Background
In the fast-paced world of IT services, understanding and meeting the needs of customers is not just a value-add; it’s essential. For years, businesses have used satisfaction-based surveys as a means to gauge customer experience. These surveys often revolve around asking stakeholders how ‘satisfied’ they are with various aspects of the service provided, ranging from delivery time to the quality of client service interaction. While these satisfaction surveys are undoubtedly valuable, they present only one aspect of the client’s journey.
What is the CES?
In recent years, a new customer metric has come to the fore: the Customer Effort Score (CES). Rather than simply measuring customer satisfaction, the CES assesses the ease of interaction from a client’s perspective. The central premise is straightforward: the easier it is for clients to receive the services they need, the more likely they are to stay loyal to a supplier. This simple yet profound shift from satisfaction to ease-of-interaction introduces an entirely new angle of understanding the relationship. First discussed in the groundbreaking Harvard Business Review article “Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers” by Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman, and Nick Toman, this methodology has gained traction, and a subsequent survey of over 95,000 by Gartner, validating many of the HBR findings (“Effortless Experience Explained” )
It’s all about the effort
The CES approach suggests that customers derive loyalty not from “over-the-top” service experiences but instead from how effortlessly they can get their needs met. By measuring effort, IT vendors can identify pain points in their service delivery process and work to streamline client interactions. The result? A smoother client journey that leads to increased satisfaction and enhanced loyalty.
The beauty of CES lies in its simplicity. It’s typically measured using a single survey question, for example, “On a scale from ‘very easy’ to ‘very difficult,’ how easy was it for you to have your issue resolved?” A low score indicates high client effort and signals areas that require attention, whereas a high score signifies a smooth, effortless client interaction.
Reimagined Questions
Now, let’s reimagine the traditional satisfaction-based questions in the context of IT services to reflect a CES orientation…
Delivery Excellence
Traditionally, you might ask, “How satisfied are you with the quality, timeliness, and reliability of the vendor’s services?” Instead, frame this question around CES:
- “How easy was it for you to access the vendor’s services promptly and reliably across all offerings?”
- “How much effort did you have to put in to get the vendor’s team to adhere to all Service Level Agreements (SLAs)?”
- “To what extent did you have to intervene to ensure the vendor met or exceed the established performance standards?”
- “How effortless was the process for you when issues needed to be resolved promptly?”
Financial Management
Instead of asking, “How satisfied are you with how the vendor manages resources and control expenses?”, ask,
- “How easily was the vendor able to manage resources effectively to deliver services within the agreed-upon budget?”
- “How much effort did you have to make to ensure that the vendor controlled expenses effectively?”
- “Did you find it easy to recognize the value the vendor provided while managing the project’s cost efficiently?”
- “Was it effortless for you to understand and agree with the vendor’s approach to financial management?
Strategic Alignment
Instead of the satisfaction question, “How well do our services align with and support your business objectives?”, try the CES question:
- “How much effort did it require for you to make sure that the vendor’s services aligned with your business objectives?”
- “Did you find it easy to confirm that the vendor’s services enabled your business processes and improved productivity?”
- “How easy or difficult was it for you to ensure that the vendor’s services supported your strategic initiatives effectively?”
- “How effortless was your experience in aligning the vendor’s services with your business needs?”
Security Compliance
Rather than ask, “How satisfied are you with our adherence to security measures and compliance requirements?”, consider asking,
- “How much effort did you expend to ensure the vendor’s services met your security and compliance requirements?”
- “Did you find it easy to confirm the vendor’s adherence to relevant regulations and standards?”
- “How easy was it for you to verify that the vendor’s services maintained robust security measures across all offerings?”
- “How effortless was your experience in achieving your security and compliance objectives with the vendor’s assistance?”
Relationship Building
Instead of the traditional, “How satisfied are you with the level of communication and mutual understanding we maintain?”, ask,
- “How easy was it for you to establish clear and effective communication with the vendor’s team?”
- “Did you find it effortless to build a mutual understanding and engage in collaborative problem-solving with the vendor’s team?”
- “How much effort did it take for you to ensure the vendor resolved issues promptly?”
- “How easy was it to build trust and rapport with the vendor’s team over time?”
Shift the focus
By shifting the focus from satisfaction to the level of effort required, businesses can gain deeper insights into the engagement. It enables them to identify areas of friction and potential improvements more clearly, leading to easier, more enjoyable experiences for the customer and fostering long-term customer loyalty. CES is an invaluable metric in any IT services feedback strategy and can work hand-in-hand with traditional satisfaction measures to provide a more comprehensive view of customer interactions.
Click here for an article around a standard question set for evaluating an ERP implementation.