Feedback & research
Customer effort score (CES) survey template
How easy was it to get help? One 1–7 question, then what made it easy or what got in the way.
- 5 questions
- about 55 seconds
- Logic
- Hidden fields
- Welcome screen
Free forever, with unlimited responses. No credit card.
What's in this template
Why these questions
Customer effort asks a different question from satisfaction: not "were you happy?" but "how hard did we make you work?". It's the better question for support teams, because effort is what people remember, and what makes them leave, long after the details of a ticket are forgotten.
This template opens with the effort question on a 1 to 7 scale, labelled "very difficult" to "very easy". Seven points give you room to see small improvements. A five-point scale tends to bunch everyone at the top.
The next question depends on the score, through logic. A 5, 6 or 7 is asked what made it easy, so you learn what to protect. Anything lower is asked what got in the way, with a line saying that specifics help. Nobody sees both questions, so the survey stays short.
Then come how they got in touch (chat, email, phone, a help centre article or inside the app) and a yes/no: is your issue fully sorted now? Effort and resolution together tell you the most. A ticket that was easy but didn't fix anything is a different problem from one that was fixed after a struggle.
The template records a ticket_id hidden field. Put your helpdesk's
ticket number in the link it sends, and every answer arrives tied to its conversation, without
asking the customer anything.
Reading the answers: your CES is the average score, or the share of 5s, 6s and 7s. The CES calculator works out both from an export.
How the logic works
Each rule is checked once its question is answered, and the first one that matches decides where the respondent goes next. How logic works
- After “How easy was it to get what you needed today?”: if the answer is 4 or less, jump to “What got in the way?”.
- After “What made it easy?”, always jump to “How did you get in touch?”.
Make it yours
- Logic Answers decide what comes next, so each person only sees what applies to them.
- Hidden fields Records ticket_id from the form's link with each response.
- Welcome screen Opens with a title, a line of context and how long it takes.
- Design Your colours, font and corners, and a picture or video on any screen.
- Email notifications Teammates hear about each response as it's completed.
- Webhooks Send every response to your own systems, signed.
- Embedding Put it on your site inline, as a popup or as a slider.
Questions people ask
How is a customer effort score calculated?
Most teams use one of two numbers: the average score on the 1 to 7 scale, or the percentage of customers who answered 5 or higher. Pick one and keep it, so the trend means something.
When should the CES survey be sent?
Straight after the interaction: when a ticket closes, a chat ends or an order arrives. Effort is about one experience, so it should be asked while that experience is fresh.
What's the difference between CES and CSAT?
CSAT asks how satisfied someone was. CES asks how easy it was. Use the CSAT survey to judge an experience overall, and CES when you want to find and remove friction.
Can I tie each answer to a support ticket?
Yes. Add ?ticket_id= and the ticket number to the link your helpdesk sends. It's stored with
the response as a hidden field, and the respondent never sees it.
Related templates
- Feedback & research NPS survey template The one-number loyalty survey, with a follow-up that changes depending on the score.
- Feedback & research CSAT survey template Rate the experience, then say why — unhappy answers get a follow-up before the form moves on.
- Feedback & research Product feedback survey template What people use, what they'd rank first, and what's missing — with a follow-up when an answer is thin.
- Feedback & research Feature request form template Collect feature ideas with the job behind them: what they want, what it's for and how much it matters.
- Feedback & research Bug report form template What broke, how to see it, and how bad it is — with screenshots attached and blockers routed to their own ending.
- Feedback & research Cancellation survey template Why people leave, asked kindly: one main reason, then the follow-up that fits it — price, a gap or a competitor.
More feedback & research templates →
Also in: Surveys · For product teams · For founders