customer sentiment: NPS helps businesses gauge the overall sentiment of their customer base, understanding how many customers are truly engaged with and committed to the brand.
- Benchmarking: Since NPS is a standardized metric, it allows businesses to compare their score against industry benchmarks and track performance over time.
Customer Effort Score vs. Net Promoter Score: Key Differences
Although both CES and NPS provide valuable insights into the customer experience, they differ in several key ways. Here’s a comparison of the two metrics to help you understand their distinctions:
1. Focus
- CES focuses on the level of effort a customer must expend to complete a task or resolve an issue with the brand. It measures ease and convenience in the customer experience.
- NPS, on the other hand, focuses on the customer’s emotional connection to the brand and their likelihood of recommending the brand to others. It measures loyalty and advocacy.
2. What It Measures
- CES measures how easy a process or interaction was, aiming to minimize friction in the customer journey. It’s particularly valuable for assessing customer service interactions, product usability, or checkout processes.
- NPS measures how likely a customer is to promote your brand to others. It’s a measure of overall satisfaction and loyalty rather than the specific ease of a single interaction.
3. Customer Sentiment vs. Customer Experience
- CES is focused on understanding specific pain points in the customer journey and identifying barriers that may affect satisfaction or loyalty. It’s particularly useful for identifying areas where a business can reduce friction and improve efficiency.
- NPS is focused on gauging the overall sentiment of the customer towards your brand. It helps businesses understand how customers feel about the brand as a whole, rather than a particular transaction or interaction.
4. Actionable Insights
- CES gives more actionable insights regarding the specific steps a business can take to improve the customer experience. If customers are finding a particular process difficult, CES can pinpoint where changes are needed.
- NPS, while also actionable, is better suited for assessing the big picture of customer loyalty and satisfaction. A low NPS score signals potential issues with the overall customer experience, but it may not provide direct guidance on what to fix.
5. Timing and Use Case
- CES is usually measured immediately after a customer interaction, such as customer support or purchasing a product. It is most useful for transactional touchpoints, where the customer completes a specific task and the business can then ask for feedback on how easy the process was.
- NPS is often surveyed periodically (e.g., quarterly or annually) and is more aligned with relationship-based interactions, as it measures loyalty and brand advocacy over time.
When to Use Customer Effort Score vs. Net Promoter Score
While both metrics have their place in a customer experience strategy, they are best used in different contexts:
When to Use CES
- Customer Support: After a support interaction, CES is ideal for measuring how easy it was for a customer to resolve their issue. If customers find it hard to get help or navigate support, CES will highlight these friction points.
- Onboarding: If you are launching a new product or service, CES can help you gauge how easy the onboarding process is and whether customers are able to quickly understand and start using your offering.
- Checkout Process: In e-commerce, CES is valuable for measuring how easy the checkout process is. If customers experience friction during checkout (e.g., complicated forms or unclear payment options), it could impact their likelihood to complete a purchase.
- Product Usability: For businesses offering complex products or services, CES can help assess how easily users can adopt and use the product, identifying barriers to adoption.
When to Use NPS
- Overall Brand Sentiment: NPS is most effective when you want to gauge the overall sentiment toward your brand. It helps you understand if your customers are likely to recommend you, which is a strong indicator of loyalty and long-term success.
- Customer Retention: NPS is a powerful tool for assessing how well you are retaining customers. A consistently high NPS score indicates that your business is doing well at fostering brand loyalty and engagement.
- Long-Term Trends: NPS is useful for tracking shifts in customer satisfaction and loyalty over time. By periodically surveying customers, you can see how changes in your products or services impact their likelihood to recommend your brand.
How to Use Both Together
While CES and NPS are distinct metrics,
using them together can provide a fuller picture of the customer experience. For example, if you notice that your NPS score is low, you might then use CES to understand where customers are experiencing friction. In this way, CES can help uncover the specific barriers that may be affecting your brand’s ability to create loyal, satisfied customers.
For instance, if your NPS score is lower than expected, but your CES is high, it suggests that customers find individual touchpoints easy, but the overall experience with the brand may be lacking in emotional connection or value. Conversely, if your NPS score is low and your CES is also low, it indicates that customers are facing both friction in interactions and dissatisfaction with the overall brand experience.
Conclusion
Customer Effort Score (CES) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) are two essential metrics that provide businesses with different but complementary insights into the customer experience. While CES focuses on the ease of interactions and minimizing customer effort, NPS gauges overall loyalty and satisfaction based on the likelihood of customers recommending a brand to others.
By using both metrics in tandem, businesses can improve the customer experience at both the transactional and emotional levels, leading to higher satisfaction, loyalty, and long-term success. Whether you’re trying to improve a specific process or track overall brand sentiment, understanding when and how to use CES and NPS will empower your company to take meaningful action toward creating a superior customer experience.
