# What is Customer Effort Score (CES)?

> How hard the customer had to work to get their issue resolved.

Canonical: https://www.decimal.app/glossary/customer-effort-score · Last reviewed: 2026-09-23

Customer effort score asks customers how easy it was to get their problem solved, usually on a five- or seven-point scale. Lower effort predicts loyalty better than delight does.

## Why it matters

Every follow-up question, every 'can you send us the logs?', and every handoff adds effort. Technical support creates a lot of effort by default because the customer is often the only source of context.

## Best practices

1. Don't ask what you can look up. Pull account, plan, and recent errors before replying.
2. Avoid transfers. Each handoff forces the customer to repeat themselves.
3. Resolve in the first reply. Track first contact resolution alongside CES.

## How Decimal helps

Decimal gathers the logs and account context itself, so customers aren't asked for information your systems already have.

## Related terms

- [Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)](https://www.decimal.app/glossary/csat): The share of customers who rate a support interaction as good after it closes.
- [First Contact Resolution (FCR)](https://www.decimal.app/glossary/first-contact-resolution): The share of tickets resolved in the first reply, with no follow-up needed.
- [Handoff](https://www.decimal.app/glossary/handoff): Passing ownership of a ticket from one person or team to another.

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