CES Questions: Examples of Customer Effort Score Questions

Embarking on a journey to understand and optimize Customer Effort Score (CES) is crucial for businesses committed to delivering exceptional customer experiences. In this article, we delve into the significance of CES questions—the linchpin of measuring customer effort. 

What Does Customer Effort Score Mean?

Customer Effort Score (CES) is a survey designed to gauge the ease of customer interactions with your product or service.

It’s all about the level of effort required for individuals to utilize your product or engage with your customer support in search of solutions.

Read more: What is CES survey? Typical Questions With Examples

How to Form CES Questions

What are the key elements of an effective CES survey question?

Here are four tips to assist you in creating a compelling customer effort score question.

Strive for Simplicity

All questions regarding customer feedback should strive for simplicity. When it comes to CES questions, the main focus is on understanding customer effort.

The structure of your question will be determined by your customer effort metrics.

There’s no need to inquire about customer satisfaction or strategies to enhance customer loyalty as done in Net Promoter Score surveys.

Once you have a clear goal in mind, it’s time to focus on formulating your inquiry.

Simplicity is key in encouraging customers to complete the survey.

Ensure the Wording is Clear

It can be confusing for customers when too many things are asked in a single question.

Basic and clear questions usually receive more responses because they are easy to understand.

This is a sample of one of the straightforward CES questions.

How straightforward has it been to use Doran up to this point?

The question is concise and straightforward. Understanding the company’s requirements as a customer can simplify your response.

Refrain from Using the Term ‘effort’

It’s best to be subtle when making a request. Indeed, CES questions focus on evaluating customer effort, but it’s important that your questions do not steer customers towards a specific outcome.

For instance, rather than inquiring them:

How would you rate the level of effort required to use our X feature on a scale of 1-7?

Better option is:

How would you rate the ease of using the X feature on a scale of 1-7?

The second question appears more natural and is more likely to capture the users’ interest in responding.

Choose a Structure for the Question

There are two methods for structuring a Customer Effort Score Questions: asking a direct question or phrasing it as a statement.

Imagine you need to request feedback from your customers regarding their recent interaction with your brand.

Here are two distinct methods to determine with the CES survey.

Option 1:

How simple was the interaction with our team?

Option 2:

To what extent do you agree with the statement “[Product] made it easy to handle my issue”

You have the freedom to choose the sentence structure that suits you and your audience best. You can even conduct A/B tests to determine which type of request generates a higher engagement rate.

Read more: Choosing the Right CES Survey Tools for Your Business

Examples of Customer Effort Score Question

Here are some customer effort score sample questions that are suitable for your SaaS business.

Key inquiries

Here is a list of essential questions suitable for a brief CES survey.

How user-friendly has your experience been with [Product]?

This question is commonly used in CES questions.

It’s straightforward and simplifies the process of gauging the effort required for customers to utilize your product.

You have the option to present the question using a numerical scale or emojis to prompt users to select the level of effort.

How simple was it to resolve your issue today?

This question can help evaluate the level of effort customers experience when engaging with your customer success team.

By incorporating the term ‘today,’ you can pinpoint a specific instance for inquiry rather than a general overview of the customer experience. This focused approach can assist your business in pinpointing areas for improvement.

How much do you agree with the following statement: The [product] simplified the process of addressing my problem.

This statement uses a scale to collect your customers’ opinions on the effort required to resolve an issue with your product.

Users can select their response on a scale that ranges from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree,’ and you can also number the scale to clarify the range of answers.

Follow-up Questions

To gain further insights into your customers’ responses, consider incorporating a follow-up query.

Here are a few examples for you to review.

What steps should we take to increase your score by one point?

Imagine launching CES questions on a 7-point scale and a customer selects 4 as the level of effort required to use a specific feature.

You may want to consider incorporating this additional question to gain further insight into their answer and ways to enhance it.

What influenced your decision to select this score?

Here’s an alternative method to inquire further about the customer’s rating.

Follow-up questions can provide additional insights into the initial response without requiring users to invest excessive time in completing the survey.

Do you think the X feature would enhance your customer experience?

Picture yourself inquiring about how user-friendly the X feature is.

If the user’s feedback suggests that using the specific feature requires significant effort, consider asking a follow-up question to inquire about potential enhancements to enhance their experience.

Segmenting your audience is crucial here because this question specifically applies to your highly engaged users who possess a good understanding of your product and its features.

Here’s a helpful tip: Utilize survey logic to display tailored follow-up questions to customers based on their responses.

Open-ended Questions

To provide users with more room to express their opinions on customer effort, consider incorporating an open-ended question into your CES survey.

Here are a couple of examples.

Is there anything else you would like to include?

Following the main CES questions, you may invite your customers to provide additional feedback on the usability of your product.

This question provides ample room for detailed responses, offering a valuable opportunity to collect valuable insights.

Can you provide feedback on areas that require improvement?

One effective method for crafting an open-ended question is to be straightforward.

Emphasizing the importance of honesty shows that you are receptive to various forms of feedback to enhance your product.

As we conclude our exploration into CES questions, it becomes evident that simplicity, clarity, and strategic formulation are key to extracting meaningful insights. By asking the right CES questions, businesses can streamline customer interactions, reduce friction, and elevate overall satisfaction. Embrace the power of customer feedback and make informed decisions to create a seamless experience that resonates positively with your audience.