Background
In client-agency relationships, understanding and meeting the needs of clients is not just a value-add — it’s essential. For years, businesses have used satisfaction-based surveys to gauge the quality of their agency relationships. These surveys typically ask stakeholders how “satisfied” they are with various aspects of the service provided, from creative delivery to account management. While these satisfaction surveys are valuable, they present only one aspect of the client’s experience.
What is the CES?
In recent years, a new metric has come to the fore: the Customer Effort Score (CES). Rather than simply measuring satisfaction, the CES assesses the ease of interaction from the client’s perspective. The central premise is straightforward: the easier it is for clients to work with their agency and get what they need, the more likely they are to stay loyal and engaged. This shift from satisfaction to ease-of-interaction introduces an entirely new angle for understanding agency relationships. First discussed in the groundbreaking Harvard Business Review article “Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers” by Matthew Dixon, Karen Freeman, and Nick Toman, this methodology has gained significant traction, validated by a subsequent Gartner survey of over 95,000 respondents (“Effortless Experience Explained”).
It’s All About the Effort
The CES approach suggests that client loyalty comes not from “over-the-top” service experiences but from how effortlessly clients can get their needs met. By measuring effort, agencies and clients can identify pain points in the working relationship and simplify how they interact. The result is a smoother client experience that leads to increased satisfaction and stronger partnerships.
The beauty of CES lies in its simplicity. It’s typically measured using a single survey question, for example: “On a scale from ‘very easy’ to ‘very difficult,’ how easy was it for you to get what you needed from the agency?” A low score indicates high client effort and signals areas that need attention, whereas a high score signifies a smooth, effortless interaction.
Reimagined Questions for Agency Evaluations
Now, let’s reimagine traditional satisfaction-based evaluation questions to reflect a CES orientation in the context of agency relationships.
Creative and Campaign Delivery
Traditionally, you might ask, “How satisfied are you with the quality, timeliness, and reliability of the agency’s work?” Instead, frame this around CES:
- “How easy was it to get the agency to deliver creative work that met your expectations?”
- “How much effort did you have to put in to ensure the agency stayed on brief and on schedule?”
- “To what extent did you have to intervene to ensure the agency met the agreed performance standards?”
- “How effortless was the process when revisions or corrections were needed?”
Financial Management
Instead of asking, “How satisfied are you with how the agency manages budgets and controls costs?”, ask:
- “How easily did the agency manage resources to deliver work within the agreed budget?”
- “How much effort did you have to make to ensure the agency controlled costs effectively?”
- “Did you find it easy to understand and agree with the agency’s approach to billing and financial management?”
- “How effortless was it to get transparency on where your budget was being spent?”
Strategic Alignment
Instead of the satisfaction question, “How well do the agency’s recommendations align with your business objectives?”, try:
- “How much effort did it require to ensure the agency’s strategic recommendations aligned with your business objectives?”
- “Did you find it easy to confirm that the agency’s work supported your marketing strategy and improved results?”
- “How easy or difficult was it to keep the agency focused on your priorities rather than their own?”
- “How effortless was your experience in aligning the agency’s output with your brand and business needs?”
Relationship and Communication
Instead of the traditional, “How satisfied are you with the level of communication and mutual understanding?”, ask:
- “How easy was it to establish clear and effective communication with the agency team?”
- “Did you find it effortless to build a mutual understanding and engage in collaborative problem-solving with the agency?”
- “How much effort did it take to get the agency to resolve issues promptly?”
- “How easy was it to build trust and a strong working rapport with the agency team over time?”
Shift the Focus
By shifting the focus from satisfaction to the level of effort required, marketing procurement leads and agency management teams can gain deeper insights into the working relationship. It helps them identify areas of friction and potential improvements more clearly, leading to smoother, more productive interactions and stronger long-term agency partnerships. CES is a valuable metric in any agency evaluation strategy and can work hand-in-hand with traditional satisfaction measures to provide a more complete view of how the relationship is really working.