Customer effort score (CES) survey template
Measure how hard customers had to work to get an issue resolved; low effort predicts repeat business better than satisfaction.
4 questions · about 1 minute to complete · free on every plan
Free account required. The template is copied into your workspace; edit anything before publishing.
- When to use it
- As a support ticket closes or right after a self-service task.
- Who it is for
- Customers who just tried to get something done with you.
How to use this template
- Ask the effort question first, before anything else colours the answer.
- Effort predicts churn better than satisfaction for service interactions; watch the 'very difficult' share.
- Read open-text answers from the lowest scorers first; they explain the numbers.
Questions in the customer effort score (ces) template
1. How easy was it to get your issue resolved today?
rating
2. What made it harder than it should have been?
multi choice · Had to repeat myself, Waited too long, Passed between people, Could not find the information, Had to switch channels, Nothing — it was easy, Other
3. Was your issue fully resolved?
single choice · Yes, Partly, No
4. What would have made it easier?
open text
What the results look like
IllustrativeSynthetic sample of 120 responses generated for this preview, not real survey data. Your results page shows the same charts for your own responses.
1.How easy was it to get your issue resolved today?
120 answered| Answer | Count | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 6% |
| 2 | 5 | 4% |
| 3 | 6 | 5% |
| 4 | 13 | 11% |
| 5 | 34 | 28% |
| 6 | 23 | 19% |
| 7 | 32 | 27% |
2.What made it harder than it should have been?
115 answered| Answer | Count | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Had to repeat myself | 60 | 52% |
| Waited too long | 80 | 70% |
| Passed between people | 20 | 17% |
| Could not find the information | 42 | 37% |
| Had to switch channels | 35 | 30% |
| Nothing — it was easy | 62 | 54% |
| Other | 55 | 48% |
3.Was your issue fully resolved?
120 answered| Answer | Count | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 42 | 35% |
| Partly | 33 | 28% |
| No | 45 | 38% |
How to read these questions
- rating: Report the mean and the top-two-box share (the two highest points). Top-two-box is easier to explain and less sensitive to a few extreme answers.
- multi choice: Percentages add up to more than 100% because people can pick several. Compare options by share of respondents, not share of picks.
- single choice: Read the share choosing each option, then cross-tab by a segment question to see who differs.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Customer Effort Score?
A single question asking how easy it was to get an issue resolved or a task completed, usually on a 5- or 7-point scale. Low effort is strongly linked to repeat business.
How long does the customer effort score (ces) survey take to complete?
About 1 minute: 4 questions, most of them single-tap. Every question can be edited, removed or reordered in the builder before you publish.
Is this template free to use?
Yes. Every template is included on the Free plan. Sign up, click Use this template, and it is copied into your workspace where you can edit it, add your logo and share it by link, email or embed.
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- Customer service feedbackPost-ticket survey separating the agent's behaviour from the outcome, so coaching and process fixes go to the right place.