Customer effort score survey template
Customer effort score measures how hard someone had to work to get something done with you — resolve a problem, place an order, change a plan. It is asked straight after the task, as agreement with one statement on a seven-point scale. This template keeps that statement intact and adds only what you need to act on a bad answer.
The survey beside this text is live. Fill it in and submit it — it validates exactly as it would for a real respondent, and saves nothing.
A seven-point Likert scale
The scale is a labelled Likert question with seven answers, from “Strongly disagree” to “Strongly agree”. You can use any number of points; the results average the position on whatever scale you define.
One answer per interaction
With one vote per browser, a second submission from the same browser is refused on the server with a clear “you have already voted” message, instead of quietly doubling a result.
Conditional follow-up
The “where did you get stuck?” question is shown only when someone says they needed to contact support — the case where the detail is worth their time.
No card required.
Customer Effort Score Survey
Live previewHow to use this template
5 steps in the editor. Nothing here needs a paid plan.
- Press “Use this template” and edit the “What were you trying to do?” options to the tasks your customers actually perform.
- Keep the effort statement and its seven-point scale unchanged so your score is comparable with published benchmarks.
- Under Settings → Voting & results set “One vote per person” to one per browser, so a reload does not count the same interaction twice.
- Send the link immediately after the task — in the confirmation email or on the final screen — not in a weekly batch.
- On the Results tab read the average on the effort question, then filter the CSV by task to find which one costs the most effort.
Questions in this survey
5 questions, using 4 of the 24 question types available.
| Question | Question type | Required |
|---|---|---|
| What were you trying to do? | Dropdown | Yes |
| The company made it easy for me to handle my issue. | Likert scale | Yes |
| Did you need to contact support to finish? | Radio buttons | Yes |
| Where did you get stuck? | Long text | Optional |
| What would have made this easier? | Long text | Optional |
What goes wrong with this survey
Specific to this template, not general advice about surveys.
Rewording the statement
“The company made it easy for me to handle my issue” is the measured wording. Changing it to a question such as “How easy was it?” flips how people read the scale and breaks comparison with earlier rounds.
Averaging across unlike tasks
Returning an item is harder than checking a balance. One blended score hides that. Always read it per task.
Sending it after the customer has cooled off
Effort is forgotten quickly. A CES survey that arrives days later mostly measures the outcome, not the effort.
Treating low effort as loyalty
CES tells you a task was easy, not that the customer will stay. Use it to remove friction, and a recommend question to measure the relationship.
Questions about this survey
What is a good customer effort score?
On a seven-point scale, an average above 5 means most people agreed it was easy. More useful than the average is the share who answered 5 or higher, and how that share differs between tasks — which is why this template asks what they were trying to do.
When should I send a CES survey?
Immediately after the task, while the effort is fresh. Asked a week later it turns into a general satisfaction question and loses what makes it specific.
Why seven points instead of five?
Seven is the scale the common CES wording was designed around, and it separates “somewhat” from full agreement. If you prefer five, edit the options — the question type does not fix the length of the scale.
Can the survey stop collecting automatically?
Yes. Under Settings → Advanced you can stop after a number of responses, after a date, or whichever comes first.
More customer templates
- Product Feedback SurveyWhat people use, what they would miss, and what they want next.
- Customer Satisfaction SurveyOverall satisfaction, a rating per area, and what to fix first.
- Website Feedback SurveyWhy they came, whether they found it, and what stopped them.
- NPS SurveyThe 0–10 recommend question, a reason, and a score worked out for you.