Within the customer service domain, two metrics—the Net Promoter Score (NPS) and the Customer Effort Score (CES)—have become essential customer satisfaction and loyalty indicators. These metrics are not just numbers but are vital indicators that can shape strategies, influence customer interactions, and ultimately dictate the success of a business.
Understanding NPS and CES surveys is crucial for call center managers and leaders to interpret data effectively, strengthen customer connections, streamline operations, and improve the customer journey.
But what differentiates these two metrics? Why are they crucial, and how can they be effectively utilized in the call center context?
This blog explores customer effort score survey and NPS, highlighting their significance and applications in call center strategies to build loyalty and satisfaction.
Determine customer sentiment by knowing the distinctions between NPS and CEF surveys.
What is a Customer Effort Score?
The Customer Effort Score (CES) measures the ease with which customers can resolve issues, use a product, or interact with a service. The CES score is calculated by asking customers to rate their experience on a scale, typically from "very easy" to "very difficult."
This rating is usually given in response to a specific question, such as, "How easy was it to handle your request?"
How is CES Calculated?
To calculate the Customer Effort Score (CES), follow these steps:
- Collect Responses: After customers interact with your service or product, ask them to rate their experience based on how much effort they had to put in.
The question might be phrased as, "On a scale from 1 (very easy) to 7 (very difficult), how easy was it to complete your task?"
Alternatively, the scale could be 1 to 5 or any other range, but the idea is to have a transparent gradient from 'easy' to 'difficult.'
- Gather Scores: Compile all the responses you receive from customers. These will be numerical values based on the scale you've provided.
- Calculate the Average: Add up all your collected scores and divide the sum by the total responses. This will give you the average score, which is your CES.
The formula to calculate the Customer Effort Score (CES) is relatively straightforward:
CES= ∑Individual Customer Effort Scores / Total Number of Responses
Where:
- ∑Individual Customer Effort Scores is the sum of all the customer's effort scores.
- Total Number of Responses is the number of customers who provided a score.
For example, if 5 customers rated their effort as 1, 2, 2, 3, and 4 on a scale of 1 to 5, you would add these scores to get 12. Dividing 12 by the number of responses (5) gives an average CES of 2.4.
This average score represents the overall effort customers feel they are exerting with your service or product. A lower score indicates more accessible interactions, and a higher score indicates more difficult ones.
Why Is CES Used?
CES (Customer Effort Score) is used to gauge the ease of customer interactions, providing insights into how effortless or challenging it is for customers to engage with a company's products or services.
Customer Effort Score (CES) Importance:
- Measures ease of customer interaction with services.
- Identifies and reduces customer struggle.
- Enhances customer experience and loyalty.
- Lower CES indicates easy issue resolution, leading to higher satisfaction and repeat business.
- Identifies customer effort overuse for process streamlining, service delivery improvement, and customer convenience.
- Tracking CES helps benchmark performance, align operations with customer expectations, drive growth, and improve service quality.
When Should CES Survey Be Sent?
Sending the CES survey at the right time is crucial to gathering meaningful and actionable insights. The ideal timing can vary depending on the nature of the customer interaction or transaction.
Here's when you must think about distributing the CES survey:
- Post-Interaction
- After the Resolution of Issues
- Post-Purchase or Sign-up
- After Implementing Changes
The CES score, calculated by averaging responses, measures customer ease or difficulty in business interactions. Strategic timing ensures relevant feedback, allowing for targeted service or product improvements.
What is the Net Promoter Score?
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) gauges customer loyalty by asking how likely they are to recommend a company, product, or service to others.
Customers respond on a 0-10 scale, where 0-6 are classified as detractors, 7-8 as passives, and 9-10 as promoters.
How is NPS calculated?
To calculate the Net Promoter Score (NPS), follow these steps:
- Survey Your Customers: Ask them how likely they are to recommend your business to others on a scale of 0-10.
- Categorize the Responses:
- Promoters: Customers who respond with a 9 or 10.
- Passives: Customers who respond with a 7 or 8 (not included in the calculation).
- Detractors: Customers who respond with a score from 0 to 6.
- Calculate the Percentages: Determine the percentage of Promoters and Detractors customers.
- Percentage of Promoters: (Number of Promoters / Total number of respondents) x 100
- Percentage of Detractors: (Number of Detractors / Total number of respondents) x 100
- Subtract to Find NPS: Subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.
- NPS: Percentage of Promoters - Percentage of Detractors
The final NPS will be a number between -100 and 100.
The formula for calculating Net Promoter Score (NPS) is:
NPS=(Percentage of Promoters−Percentage of Detractors)×100
For example: Imagine you surveyed 100 customers and received the following responses:
- 70 customers gave you a score of 9 or 10 (Promoters)
- 20 customers gave you a score of 7 or 8 (Passives)
- 10 customers gave you a score of 0 to 6 (Detractors)
Here's how you would calculate the NPS:
Calculate the percentage of Promoters:
(70 Promoters/100 Total Respondents)×100=70%
(70 Promoters/100 Total Respondents)×100=70%
Calculate the percentage of Detractors:
(10 Detractors/100 Total Respondents)×100=10%
(10 Detractors/100 Total Respondents)×100=10%
Calculate NPS:
NPS=70%−10%=60
NPS=70%−10%=60
So, the NPS in this example would be 60.
Why is NPS used?
NPS measures customer loyalty and satisfaction by asking customers how likely they are to recommend a company's products or services to others. It provides valuable insights into overall customer sentiment and brand advocacy.
Net Promoter Score (NPS) Overview
- A key performance indicator for gauging customer loyalty and predicting business growth.
- Helps identify loyal customers (Promoters) and less satisfied ones (Detractors).
- Measures customer satisfaction linked to growth, retention, and operational efficiency.
- Boosts revenue and positive referrals.
- Enables strategic decisions by understanding customer preferences and expectations.
- Fosters a culture of continuous improvement and customer-centricity.
When Should NPS Survey Be Sent?
The ideal timing to send an NPS survey can depend on the nature of the interaction or the business cycle, but here are some general guidelines:
- After a Milestone or Interaction
- Post-Purchase
- End of a Service
- Regular Interval
- After Implementing Changes
Timing the survey right ensures that the customer's experience is fresh in their mind, providing you with the most accurate and actionable feedback.
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Distinction Between A Customer Effort Score Survey And NPS
CES vs. NPS: Choosing the Right Metric
Choosing between CES and NPS depends on your specific goals:
- For Transactional Insights: Opt for a customer effort score survey template if you focus on understanding and improving particular customer interactions.
- For Overall Loyalty: Use NPS to measure broader customer loyalty and predict long-term business growth.
Integrating CES and NPS
The most effective approach for call center managers and leaders is using both metrics. While NPS provides a high-level view of customer loyalty, CES offers actionable insights into specific touchpoints. Together, they can provide a comprehensive picture of customer experience and satisfaction.
Leveraging Convin for NPS and CES Enhancement
Convin, with its suite of AI-powered tools, provides valuable contributions to enhancing and understanding Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Effort Score (CES) through several functionalities:
- Call and Interaction Analytics: Convin's tools analyze customer interaction data to identify trends, pain points, and highlights in customer experiences, providing insights that can influence NPS and CES.
- Automated Survey Distribution: Convin can assist in efficiently computerizing NPS and CES surveys, ensuring businesses collect feedback during the most relevant and top-of-mind customer experiences.
- Sentiment Analysis: Convin utilizes sentiment analysis to understand customer interactions' emotional context, enhancing their understanding of their experience and potential impact on their likelihood to recommend or exert effort.
- Speech Analytics: Convin's speech analytics can analyze call center conversations to identify customer satisfaction, frustration, or effort, which can be directly linked to NPS and CES outcomes.
- Text Analytics: Convin can identify keywords with high effort or satisfaction in written communication with customers, guiding strategies to enhance CES and NPS.
- Actionable Insights: Convin offers actionable insights beyond data analysis, suggesting areas for improvement in customer experiences and NPS and CES scores.
- Integration and Automation: Convin streamlines data collection and analysis by integrating with various customer interaction platforms, ensuring efficiency and scalability in the process.
Incorporating Convin's tools allows businesses to track, understand, and act on the factors influencing their NPS and CES, leading to more informed decisions that enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Maximize Customer Satisfaction with NPS and CES Surveys
Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Effort Score (CES) are key metrics in customer service. They guide businesses towards increased satisfaction and loyalty, enable operational improvements, and foster lasting customer relationships.
Convin's AI-driven tools provide businesses with valuable insights into customer interactions, enabling them to decode NPS and CES scores, analyze call analytics, and improve the customer experience.
Ready to revolutionize your customer service? Experience the transformative power of Convin's AI tools to achieve exceptional customer satisfaction and loyalty. Schedule a personalized demo of Convin's powerful AI tools today!
FAQs
1. What is a good customer effort score?
A good Customer Effort Score (CES) typically falls in the lower range of the scale, indicating the minimal effort customers require to interact with a service or product.
2. What is the difference between NPS and customer effort scores?
The main difference between Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Effort Score (CES) is their focus: NPS measures customer loyalty and likelihood of recommendation, while CES assesses the ease of customer interaction.
3. What is the NPS survey vs the CSAT survey?
The NPS survey gauges customer loyalty and likelihood of recommendation, whereas the CSAT survey measures customer satisfaction with a specific product or service interaction.
4. What is the difference between CSI and NPS?
Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) typically measures overall satisfaction with a company's products or services, while NPS focuses explicitly on measuring customer loyalty and likelihood of recommendation.
5. What is NPS in customer surveys?
In customer surveys, Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a metric used to assess customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend a company, product, or service to others.
