What is a customer effort score?

CES asks how easy it was for a customer to get something done, usually on an agree-disagree scale. Lower effort strongly predicts retention. This template keeps the standard statement and adds AI follow-ups that pinpoint where the effort came from.

When should I send a CES survey?

Right after the interaction you want to measure: a resolved ticket, a completed return, a finished setup step. The closer to the moment, the more accurately the respondent remembers where the effort actually was.

How is this different from a plain CES form?

A form gives you an ease rating and stops. This template interviews the person: the AI reads the score and asks which step was hard and how many times they had to try, so you get the friction location, not just its temperature.

What do the results look like?

Themes with quotes and counts of where effort concentrates, the ease-score breakdown, full transcripts, and a plain-language box for asking things like "which step do high-effort respondents mention most?"

Templates / Customer effort score survey

Customers · Adaptive interview template

Customer effort score survey template

Customer effort score is the best predictor of loyalty most teams already collect and the worst one they act on. "It was easy to handle my request" scored a 3 tells you there was friction; it does not tell you whether the friction was a confusing menu, a repeated explanation, or a four-day wait. The number flags the problem and hides the cause.

This template pairs the standard CES statement with an interviewer that goes straight to the effort. A high-effort score gets asked which step was the hard one and how many times they had to reach out; a low-effort score gets asked what made it feel smooth, so you can protect it. The point of CES is to remove friction, and you cannot remove what the number will not name.

When to use it

Right after a support ticket is resolved, while the interaction is fresh
Following a self-service task such as a return, cancellation, or setup step
After onboarding milestones to catch effort before it becomes churn
On any flow where a rising effort score has no obvious explanation

Running it well

Trigger CES immediately after the interaction. Effort is felt in the moment and softens in memory within a day.
Keep the ease statement word-for-word across surveys. The benchmark value of CES depends on asking it the same way every time.
Count the reach-outs. The follow-up about how many times they contacted you often predicts churn better than the score itself.
Do not average CES with CSAT. They measure different things, and blending them hides the friction CES exists to expose.

The questions, and why they're shaped this way

These are the anchor questions. You can edit, reorder, or add to them; the AI interviewer handles the depth between them.

Multiple choice

How much do you agree: the company made it easy to handle my request?

Strongly agreeAgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly disagree

The canonical CES ease statement, kept intact so the score stays comparable. The rating decides which direction the interview goes: protect what worked or diagnose what did not.

Open text

Which part of this took more effort than it should have?

This assumes friction existed and asks the respondent to locate it, which surfaces specifics faster than an open comment box. The follow-ups then trace the friction to a step you can fix.

What the interviewer asks next

Follow-ups aren't scripted. The AI reads each answer and probes what a researcher would. Depending on what a respondent says, it might ask:

"You said it took more effort than expected. How many times did you have to reach out before it was resolved?"

"You mentioned you had to repeat your issue. At which point did you feel like you were starting over?"

"You said it was effortless. What was it about the process that made it feel that way?"

Live demo

Play the customer effort score survey interview

This is the real interviewer, not a recording. Answer as yourself and watch the follow-ups adapt to what you write.

Prefer a full window? Open the demo.

Common questions

What is a customer effort score?: CES asks how easy it was for a customer to get something done, usually on an agree-disagree scale. Lower effort strongly predicts retention. This template keeps the standard statement and adds AI follow-ups that pinpoint where the effort came from.
When should I send a CES survey?: Right after the interaction you want to measure: a resolved ticket, a completed return, a finished setup step. The closer to the moment, the more accurately the respondent remembers where the effort actually was.
How is this different from a plain CES form?: A form gives you an ease rating and stops. This template interviews the person: the AI reads the score and asks which step was hard and how many times they had to try, so you get the friction location, not just its temperature.
What do the results look like?: Themes with quotes and counts of where effort concentrates, the ease-score breakdown, full transcripts, and a plain-language box for asking things like "which step do high-effort respondents mention most?"

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