What is a good CES score?

On AwareCX's percentage version of CES, anything above 70% is strong, 50-70% is average, and below 50% signals that customers are working too hard.

How do you calculate CES?

Take the number of low-effort responses (5, 6, or 7 on a 7-point scale) and divide by the total number of responses, then multiply by 100. The result is the percentage of customers who found the interaction easy.

Why does CES predict churn?

Research by the Corporate Executive Board found that reducing customer effort is a stronger driver of loyalty than exceeding expectations. High-effort interactions correlate strongly with churn even when satisfaction is positive.

When should I use CES instead of CSAT?

Use CES after interactions where effort matters: support resolutions, installations, sign-ups, onboarding, billing changes. Use CSAT for moments where you mainly want a satisfaction read.

What does AwareCX's CES scale look like?

AwareCX uses the standard 1-7 scale anchored on agreement with a statement like 'It was easy to resolve my issue.' Scores 5-7 are easy, 4 is neutral, 1-3 is difficult.

What is CES? Customer Effort Score Explained

Customer Effort Score (CES) measures how hard customers had to work to get what they came for. It's the metric that predicts churn most reliably, because customers don't leave when they're dissatisfied. They leave when interacting with you is too much work.

The CES question

"To what extent do you agree with the following statement: [Company] made it easy for me to [resolve my issue / complete my sign-up / get the answer I needed]."

Respondents pick a number from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The phrasing matters: agreement with an "ease" statement, not a direct effort rating.

The three response bands

Easy · scores 5-7

Low effort. These customers are most likely to stay and most likely to expand.

Neutral · score 4

Average effort. Not a red flag, but not a strength either.

Difficult · scores 1-3

High effort. Strong churn signal. These are your highest-leverage process problems.

The CES formula (percentage version)

CES % = (Easy responses ÷ Total responses) × 100

Some teams report CES as a simple mean of the 1-7 scores instead. AwareCX uses the percentage version because it lines up with how CSAT is presented, making the two scores directly comparable on the same dashboard.

Worked example

You send a post-resolution CES survey and get 100 responses:

72 easy (5, 6, or 7)
18 neutral (4)
10 difficult (1, 2, or 3)

CES = (72 ÷ 100) × 100 = 72%. That's a strong score; the 10 difficult responses are where you should focus root-cause analysis.

Why effort beats satisfaction at predicting loyalty

The famous CEB study of 75,000 customer interactions found that reducing customer effort had a larger impact on loyalty than any "wow" moment. A customer can be satisfied with the outcome but still churn because the path to that outcome was exhausting. CES catches that pattern; CSAT often misses it.

That makes CES particularly valuable for:

Support interactions and ticket resolutions
Onboarding and activation flows
Renewal and contract changes
Installation and setup processes
Self-service experiences (knowledge base, portal)

How AwareCX uses CES

AwareCX treats CES as a first-class metric alongside NPS and CSAT. You can launch a CES survey from the same builder, route difficult responses into the ResolveCX triage queue, and roll CES into the Portfolio Health Score where it blends with NPS and CSAT into one rolled-up number.