You can reduce customer effort by eliminating unnecessary steps from the contact process: better routing, smart self-service, and a consistent omnichannel approach all work together to ensure that customers are assisted more quickly and with less effort. The Customer Effort Score (CES) is your most important metric in this regard. In this article, we answer the most frequently asked questions about reducing customer effort, from CX strategy to specific technology choices.
What is a good Customer Effort Score for a contact center?
A good CES is typically above 5.5 on a scale of 1 to 7, where a higher score means that customers have to go to little trouble to get help. Contact centers that consistently score above 6 are performing strongly. Anything below 5 is a sign that customers are encountering too many obstacles.
The CES does not measure how satisfied a customer is, but rather how much effort it took him or her to resolve a problem. This makes it a more direct predictor of customer loyalty than traditional customer satisfaction scores. Research from the customer contact industry consistently shows that high effort is a stronger driver of customer churn than low satisfaction.
How to calculate the CES: After each customer interaction, ask your customers how easy it was to get their issue resolved, on a scale from 1 (very difficult) to 7 (very easy). The average score over a given period gives you a reliable picture of the friction in your customer interactions.
Which factors increase customer effort the most?
The main drivers of high customer effort are: having to repeat information when switching channels, long wait times before being connected to the right person, and the lack of self-service options outside of business hours. These three factors are present in virtually every contact center and have a direct impact on the CES.
In addition to these three, there are other common causes of unnecessary friction:
- Poor IVR routing: customers who end up at the wrong department after navigating through menu options and have to call again or be transferred
- Fragmented systems: employees who don’t have a complete view of the customer and, as a result, ask questions the customer has already answered
- Inconsistent information: the website, chatbot, and customer service representative provide different answers, forcing the customer to contact the company again
- Limited availability: the lack of support outside of business hours forces customers to wait or make multiple attempts
Reducing customer effort, therefore, starts with identifying which of these factors carry the most weight in your specific situation. This requires data on reasons for contact, channel usage, and transfer rates.
How does smart call routing work to reduce customer effort?
Smart call routing uses customer data and AI to route an incoming call directly to the most appropriate agent or department, without requiring the customer to navigate through multiple menu options. This immediately reduces customer effort by significantly lowering the likelihood of transfers and repeat calls.
Traditional IVR systems operate using fixed menu options: the customer selects a number, and the system routes the call to a predetermined group. Smart routing goes a step further: the system recognizes the customer based on their phone number or customer number, reviews previous interactions, and determines the most logical route based on that information.
Even more advanced is intent recognition via speech or text. In this process, the system analyzes what the customer says or types, understands the intent behind the query, and routes the call accordingly. A customer calling about an outstanding invoice no longer has to choose from six menu options but is connected directly to the finance department.
The result: fewer transfers, shorter call times, and a lower CES. In addition, employees are less burdened with calls that fall outside their area of expertise.
What is the difference between self-service and automated processing?
Self-service allows customers to find an answer or solution on their own, without the assistance of a staff member. Automated processing means that a system fully resolves the issue on the customer’s behalf, also without human intervention. The difference lies in who performs the action: the customer themselves, or the system.
Self-service: Putting the Customer in Control
With self-service, you provide customers with tools to take action on their own: an FAQ, a customer portal, a chatbot that answers questions, or an online form. The customer completes the steps on their own. This works well for informational inquiries and simple transactions, provided the interface is intuitive and the information is up to date.
Automated processing: the system handles it
With automated processing, the system takes over the task. Think of a bot that automatically schedules an appointment, sends a status update, or processes a return request without the customer having to take any action. This reduces the customer’s effort to virtually zero for routine processes.
Both approaches are valuable, but they complement each other. Self-service is effective when customers prefer to be in control. Automated processing is ideal for repetitive, predictable processes where the customer simply wants the matter taken care of.
How can you reduce repeat inquiries without compromising service quality?
You can reduce repeat inquiries by addressing the root cause: ensure that customers have all the answers they need after their first point of contact, and provide proactive communication so they don’t have to call for status updates. This reduces the volume of inquiries without compromising service quality.
A practical approach consists of three steps:
- Analyze the reasons for contact: Which questions come up most often? Systematically categorize incoming contacts to identify patterns.
- Address the root cause: if 10 percent of your calls are about the status of an order or request, proactive status notifications via text message or email are a more effective solution than optimizing the call itself.
- Improve the way information is provided: ensure that the website, chatbot, and employees all provide the same, up-to-date information. Inconsistency is one of the main causes of repeat questions.
Important: Reducing repeat inquiries is not about discouraging contact. It’s about eliminating the need for contact through better information provision and proactive communication. Customers who don’t have to call because they already know what they need to know experience a lower level of customer effort.
When is an omnichannel approach better than a multichannel approach?
An omnichannel approach is better than a multichannel one whenever customers use multiple channels within the same customer journey. With a multichannel approach, you offer multiple channels, but they operate independently of one another. With an omnichannel approach, all channels are connected, and the customer’s history is shared across channels, so the customer never has to repeat their story.
In practice, “multichannel” often means that a customer sends an email with a question, then calls to follow up, and has to explain the situation all over again because the customer service representative doesn’t have access to the email history. That’s exactly the kind of friction that drives down the CES.
With an omnichannel approach, every employee—regardless of the channel—has a complete picture of all previous interactions. A customer who starts on WhatsApp and then calls is recognized and doesn’t have to repeat anything. This immediately and noticeably reduces the effort required on the customer’s part.
An omnichannel approach is particularly valuable in sectors where customers have complex questions that span multiple touchpoints, such as healthcare, housing associations, government, and business services. The more complex the customer journey, the greater the benefit of channel integration.
How Pegamento helps lower customer effort
We help organizations systematically reduce customer effort by intelligently combining technology and processes, without the need for costly traditional custom development. Our approach is based on proven modules that we tailor to your situation, so you can see results quickly without unnecessary complexity.
What we can do for you:
- Smart call routing based on customer data and intent recognition, ensuring that customers are connected directly to the right agent
- Omnichannel integration of phone, chat, WhatsApp, and email into a single central platform, so that employees always have a complete view of the customer
- Self-service and automated handling of frequently asked questions and routine processes, including Agentic AI assistants that act independently and take the initiative
- Reporting and analytics across all channels, so you can measure, understand, and improve your CES
- Everything under one roof: from implementation to management and support, with a single point of contact
Would you like to know how you can specifically reduce customer effort in your contact center? Contact us, and we’ll explore the possibilities together.
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How soon will you see results after implementing improvements to reduce customer effort?
The first measurable results are often visible within four to eight weeks after implementation, particularly for improvements in call routing and proactive communication. CES improvements become apparent once you’ve tracked enough new contact points to make a reliable comparison. Structural improvements in customer loyalty and churn rates typically only become visible in the numbers after three to six months.
What are the most common mistakes when implementing self-service in a contact center?
The biggest mistake is using self-service as a cost-saving measure without investing in the quality and discoverability of the information. A chatbot or FAQ that provides outdated or incomplete answers actually increases customer effort rather than reducing it. Also, ensure that there’s always a clear and easy way to transfer to an agent, so customers don’t get stuck in a digital dead end.
How do you involve employees in improving the Customer Effort Score?
Employees are one of the best sources of insight into where customers experience friction, because they hear customers’ frustrations on a daily basis. Actively involve them by regularly asking which questions customers repeat most often and where they themselves are hindered by flawed systems or information. Feedback CES results to teams in a constructive way, so that improvement becomes a shared goal rather than a monitoring tool.
Is an omnichannel platform also suitable for smaller contact centers with limited budgets?
Yes, modern omnichannel platforms are modular and do not need to be fully rolled out all at once. A smaller organization can start by integrating the two or three most frequently used channels—such as phone, email, or chat—and expand step by step. The investment often pays for itself quickly due to lower contact volume, shorter call times, and higher employee satisfaction resulting from less repetitive work.
How do you prevent intent recognition and AI routing from making mistakes that send customers to the wrong department?
AI routing is never 100% error-free at launch, but it continuously improves based on data. When implementing the system, ensure there’s a fallback mechanism so that, in case of doubt, the customer always has the option to make their own choice or be transferred to a generalist. Actively monitor routing accuracy during the first few months and use misrouting data as training material to quickly improve the model.
Besides CES, what other KPIs are valuable for measuring customer effort?
In addition to CES, First Contact Resolution (FCR) and the transfer rate provide a concrete picture of how much friction customers experience in the contact process. A high transfer rate correlates strongly with a low CES, while a high FCR actually contributes to a higher score. In addition, the repeat contact rate—the percentage of customers who contact us again within seven days regarding the same issue—provides insight into how many issues are actually resolved during the first contact.
How do you handle customers who prefer not to use self-service or digital channels?
An effective CX strategy never forces customers into a channel they don’t want to use. Always offer a personalized alternative, and ensure that employees handling phone or in-person interactions have access to the same information as the digital channels. The goal of self-service is to reduce the effort for customers who want it, not to close off the human route for customers who need it.
