NPS vs. CSAT vs. CES: Which Customer Feedback Metric Should You Use?

NPS® vs. CSAT vs. CES: Which Customer Feedback Metric Should You Use?

Compare NPS, CSAT, and CES to understand their differences, strengths, and when to use them. Learn how these metrics can improve your customer experience strategy.

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Umar Zahid

If you’ve been exploring customer feedback tools, you’ve likely encountered Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT), and Customer Effort Score (CES). These metrics each play a unique role in understanding your customers, but deciding when to use which can feel tricky.

Let’s break down the differences, compare their strengths, and clarify when to use each one.

What Are These Metrics?

1. Net Promoter Score (NPS)

What it measures: Customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend your brand.
How it works: Customers rate how likely they are to recommend you on a scale of 0-10.
Best for: Understanding long-term loyalty and tracking overall brand health.

2. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

What it measures: Customer satisfaction with a specific interaction or experience.
How it works: Customers rate their satisfaction (often on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10) after a purchase, support call, or service interaction.
Best for: Evaluating short-term satisfaction with individual touchpoints.

3. Customer Effort Score (CES)

What it measures: How easy it was for customers to complete a task (e.g., resolving an issue, making a purchase).
How it works: Customers respond to a statement like, “The company made it easy for me to resolve my issue,” usually on a scale of 1-7.
Best for: Assessing friction in customer interactions and optimizing processes.

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Key Differences between NPS CSAT AND CES

Metric	Focus	Timing	Question Example	Strengths
NPS	Loyalty & Advocacy	Periodically	“How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?”	Tracks loyalty trends over time.
CSAT	Satisfaction	After specific events	“How satisfied were you with your experience?”	Measures satisfaction immediately.
CES	Effort & Ease	After key interactions	“How easy was it to get your issue resolved?”	Identifies friction points.

When to Use Each Metric

NPS: For Big-Picture Loyalty

Best used: Periodically (e.g., quarterly or annually) to measure overall customer loyalty.
Why: It provides a clear picture of whether customers are likely to stay with you and recommend your brand.
Example: Use NPS to gauge brand health before launching a major campaign or product.

CSAT: For Immediate Satisfaction

Best used: After specific interactions, like purchases or customer service calls.
Why: It’s ideal for understanding satisfaction with individual touchpoints or experiences.
Example: Send a CSAT survey after resolving a customer support ticket to measure their satisfaction with the resolution.

CES: For Reducing Friction

Best used: After key actions like making a purchase or resolving an issue.
Why: It highlights areas where customers are experiencing unnecessary effort.
Example: Use CES to optimize your website checkout process or streamline support workflows.

Which Metric Should You Prioritize?

The answer isn’t “one size fits all.” These metrics complement each other and work best when used together. Here’s how:

Start with NPS to understand overall customer loyalty.
Use CSAT to monitor satisfaction at specific touchpoints.
Deploy CES to identify and eliminate pain points in the customer journey.

Quick Takeaway

NPS is your loyalty compass.
CSAT measures immediate happiness.
CES reveals friction in your processes.

By using the right metric at the right time, you’ll have a 360-degree view of your customer experience—and actionable insights to improve it.

Which of these metrics do you rely on most? Share your experience in the comments!

Net Promoter®, NPS®, NPS Prism®, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered trademarks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld. Net Promoter ScoreSM and Net Promoter SystemSM are service marks of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc., and Fred Reichheld.