6 metrics of customer trial: measuring audience satisfaction. Part 2

CES: How comfortable are your customers?

This abbreviation hides the Customer Effort Score.
The CES indicator is most actively used in the service sector and is based on four postulates regarding the importance of service quality:

• Inflationary expectations do not make the customer loyal;
• "Satisfied" does not mean "loyal";
• If the buyer is forced to contact the support service, his loyalty to you will fall;
• Fewer actions to achieve results – higher loyalty.

From this database, it becomes clear that the main purpose of calculating CES is to determine how comfortable the client was and how much effort he spent to get what he wanted. That is, it is not an assessment of experience directly but rather an analysis of the general background. However, one goes shoulder to shoulder with the other.

The methodology itself is quite simple and is based on one question. However, it can be formulated in different ways, for example:

Please rate how easily you solved your question?

or

Please rate how much you agree with the following statement: "Everything was organized so that I could easily solve my question."

As practice shows, the second option is simpler. You already provided a specific answer; the respondent can only assess their agreement with it.

To calculate the CES value, add up the 2 maximum scores and subtract the sum of the 3 minimum scores from them.

WoMI—a counterpoint of critics

If the NPS index measures the willingness of consumers to recommend your company, then the situation is reversed. The WoMI indicator focuses on the number of critics; yes, it also appears in the NPS, but, according to the authors of the WoMI methodology, it is not very objectively evaluated. They say that not every detractor will criticize you, and not every promoter will recommend you.

To determine the WoMI index, you need to ask one more question: "How likely is it that you will dissuade others from contacting our company?" Similarly to the question of readiness to recommend a brand, the rating is set on a scale from 0 to 10. True critics are those who give it nine to ten points.

The mechanics of calculating the value of WoMI are the exact opposite of calculating NPS: the percentage of true critics is subtracted from the share of brand promoters.

CXI – reflection of customer experience

Initially, this technique was designed to meet the needs of brands with a global presence; however, it is quite realistic to apply it to businesses of any scale. And not just real but also useful.

CXI is a Customer Experience Index. It reflects three important indicators:

• the degree of satisfaction of customer needs;
• ease of communication between the client and the company;
• the clarity of such communication.

The block of questions is divided into two parts: an assessment of the customer's quality experience and a determination of his loyalty. However, you can also expand the basic structure of the survey; for example, you could add additional questions more specific to your niche. But try not to offer respondents more than five possible answers.

Based on the answers you receive, you will be able to assess the degree of customer loyalty to your brand and on which aspects of the customer experience it most depends. Yes, there are some intersections with the NPS index; however, in terms of assessing the impact of various factors, the CXI is more accurate. With its help, you can not just analyze customer behavior but also model it according to specified parameters.

At the same time, it should be kept in mind that customer experience is not the same as brand loyalty. Therefore, the CXI index should not be perceived as a confidence level. It is not a fact that a consumer who has received a good customer experience from contacting you will be loyal to your company.

Method of calculating the CXI index:

1. Let's sum up the two maximum estimates;
2. Let's sum up the two minimum estimates;
3. Subtract the second result from the first.

In other words, the calculation method is very similar to the definition of the NPS index.