In 2009, the Customer Contact Council published its take on gauging member loyalty. The Council claims loyalty can be directly affected by the amount of effort a customer must exert to accomplish his/her objectives in dealing with a company. In short, the easier a company makes it to conduct business, the stronger the  subsequent loyalty. Conversely, business practices that impede a customer’s ability to satisfy their needs will drive disloyalty. According to the Council, the probability that a service interaction will drive disloyalty is approximately four times greater than the chance it will create any positive loyalty impression. In other words, as a function, customer service typically plays on the ‘negative side' of the loyalty field.

In response, the Council created the Customer Effort Score. When used with specific interactions, products, and delivery channels, the results of the CES survey provide evidence to complications in a company’s business model. This information becomes actionable as the company works to alleviate these service obstacles.

It is common in credit unions to hear the mantra "serve and delight our members", or "exceed service expectations".  But what exactly does that mean, and how does a team member accomplish that?  Perhaps it is more effective to focus on making processes and interactions as quick and easy as possible for the member, improving first contact resolution and forward-solving for potential issues or call-backs.

Just as important as determining your member effort score is analyzing the "why" behind your given score.  Here is where you can extract valuable insight into the pressure points that members are finding in your delivery channels, internal processes or member service.